The Musonda School in Kitwe, Zambia, demonstrates the power of partnerships. A school originally undertaken as a Pro-Life Advancement and Education 
Project (PLAEP) project in partnership with Micah Challenge Zambia, the Musonda School engages community leaders and the local church to reach its goal of providing a quality education to every child in Musonda compound, an unplanned "shanty" town.
Insert Photo: Mopani Copper Mine Offices
But its future was not always so bright, according to Prisca Kambole, Executive Director of PLEAP: "When [we began] here two years ago, [there were] five untrained, volunteer teachers, 400 children… classrooms lacking desks, stationary, exercise books and pencil. The place was anything but a school." Though copper prices have risen significantly in the last decade, Musonda has seen little of the economic benefit; even though it is located within a couple miles of an established copper mine. Most of Musonda’s residents live on less than a dollar a day, and education opportunities for children are severely limited.
It is in this community that PLEAP first rented a two-room building in an effort to support the struggling Musonda School.
As a Christian organization, PLAEP also takes church involvement in its school project seriously. With an emphasis on improving the capacity of its teachers, PLAEP emphasizes the connection between the local church and the UN Millennium Development educational goals.
Insert Photo: Nathan Nanfelt, Allan Chisala and Prisca Kambole
The change in teachers is obvious, according to Paul Mulenga, Head Teacher at the Musonda School, “Though, I am a Christian, I did not [previously] know the connection between God’s concern for these children to attend school and the church’s responsibility. I now relate my work to the call of the prophet Micah, ‘What does the Lord require of you, But to do justice, and love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?’ This is my motivation as I serve these children."
And what began as a PLAEP and local church effort has become international in scope. Nathan Nanfelt, a Wheaton College 
HNGR intern at Micah Challenge Zambia, connected friend Emily George with PLAEP staff in Musonda, a partnership that quickly grew deep roots. Emily furthered the partnership, involving her family and home church, Valley Springs Presbyterian Church. Children from her church raised $505 for school supplies, and an education partnership program was created, currently involving over fifty church families. Emily’s primary efforts, however, focused on education, as she invested in sixty students ages 10-16. A fresh approach successfully helped to change students’ apathetic attitudes towards education into creative engagement.
Insert Photo: Emily and the pupils at school
The school’s drama team was since chosen to participate in a national drama competition, one of only three schools selected in the
entire country. At its closing performance, the drama team depicted a typical bleak Zambian household scenario, but concluded with a scene of reconciliation which demonstrated the faithfulness of God.
The Musonda School is a model of hope for schools in Zambia and beyond. By connecting the local church, international partners, and ngo’s MCZ and PLAEP, the school and its students benefit from the strength of partnership with the global church. Says Mrs. Kambole, "The hope of Musonda children…. realizing their potential does not lie on the government but lies on an informed church that cries out for justice."
