EHS Pillars - Fall 2016

the highest per capita orphan rate in the world, with 1 million
orphans out of a total population of 12 million. The foundation
operates in Tree of Life Children's Village near the capital,
Lusaka. Camp volunteers pay their own transportation to
Africa and also sponsor a child to attend camp. Each summer
more than 600 American teens and adults travel to Zambia
to volunteer for the camp sessions, which are held for seven
consecutive weeks throughout the summer.
Pearson explains that a volunteer's first tour of Lusaka and
the slum called "Trashbag Village" is shocking. "You smell
sewage everywhere," she says. "The homes are constructed
from plastic bags, and the air is thick with dust and dirt.
Drunken men line the street and prey on the children."
"Most of these girls have been sexually abused by the time
they are teenagers," adds Geib. "Many children suffer from
malnutrition and are jaundiced with distended stomachs."
Witnessing the positive transformations Family Legacy
shapes amid such severe poverty and deprivation motivated
Geib, Pearson, and Hanna to deepen their commitment to the
mission. When they learned they could rescue 10 orphan girls
from the streets by building a house for a cost of $150,000,
they organized swiftly, holding bake sales at school, hosting
a fundraiser kickoff party at Pearson's home, and making
appeals to friends and local foundations. Their goal was to
raise $150,000 in two years, and they surpassed that goal,
raising $165,000 in eight months.
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