“We provide meals and ‘break bread’, being a cross-cultural way of showing love and following God’s commands as in Matthew 25:35-40.”

Every month, this project in Zambia makes a life-changing difference for patients and vulnerable children—but resources are low. Government grants are sporadic and fall far short of the hospital’s needs. Your support can help fill this gap.

Through this initiative, the project provides three nutritious meals daily for all inpatients. For malnourished children and adults, a supply of special high-protein feeds aids recovery. For orphaned newborns and infants, access to formula is essential for the first six months of life.

Our work goes beyond feeding. A dedicated nutritionist conducts cooking demonstrations and educational sessions for pediatric patients and their mothers, empowering families with knowledge for healthier futures.

To maintain high standards, we also invest in kitchen equipment and supplies, ensuring safe and efficient food preparation. Additionally, because power outages are common, we provide fuel for cooking during these blackouts so patients never miss a meal.

The Mukinge hospital food project also endeavours to care for the whole person – showing and sharing the love and compassion of Christ.

Hear from one of our New Zealand partners who has been closely involved with the food project:

“The Food Project is ensuring our patients get adequate nutrition while in the hospital, providing holistic care and malnutrition treatment. It provides food for all the patients of the hospital to have three balanced meals a day, and gives them the ability to remain in hospital for the duration of treatment by relieving the associated financial burden. It administers the necessary formula for orphaned infants and also for infants whose mothers cannot produce the required breast milk up to six months of age. The project has supplied nutritional supplements for over 88 PEM (Protein Energy Malnutrition) patients this year, and 691 over the past five years, as well as additional adult patients with malnutrition or needing NGT (tube) feeding, without which they would not survive.

“Holistic care, including nutrition, improves clinical outcomes when utilised, but is an indication to the patients and families that we care about their wellbeing beyond the immediate health concerns. We provide meals and ‘break bread’, being a cross-cultural way of showing love and following God’s commands as in Matthew 25:35-40. Our PEM patients embody ‘the least of these’ that we are sent to serve.

“An example of the lives changed in the Paediatric ward thanks to the food project was two infant cousins whose lives were forever changed when the youngest’s mother died suddenly, leaving him without a mother and without the milk he needed. The older cousin tried to share the milk his mother was providing, but there was not enough for both of them, and they both started to lose weight, putting them at risk. Thankfully, we were able to supply formula to the family, and the cousins started to put back on weight and were able to go home to thrive together.”

Your generosity will directly provide food, formula, and fuel – essentials that save lives every single day. To give, contact the SIM NZ office and quote project number 94559.