This Week's Speaker in Peter Smith from Communities Without Borders

Posted by Susan Peghiny

Communities Without Borders is a Newton-based non-profit that supports the education of 1,500 children in Zambia whose parents

have died of the AIDS pandemic. Peter Smith is one of the two founding board members who will talk about the work they do

which has grown beyond their initial goal of getting the children into government primary schools in eight different communities.

They have provided groups of aunts, grandmothers and neighbors who are the children's caretakers with sewing machines and knitting machines and other resources so they can survive while the children are in school. They have provided tutoring for the 7th and 9th grade required exams. They have provided tuition for four students to go on to University. They have paid for the volunteer preschool teachers to be professionally trained and committed to pay them salaries to insure the children will be ready for primary school.

Other projects have included building kitchens and toilets for the pre-schools, a psycho-social program called "tree of life" to help

students overcome the trauma of losing their parents at a young age and recently a "healthy learners" program with doctors and nurses providing immunizations and check ups so the children will not miss classes because of health problems.

Don't miss the chance to learn about this wonderful organization! Tuesday at Noon at Braeburn!