“Peter Chabala was many things to many people: Teacher, caregiver, protector, provider, champion. To me, he was my father. And he was amazing.

The Chabala Mercy Foundation is a memorial program in honor of my father, Mr. Peter Chabala, an educator who dedicated his whole life to teaching children in Luanshya – a small town in the Copperbelt Province of Zambia, Southern Africa.

Mr. Peter Chabala raised his own children – as well as a number of relatives and non-relatives who needed care – in our home, which is now the Chabala Mercy Foundation home. In honor of his overwhelming dedication to ensure that children were educated, we have symbolically turned his home into a home for orphaned and vulnerable girls. The home is right across the street from the school where Mr Peter Chabala once taught and where the girls will be attending.

How this came to be

When my father passed away, I returned to my home after many years of living in the US, and was amazed at what I found. Was this small three-bedroom home really the one I had grown up in? It was hard for me to comprehend.

My sister and I inherited the home and quickly learned that the sale value wasn’t going to amount to much. At the same time we recognized that the spiritual value was immense. And so with our father smiling down from heaven, we began to plant the seeds that would further his mission. Today, through hard work and the support of donors, we’re rebuilding our childhood home to carry on the work of educating and caring for underprivileged children begun by Peter Chabala all those many years ago.”

– Trudy Jarrard, Director, Chabala Mercy Foundation