Obituary: Emelia Mulenga

Emelia Mulenga very sadly died on the 29^th May 2023. She was just 25.  She was born and spent her early years on the Copperbelt.  At the age of nine, her mother sent her to Lusaka with her younger siblings to live with their aunt. Unfortunately, their aunt went away on business for 6 months at a time, leaving Emelia to fend for herself and her two sisters. When she went to the clinic, she was chastised by staff accusing her of having children at such a young age, not knowing they were her younger sisters.

She became a street child, earning a living by sweeping the streets and selling knick-knacks. This experience put her in a very good position for managing the OVC programme.

At the age of 12, she came to live with distant relatives in Katete and restarted school. It is incredible that she managed to catch up having lost 3 years of school and graduate at grade 12 at the age of 18. She found employment as a general assistant at the St Francis’ Nurse Training School and there I met her in 2021. I asked her what she liked to do when off duty. She said she liked to look after children and after further discussion, I asked her if she would be willing to look after between 700 and 1,500 children.

Typically, for Emelia, she said that it wasn’t possible, and then said “maybe”.  Several meetings over the next nine months convinced us, and her, that she might be suitable for overseeing the OVC programme.  She took up the post in June 2022.

In late 2022, she achieved a Counselling Diploma (part of a Public Health course), by correspondence. She had intended to go on to complete a degree in 2023.

In the 11 months that she managed the programme, she turned it around, increasing the numbers of children from 712 to 1,055.

She had a remarkable ability to communicate effectively, not only with the parents and guardians, but also with the children.

Her passing is a very great and sad loss to not only the staff at St Francis, but also the children in the OVC programme. She was loved by all.