Cameron Lawrence (electrian), Daniel Greef (handyman) and Jason O’Bryan (plumber) are part of a team  spending two weeks in Zambia.

They will he helping build a dorm for special needs children and classrooms for Years 10 to 12 students to enable the children in the orphanage to complete their schooling.

The orphanage, Grace Academy, is run by Seeds of Hope, a Canadian Children’s Ministry.

It is the only orphanage in Zambia to cater specifically for HIV infected and affected children – either the children are infected themselves or they are orphans as their parents were affected. 

Grace Academy was originally set up in the mid 1990s as a place for HIV infected children to die where they would be loved.

Once antiretroviral therapy was discovered the children started surviving. 

Seeds of Hope created a school within the orphanage to help the children thrive and set themselves up for their future. 

Grace Academy continues to grow and will be adding a dorm for special needs children and further classrooms to enable children to complete their schooling (up to Year 12) and therefore be able to go on to tertiary education.

Cameron was part of the first Australian team to work at Grace Academy when he flew there last year and the ‘Aussie Dorm’ was built.

After being challenged by what he heard and saw, he decided to organise a local team to further assist the children. 

Cameron is the team leader with Daniel and Jason, from Parkes, and a couple from Sydney making up the numbers for this mission.

In preparation for the trip, the team is having a trivia night on Saturday, August 2, at 7pm the Presbyterian Church, corner of Gap and Hill Streets to raise money and awareness for the mission. 

Entry is $10 per person and it should be a fun night.

If you’d like to keep up to date with how the mission is progressing, or would like more information or to come to the trivia night, please email the team at zambia2015@mail.com.