Derrick Silimina

Derrick Silimina is an award-winning multimedia journalist based in Lusaka, Zambia. His work has appeared on many media platforms in Zambia and abroad. He holds a diploma in journalism and public relations from the Zambia Institute of Mass Communications. He is the former editor of one of the country's leading agricultural publications and is currently an executive writer with Solwezi Today Magazine and This is Zambia Magazine, one of the top business and Investment magazines in the country.

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Hope Chipete poses for a photo at Da Gama Special School. She was among 10 girls with disabilities who earned a school scholarship from the office of the First Lady of Zambia through the Merck Foundation, which took up the responsibility to sponsor their education until the tertiary level. (GSR photo/Derrick Silimina)

Franciscan Sisters support special education in Zambia

At Da Gama Special School, students pay glowing tribute to school administrators for providing a conducive environment for children with disabilities to access holistic education and hope for a brighter future.

Baptistine Sr. Evelyn Bwalya, the coordinator of Youth Community Training Centre, visits Tisa Mumba at her workplace, Woodlands Lodge & Tours, in Livingstone, Zambia. Mumba was offered the job as a chef after a two-month internship following her nine-month course at the center. (Derrick Silimina)

Baptistines' training center boosts job prospects of Zambian youths

At the Youth Community Training Centre run by Baptistine sisters in Livingstone, Zambia, young people acquire valuable skills in food production, electrical engineering, plumbing, carpentry and other vocational fields.

Sr. Mercy Kanyoro interacts with patients at the Mother Theresa Hospice. The hospice is a refuge for the sick and dying, located on the outskirts of Kabulonga, an exclusive suburb adjacent to Kalingalinga, a slum in Lusaka, Zambia. (Derrick Silimina)

Sisters of Charity run facility for poor Zambians who are sick and dying

The Mother Theresa Hospice, a refuge for the sick and dying, is on the outskirts of Kabulonga, a suburb adjacent to Kalingalinga, a Lusaka slum. Missionaries of Charity run the facility and care for almost 300 people a day.

Immaculate Conception Sr. Theresa Kulandai engages the younger girls in conversation at Home of Joy, also known as Nyumba Yanga Orphanage, located on the grounds of the Marian Shrine in Lusaka, Zambia. (Derrick Silimina)

Q&A with Sr. Theresa Kulandai on caring for orphaned girls in Zambia

Sr. Theresa Kulandai, a member of the Congregation of the Immaculate Conception from India and director of Home of Joy, works to provide education, food, clothing and shelter to orphaned girls in Lusaka.

Sr. Bibian Mbao engages her grade eight students at Holy Cross Girls Secondary School in Mongu, Zambia. (Derrick Silimina)

Holy Cross Sisters improve lives of Zambian girls through education, support

Women in Zambia spoke to GSR about how the Sisters of the Holy Cross helped improve their futures. The women benefited from the sisters' support and dedication to education, via Holy Cross Girls Secondary School in Mongu.

Girls walk by the Auxilium Skills Training Center in Makeni, Lusaka, Zambia. Along with the Home for Girls at Risk and the Open Community School, the center is part of City of Hope, run by the Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco. (GSR photo/Derrick Silimina)

Girls at risk in Zambia find residency, skills training with Salesian sisters

Salesian sisters in Zambia take in girls from the country's most feared slum, pulling them out of addiction and offering them a home while providing vocational training to them and a wider vulnerable population.

Sr. Marjory Mwansa sits in her office

Q&A with Sr. Marjory Mwansa, breaking ground in orthopedic care in Zambia

Sr. Marjory Mwansa, a physiotherapist administrator at St. John Paul II Mission Orthopaedic Hospital in Lusaka, Zambia, said the state-of-the-art medical facility is a beacon of hope for children with disabilities.

A nun and a teacher stand in front of a class.

Sisters in Zambia support children with disabilities

In Zambia, Sisters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary manage a school to teach and support children with disabilities. More than 200 children with disabilities are enrolled there. 

Sr. Adelina Adao, assistant administrator for Our Lady's Health Centre, attends to a patient during her routine work in one of the wards at the health center in Kalingalinga, one of the densely populated slums near Lusaka. (GSR photo/Derrick Silimina)

Sisters in Zambia improve access to health care, particularly for those with HIV/AIDS

A sisters-run health center provides easier access to quality health care for patients in need, especially those with HIV/AIDS. The center's community posts alleviate fear of stigma and help clients get essential treatment.

Mercy Sr. Christabel Kazembe interacts with mothers and their children during one of her community outreach programs with Strengthening the Capacity of Religious Women in Early Childhood Development (SCORE-ECD) in Zambia. (Courtesy of Christabel Kazembe)

Sisters nurture young children in Zambia by teaching mothers parenting skills

Through group sessions and home visits, more than 1,600 mothers in Zambia have benefited from the program known as "Strengthening the Capacity of Religious Women in Early Childhood Development" (SCORE-ECD).

Man holds book in bookstore.

Sisters' bookshop, media programming evangelize Zambia's Catholics

A bookstore in Lusaka, Zambia, operated by the Pious Society of the Daughters of St. Paul, helps people grow in their faith as Christians, and how they can become true friends of Jesus.

Sr. Beatrice Mwansa of the Daughters of the Redeemer in her office at the Zambia Institute of Mass Communications in Lusaka (Derrick Silimina)

Q & A with Sr. Beatrice Mwansa, spreading truth and faith through the media

Zambian Sr. Beatrice Mwansa of the Daughters of the Redeemer believes society cannot underestimate the role of the media in evangelism because it can spread God's message to the world "in a flash of a minute."

Sisters in Africa debunk myths and educate people to get the COVID-19 vaccine

In Africa, there is rampant misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine. To save lives amid the pandemic, Catholic sisters have been working to educate and encourage people to get vaccinated as the best means to fight the virus.

Sr. Judith Bozek, a Missionary Sister of the Holy Family, shares a light moment with Esnart Kangwa (in pink shirt), one of the elderly residents at the Cheshire Divine Providence Home, located in a large slum just southwest of Lusaka, Zambia.

Holy Family sisters shelter orphans, elderly homeless in Zambia facility

In a large slum just southwest of Lusaka, the Missionary Sisters of the Holy Family operate the Cheshire Divine Providence Home amid COVID-19 hardships, housing more than 20 elderly homeless people and 30 orphans.

Sr. Caroline Ngatia of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Sisters of Eldoret shares breakfast with the street families in Nairobi, Kenya. (Doreen Ajiambo)

In Africa, sisters lead the way to replace orphanages with family care

The goal is as simple as it is complicated to achieve: Shift the care of children from institutions like orphanages to a family or family-like environment.