In the summer of 2012, parent and student representatives from Convent of the Visitation High School in St. Paul, Minnesota were invited by the Dominican Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Ndola, Zambia to visit, learn about and support their mission.  The Sisters first arrived in Ndola in 1924 to minister to the poorest members of this community by initiating educational, social and healthcare services.  Today, they run an impressive array services for the most at risk and vulnerable members of their community, and are known throughout Zambia for the quality and excellence of the education they provide at Fatima Secondary School.

A true partnership was born that year, a partnership squarely based on the priority needs that the Sisters identify for their work, ensuring that any assistance delivered is needed and locally relevant.  For example, certain pharmaceutical, specialized equipment and sanitation needs are often challenging to procure, limiting their ability to provide a full continuum of medical and dental care.  Once identified, our team worked to fill those gaps.  This was also true of many of the educational needs of the schools run by the Sisters.

Wellness for Africa was founded by Janelle Feltz in July 2020.  Janelle had been working intensively on this partnership for almost a decade, and decided a sustainable platform was needed to scale up the efforts to support the expanded services the Sisters are providing.  The Sisters are a part of Wellness for Africa's governance to maximize ownership of the non-profits work.  The COVID-19 pandemic is accelerating in this region, increasing the pressure on those services provided for the most at risk members of their community, a sector increasingly impacted by the health and economic devastation of the COVID-19. 

Together, one small step at a time - one person, donation, project - we are committed and inspired by the mission to make every effort count on behalf of our brothers and sisters in Ndola.


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Janelle Feltz is President and Executive Director of Wellness for Africa.  Janelle has been working to support the Dominican Mission Sisters in Ndola for almost a decade.  She is a Registered Nurse (R.N.) with expertise in both Intensive Care Medicine and the Operating Room medicine that she has used to help the Sisters to identify and address critical care gaps at St. Dominic's Mission Hospital.  This included planning for and equipping the hospital's new Surgical Theatre, which performed its first surgical operation in 2016. Janelle works annually with the Sisters to assess priority inventory needs for providing essential health and dental care services to the community, from personal protective equipment needed during COVID-19 pandemic to pharmaceuticals and medical equipment.  Many of these supplies are acquired through donations from WFA's partners and are gathered and packed by volunteers.  Janelle graduated with a Bachelors of Science degree in Nursing from Pittsburg State University, Pittsburg, Kansas.

Dr. Eric Grutzner (D.D.S.), Advisory Board Member, and wife Barbara Grutzner (R.N.) Secretary, were members of the first team that traveled to Ndola in 2012. Dr. Grutzner, an Endodontist in the Minneapolis/St. Paul community, has assisted St. Dominic's to further the development of their Dental Clinic.  He provides a variety of dental services to the Ndola community, the children in St. Anthony's Orphanage, and students attending Barefoot Community School. In 2018, he and wife Barbara spearheaded fundraising and partnered with the Dominican Missionary Sisters to design, build out, and fully equip a 2nd dental suite for their Dental Clinic. 

Dr. Robert Sicoli, Treasurer, is head of Pediatric Emergency Room Services at both St. Paul and Minneapolis Children's Hospitals in Minneapolis/St.Paul, and also a member of the first volunteer mission trip.  Dr. Sicoli has played an enormous role in fostering the confidence of the medical team and Hospital Administrative staff at St. Dominic's Hospital.  He collaborates with the medical staff during daily patient rounds, he conducts physical assessments for children housed at St. Anthony's Orphanage, and serves populations in the most rural stretches of the community by conducting well-baby checks, malaria tests and other health assessments. Dr. Sicoli and his wife, Sharyl Sicoli (R.N.), Advisory Board Member, are very committed to supporting the work of the Sisters.

Philip Goldman, Advisory Board Member, is Founder and President of Maestral International, a team of leading global experts supporting the development, strengthening and coordination of child welfare and protection systems that meet the needs of children in adversity.  Philip has worked with a wide range of global organizations to establish child and family focused social welfare systems.  He has participated in our capacity building activities in Ndola and has a particular interest in working with the Sisters to transition children to family-based care.  He has also been interested in how an education partnership can be developed between the Sisters' and Visitation School.

We're extremely proud of and grateful for the work our team has accomplished in Ndola, Zambia while partnering with the Sisters. Our focus has always been to lay the groundwork and build great trust with the local community and the Sisters to grow the shared mission of Wellness for Africa. We look to the future with great optimism as we scale up our level of support to advance the expanded objectives of the Sisters.