Wellness for africa: The Story

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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