Zambia
Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a country in Africa that borders Congo, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia and Angola. Zambia is an independent republic with the mining industry (copper) as the most important economic factor. On October 24, 1964, Northern Rhodesia declared its independence under the name of Zambia with Kenneth Kaunda as president. The current president of Zambia is Edgar Lungu (since February 2015).
The country has an area of 750,000 km2 (almost 19x larger than the Netherlands). It’s capital is Lusaka. The official language in Zambia is English. More than 70 languages are spoken. Seven of these languages have official status, including Silozi in the Western Province.
Zambia is officially a Christian country. Of the total population, 87% are Christian, a large part of whom are Roman Catholic. About 5% are Muslims who mainly live in urban areas. There is also a small Jewish community.
According to the United Nations Development Program, 68% of the population in Zambia lives below the poverty line. 46% of the population is younger than 14 years. As in many African countries, AIDS is a major threat.
Kaoma
Kaoma is the city where Johannes Bouma worked from 2006 to 2013 as a curate / pastor. It is the capital of the Kaoma district and is located in the Western Province, one of the nine provinces in which Zambia is divided.
The city is approximately 460 km west of Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. Around 170,000 people live in the Kaoma district, most of them in and around Kaoma city and along the Luena and Luampa rivers.
As Johannes Bouma worked in Kaoma in 2006, his brothers started building there. In the following years a project was found near Kaoma or in the immediate vicinity as well. Johannes has now retired and no longer lives in Kaoma, but the BmB foundation has remained there. The board of BmB in Zambia is formed by residents of the district.