South Carolina grad creates school in Zambia for impoverished children

In the summer of 2015, Aiken native Savannah Turner reached out to a friend in Zambia and asked if she could spend the summer there in the city of Lusaka.

She wasn't sure why she wanted to go to Zambia; she just knew she desperately needed to be there.

Turner first visited Zambia two years prior, when she was a rising South Aiken High School senior and active member of Cedar Creek Church. She spent part of her trip evangelizing in public schools in Lusaka.

During that trip, Turner spent some nights sleeping on the ground, surrounded by curious children who huddled close to her for warmth.

"I knew, among the children with no shoes and dirty clothes on the dusty ground, that I was going to come back," Turner said.

Turner would return one day, and she would help establish Chikondi Community School, which currently serves over 130 orphaned and marginalized children in the rural areas outside Lusaka.

But her path to creating Chikondi wasn't straightforward or easy. 

After Turner returned to the U.S. she graduated from South Aiken and attended Anderson University. Aside from sporadic contact with some friends she'd made on her first trip, Zambia had moved to the back of her mind.

Then she attended a sermon one Wednesday night that asked students to "go and share their faith with the world."

"I felt the Lord tug at my heart and remind me of Zambia," Turner said. "I worried how that would change my life, and so I ignored Him ... I knew the Lord was asking me to go back to Zambia. I didn't want to."

But the calling Turner felt was too strong to ignore. She finally gave in and reached out to her friend, Rev. Bitwell Njovu, and asked if she could visit for the summer.  

"I told him I didn't know what I was supposed to do there, but I knew I needed to go and I was getting a degree in elementary education," Turner said.

Njovu arranged for Turner to come to Zambia and teach English in local community schools. It was there that she discovered what she was called to do.

"Community schools are schools for orphans and less-privileged children who cannot afford basic costs of uniforms and books and therefore cannot afford to go to public or private school," Turner said. "These schools are mostly run by churches with underpaid teachers and classrooms that are filled to the brim. Typically you see teachers who are unmotivated and unwilling to care for children, and the primary discipline method is beating."

Turner said she saw the "broken systems, outdated methods and huge gaps" in the community schools and wanted to change it.

"On one of my last days, I spoke with Bitwell about a dream I had of opening my own school for orphans one day," Turner said. "He said he actually had the same dream and that it was something we would pray and plan for one day."

Turner returned to Zambia the following summer. Njovu was suddenly moved by the same feeling of purpose that she had been when she crossed the ocean in 2015 and insisted that the time to build a school had come.

But Turner was nervous – she only had $800 raised for the project and was still learning how to navigate the Zambian school system. At Njovu's insistence, she took a leap of faith.

"Within three weeks, we had started renting a building, renovated and painted it, hired and trained teachers, built desks, cleaned the area and started a primary school," Turner said.

Through Turner and Njovu's efforts, Chikondi Community School opened to the poorest children in the area. It was certified and accredited by the Zambian government and had two teachers hired by Turner, who had them sign contracts prohibiting physical discipline.

"We told orphans and vulnerable children to come," Turner said. "We told them they didn't have to pay anything. We would cover the costs as long as they wanted to learn. More and more students and parents showed up wanting to be in school. I left that summer with four classrooms completely full of children ... They were the children that deserved more."

To help support her students, Turner founded Hands of Hope, a nonprofit that manages the funds for food and clothing for the school's children.

As word of Turner's school spread, the number of students increased dramatically. Chikondi now has over 130 students and is at maximum capacity with "kids crammed in every room," according to Turner.

Turner wants to expand Chikondi and start a new school for children in need in Zambia.

"We do not want to have to turn children away, but now we are having to because there is simply no room," Turner said. "Our goal is to also have competitive pay for teachers, as they work tirelessly and care for the least fortunate within their communities."

Hands of Hope has also expanded its goals, aiming to establish sustainable farming programs in the rural areas outside Lusaka where families have no access to education or good nutrition. They are fundraising to build a worship center for Chikondi, expand its classrooms and start a new school for the children who seek to better their lives. 

Turner is now a school teacher at Spearman Elementary in Piedmont, S.C., but she returns to Zambia every summer to do administrative work and raise funds for Hands of Hope throughout the year.

"Our ultimate goal is to serve more children and love them the way that Christ loves us," Turner said. "My story of starting a school in Zambia is ultimately a story of redemption – a girl who didn't know any better and a pastor from the other side of the world, meeting by God's grace and allowing us to serve His children."