Support Melissa and Loren's friend Prisca

Hello friends and family from Loren and Melissa (Carey) McKnight. Loren and I are reaching out to you to ask you to consider donating to our Go Fund Me cause. We have started a Go Fund Me to assist one of my dear friends from Africa to attend a conference here in the States. It was 10 years ago that I (Melissa) took my first trip to Africa; I traveled to work with an organization that helps provide HIV/AIDS education by teaming up with local pastors and other non-profit organizations in several countries. I fell deeply in love with Africa and its beautiful people, landscapes, wildlife, and was immediately drawn to wanting to help with the myriad of social/economic/educational/health issues that are prevalent. I have felt called to volunteer my time and effort in some small way to that part of the world ever since. It was through this volunteer work that in 2017 I met an amazing lady named Prisca Kambole who founded and is the executive director of an organization called PLAEP (Partners for Life Advancement and Education Promotion). PLAEP is based in Kitwe, Zambia and you can follow this link to learn more about PLAEP and all the exciting work they do at https://plaep.org

One of the things that drew me to PLAEP is that this NGO was founded by an extremely passionate woman who cares deeply about her own community and therefore takes a holistic view to address many of the community's needs. She runs Musonda school, has a feeding program for over 700 students (often the only meal they receive all day), a girls safe home, over 100 women's community self-help financial groups (savings and lending), a farm, a food processing plant, and involvement/support of a local medical clinic. This past February, Corey (our 16 yr old son) and I were able to travel to Zambia to visit Prisca and see some of the exciting work that PLAEP is doing. The work Prisca and her organization are doing is greatly needed in their community and helps to provide education and safety for over 800 students.

Prisca has an upcoming opportunity, and greatly desires, to attend the CAFO summit (Christian Alliance for Orphans) a conference in Oklahoma City, OK running September 19-22. The link for the conference is https://summit.cafo.org. We are hopeful that we can help Prisca obtain the funds to attend this conference in The States where she can attend numerous seminars and workshops on orphan care, fundraising, recruiting volunteers, micro-finance groups, etc. Since I have recently joined the PLAEP USA board, I am hoping to attend the conference as well to gain more knowledge to better serve on this board. Prisca is hopeful that she will develop more relationships with individuals, churches and community organizations that can provide ongoing prayer and support for PLAEP. Loren and I decided that we could start a Go Fund Me page for our friend Prisca to help raise funds to pay for some or all of her travel from Zambia, hotel, and the conference fees.

We would greatly appreciate your support in this venture. If you have the time and feel inclined to help please follow the links provided to learn more about the work that Prisca is doing and the conference we are hoping she can attend. Thank you so much for taking the time to read about our cause and for your ongoing prayers for Prisca and the people she serves in Zambia.

With love,

Melissa and Loren

p.s. If you would like more details about the breakdown of the financial cost, you can contact Melissa or Loren directly. If you happen to be in the greater Oklahoma City area around the time of the conference there might be an opportunity to meet Melissa and Prisca.