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Summary
Dora Moono Nyambe, known as "Mother Zambia," was a humanitarian and educator who fostered over 200 children, educated 500, and fought against child abuse and early marriages before her untimely death on December 25, 2024, leaving a profound legacy of hope and transformation.
Dora’s passing came as a shock to her online audience despite the fact that she always joked about being the most hated woman in her community for stopping hundreds of child marriages and rescuing children who are victims of child and sexual abuse in rural villages in Zambia. Dora was a teacher who noticed numerous children in Mapapa village and neighboring villages lacked access to education, with uneducated young girls being more vulnerable and at higher risk of child marriage. She took it upon herself to provide these children with free education by starting a provisional class teaching the children under the shed of a tree.
Ms. Nyambe is not originally from Mapapa but only visited her friend’s family in the village in late 2019. She saw the high rate of out-of-school children and the high rates of early marriage and teen pregnancies. Dora told The Thomson Reuters Foundation, “As a teacher, as a human being, I felt I had to do something to bring education to these children.”
She shared her journey on TikTok, gaining the admiration and support of many who contributed to her building a tuition-free school to provide education to children in over four communities. Through the help of her online community, Dora and her best friend raised 350,000 Euros to set up a school named Footprints for Hope, which shelters, educates, feeds, and provides hope to children in Mapapa and other neighboring villages in Zambia. Her journey inspired her to write a book titled “Under a Zambian Tree,” which was released on Feb. 7 this book captured Ms. Nyambe’s experiences which shaped her life and philanthropy.
“I was alone with my thoughts and dreams. It took everything I had to take that first step, saying to myself ‘I will let go of everything else and chase this one dream.” Dora also made it public that the proceeds from the first 5,000 copies were dedicated to supporting her charity.
Her last post was said to be a WhatsApp status that said, “When it’s 3:00 am and you drive yourself to the hospital because you keep blacking out.” On Dec. 25, the news of her death broke out on TikTok, a platform where she has her most immense following of 4,100,000 people who support and admire her courage and work. A Footprints for Hope school staff took to Dora’s official page on Dec. 26, 2024, to announce her sudden demise. Her online community has been thrown into mourning, with unknown sources claiming she was either poisoned or bewitched.
Dora Moono Nyabe, also known as Mother Zambia, was a foster mother to over 200 children while educating 500 children from 4 communities. She was an activist, humanitarian, philanthropist, educator, sister and friend to many. Dora used her TikTok account and other social media platforms to advocate against child marriage, sex abuse, and other form of abuse against children. Apart from building a tuition-free school to educate and give hope to the children she rescued and other children in the village Dora has leveraged the support of her online communities and other donors to also install four water boreholes in Mapapa and hired teachers to work in schools in neighboring towns.
Social media users have raised concerns about the cause of her death, but her team or family has made no formal announcement or autopsy results. Her online community has also expressed concerns about the welfare of the children and the continuity of Ms. Nyambe’s legacy of protecting children’s rights and offering education and hope. Dora Moono Nyabe’s burial is set to be on Dec. 27, 2024, she lives on in the hearts of everyone she has impacted.
