It's not every day that a fly-fishing enthusiast can head out to the river and in doing so help orphans in Africa obtain education, care and nourishment.
Rather, it's once every year here in the Wood River Valley.
Next Wednesday, Sept. 26, local anglers will have the opportunity to take part in a guided fishing trip with Ketchum-based Silver Creek Outfitters that will help feed, educate and paint a brighter future for children in the Mapalo Academy in Zambia, Africa.
This will be the fourth annual event put on by Fishing for Life, a locally based organization dedicated to feeding, educating and caring for Zambian orphans. A full 100 percent of the day's proceeds will be directed to Zambian orphans.
The organization was started in the summer of 2004 by guides from Silver Creek Outfitters who realized how far a day's pay for guiding could go for feeding orphans in Zambia, said Silver Creek Outfitters guide Peter DeBaun, who spearheaded the fundraiser four years ago.
According to recent information provided by the Department for International Development, Zambia is one of Africa's poorest countries, with more than two-thirds of the population (about 7 million people) living below the national poverty line of less than 93 cents per day. One in six children dies before their fifth birthday. Maternal mortality rates, child hunger rates and deaths from AIDS are continuing to rise.
Now all employees at Silver Creek Outfitters donate an entire day's wages to the Fishing for Life cause. The Ketchum and Hailey Rotary clubs, local business owners, churches and passionate locals are also involved.
Speaking by phone Monday, DeBaun explained that while in the past funds from the event were directed solely to the Mapalo Academy, an orphanage and school in Zambia for which he is volunteer director, some are now being placed into an educational endowment for orphans who qualify for post-secondary schooling.
For up to six months every year DeBaun teaches classes at Northrise University, an advanced technical school and the first private university in Zambia. He said that five Zambian children have already been sponsored at the university, which has the highest hiring rate in the country.
DeBaun said the long-term goal of the Fishing for Life project is to not only feed and educate orphans at Mapalo Academy, but to actually help rebuild Zambia through the contributions of the children who go on to post-secondary education. He said the group's goal is to raise $100,000 this year to build a new kitchen facility, start a self-sustaining farm and a self-sustaining brick-making business.
In the long term, DeBaun said the group hopes to raise $12 million to send all 1,000 orphans in the Mapalo area of Zambia through college or trade school.
By investing in the youthful talent of Zambia, a brighter future for the impoverished nation will be created, DeBaun said.
"The most important thing you can do for the country is replenish the intellectual capital," he said. "We want them to rebuild their country."
Results from past Fishing for Life activities can already be seen at the Mapalo Academy, DeBaun said.
He said that in the beginning, there was one teacher teaching 300 children at the academy in a room not much larger than a single car garage.
With funds provided by Fishing for Life, construction of a 65-meter-long school was completed in early 2006, DeBaun said. He said there are now five teachers, one director, two cooks and a full-time guard and caretaker on staff at the academy.
DeBaun said that funds from Fishing for Life have also allowed all five teachers to be sent to teacher's college.
In the next year, they hope to start a computer-training center at the academy to provide work skills for older children and local villagers.
Zambia is a landlocked country that has land bordering Tanzania to the northeast, Malawi to the east, Mozambique and Zimbabwe to the southeast, Botswana and Namibia to the south, Angola on the west and Zaire to the northwest.
The country has one of the lowest population-to-land ratios in Africa—10 million people in a country half the size of Europe.
Fishing for Life
Trips provided by guides with Silver Creek Outfitters to benefit the Fishing for Life cause are available on a first-come, first-served basis. To reserve a spot for one of the Sept. 26 guided fly-fishing trips, call Silver Creek Outfitters at 726-5123.
Orphaned children from the Mapalo Academy in Zambia surround Silver Creek Outfitters fly-fishing guide Peter DeBaun, center-top. DeBaun and his fellow guides at Silver Creek Outfitters will donate 100 percent of their earnings on Sept. 26 in support of Fishing for Life, a local organization dedicated to feeding, educating and caring for Zambian orphans at the Mapalo Academy. Photo courtesy of Peter DeBaun
