<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[Tonga Teen Corners]]></title><description><![CDATA[Empowering youth through confidential support and building brighter futures]]></description><link>https://www.tongateencorners.org/blog</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Fri, 05 Jun 2026 22:25:34 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.tongateencorners.org/blog-feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title><![CDATA[Trip 5: Half a Decade in Zambia: New Sites, Stronger Systems and Clear Evidence in 2026]]></title><description><![CDATA[We arrived in Zambia for our fifth year with a sense of relief we could feel in our bodies. After last year’s drought and its daily consequences, it was a gift to see the landscape green again, crops thriving, the Zambezi high, and electricity steady enough to let plans unfold without constant improvisation.  As always, we were accompanied by the steady presence of our partner NGO, On Call Africa, whose dedicated young team makes it possible for these youth-friendly spaces to exist at all.]]></description><link>https://www.tongateencorners.org/post/trip-5-half-a-decade-in-zambia-new-sitres-stronger-systems-and-clear-evidence-in-2026</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69e3773a0c8d230c9e8fa2c9</guid><category><![CDATA[Trip Updates]]></category><pubDate>Mon, 20 Apr 2026 12:47:38 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/def363_5fde653583484a01bcab43a8f8b838da~mv2.jpeg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Celeste Schenck</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[We Have to Learn Together: Boyd Nyundu and the First Youth-Friendly Space]]></title><description><![CDATA[When Boyd Nyundu introduces himself, he usually begins in Simonga, not in Lusaka. He speaks about gathering youth under a tree to discuss important topics related to health, education, and family that were largely taboo in society. He shares his pride in being the first president of the first Youth Corner, a youth-friendly space created with funds from Tonga Teen Corners that opened in 2023 and, as he puts it, “has helped a lot of people.” ]]></description><link>https://www.tongateencorners.org/post/we-have-to-learn-together-boyd-nyundu-and-the-first-youth-friendly-space</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69c7ca8c5ed83abd8bc11dd6</guid><category><![CDATA[Community Stories]]></category><pubDate>Sat, 28 Mar 2026 12:36:16 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/def363_b773f502064549e2a9ea4e2aa52555eb~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_905,h_509,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Celeste Schenck</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[On Call Africa and the Making of (Tonga) Teen Corners]]></title><description><![CDATA[On Call Africa came with a clear systems approach. Through their Community Health Improvement Programmes (CHIPs), they work with communities, clinic staff and government to identify, with data and self-assessment, where the biggest gaps in coverage and support lie. ]]></description><link>https://www.tongateencorners.org/post/on-call-africa-and-the-making-of-tonga-teen-corners</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69c794655ed83abd8bc0b50d</guid><category><![CDATA[Community Stories]]></category><pubDate>Sat, 28 Mar 2026 09:00:29 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/def363_2d3debd8f5ea4155a5a9eb3fe8f3bdc3~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Celeste Schenck</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[From Volunteer Coordinator to Systems Builder: Kasonde Mulenaga’s Journey]]></title><description><![CDATA[ Based in Livingstone and working with On Call Africa for the past three years, Kasonde is now project coordinator. He oversees several programs at once, including the youth-friendly spaces, which Tonga Teen Corners and On Call Africa collaborated on. Kasonde also helps host volunteer doctors from the United Kingdom who come to work alongside Zambian staff. He describes himself as a community development specialist, and his path to this role has been anything but accidental.]]></description><link>https://www.tongateencorners.org/post/from-volunteer-coordinator-to-systems-builder-kasonde-mulenaga-s-journey</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69c78dfe5ed83abd8bc0ab04</guid><category><![CDATA[Community Stories]]></category><pubDate>Sat, 28 Mar 2026 08:41:45 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/def363_0354f514222b4b55b9014c731e1b0b8d~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Celeste Schenck</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Stephen Nzala: Coordinating Care and Confidence at Simonga]]></title><description><![CDATA[Stephen Nzala was born and raised in Southern Zambia and trained as a clinical officer in the capital after an early ambition to become a surgeon. He entered government service in 2022 at a referral hospital in Livingstone, where he began to see, up close, what distance and poverty can do to health outcomes. One case stayed with him for weeks: an elderly woman who had been referred from a rural clinic but could not afford the trip. It clarified something for him. Instead of staying at the referr]]></description><link>https://www.tongateencorners.org/post/stephen-nzala-coordinating-care-and-confidence-at-simonga</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69c78d49495b6130435080e4</guid><category><![CDATA[Community Stories]]></category><pubDate>Sat, 28 Mar 2026 08:12:06 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/def363_75c785eb288a48c4aafc3bc201d9a8cf~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_734,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Celeste Schenck</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Miriam Banda and the Making of a Teen Corner]]></title><description><![CDATA[Miriam Banda is a registered midwife at Simonga Rural Health Center, where she has been working since 2020. ]]></description><link>https://www.tongateencorners.org/post/miriam-banda-and-the-making-of-a-teen-corner</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69c786945ed83abd8bc09e07</guid><category><![CDATA[Community Stories]]></category><pubDate>Sat, 28 Mar 2026 08:07:49 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/def363_fb71105e375b45c095ff377fc0b674a1~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Celeste Schenck</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Annual Letter 2025: Rounding the Corner on Our Fourth and Fifth Youth-Friendly Spaces]]></title><description><![CDATA[Tis past year has brought immense change to our work in Zambia, as well as abundant evidence that our investments there—fueled by your incredible generosity—are already beginning to pay off in terms of the objectives we set a few years ago.  When students have role models, support, peer counselors, and are invited to share knowledge and experiences in the youth-friendly spaces we build, everyone benefits from the resulting decrease in school leaving, teenage and unwanted pregnancies.]]></description><link>https://www.tongateencorners.org/post/annual-letter-2025-rounding-the-corner-on-our-fourth-and-fifth-youth-friendly-spaces</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69e3884543fd38a1bb722114</guid><category><![CDATA[Annual Letters]]></category><pubDate>Mon, 10 Nov 2025 23:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/def363_4c6eb432abae42bf801fb6a0dcf6bcd8~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_506,h_264,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Celeste Schenck</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Trip 4: What Two Youth Corners Can Set in Motion]]></title><description><![CDATA[Our landing in Zambia this year was a flurry of late flights, layovers, and then a jump straight into the rapids. By the next afternoon following our landing in Livingstone we were already back at our first site, Simonga Village, checking in with our student leaders and trying to take in what has changed since we first began this work.]]></description><link>https://www.tongateencorners.org/post/trip-4-what-two-youth-corners-can-set-in-motion</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69e338d10c8d230c9e8f1901</guid><category><![CDATA[Trip Updates]]></category><pubDate>Sun, 23 Mar 2025 23:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/def363_556ce371f18e45948dac68ddc1e96c59~mv2.jpeg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Celeste Schenck</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Annual Letter 2024: Sharing Knowledge and Building Together]]></title><description><![CDATA[In that first year, thanks to many of you, we raised the money to build our first center, to work with the peer ambassadors who would staff it, and to create the imagery and motto that would inspire all of us.]]></description><link>https://www.tongateencorners.org/post/annual-letter-2024-sharing-knowledge-and-building-together</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69cfd7545b09ec14f23ab0aa</guid><category><![CDATA[Annual Letters]]></category><pubDate>Tue, 26 Nov 2024 16:14:24 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/def363_0938b2d486d147f59c90c5002015c23e~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_960,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Celeste Schenck</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Trip 3: Returning to Simonga and Visiting Chidi in 2024]]></title><description><![CDATA[After about a week in Zambia, our days quickly filled with meetings, site visits, and long conversations, all threaded through a reality that shapes everything right now: a severe drought that has drained the Zambezi and caused frequent, dramatic load shedding. Electricity, and therefore connectivity, can drop for hours at a time, and the schedule shifts daily without warning.]]></description><link>https://www.tongateencorners.org/post/trip-3-returning-to-simonga-and-visiting-chidi-in-2024</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69e32c650c8d230c9e8eff5f</guid><category><![CDATA[Trip Updates]]></category><pubDate>Sun, 24 Mar 2024 23:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/def363_5f353f541dc84e70a7d7237f0329b07d~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Celeste Schenck</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Annual Letter 2023: A Beacon of Hope in Simonga]]></title><description><![CDATA[Over the course of last year we raised, with the help of many of you receiving this letter, the funds to build our first youth center and to fill it with appropriate furniture, teaching tools, games, computers, and other supportive materials—the better to create a space of confidentiality, comfort, and supportive peer community for Zambian adolescents in search of a better life.]]></description><link>https://www.tongateencorners.org/post/annual-letter-2023-a-beacon-of-hope-in-simonga</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69cfb9c5462bc80100beea15</guid><category><![CDATA[Annual Letters]]></category><pubDate>Wed, 22 Nov 2023 14:32:10 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/def363_59d266e22bb94908aa492f2672acec2b~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_768,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Celeste Schenck</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Trip 2: Building a First Youth-Friendly Space in Simonga in 2023]]></title><description><![CDATA[On our second trip to Zambia, we returned to Simonga Village, about 18 kilometers from Livingstone, with a single, clear goal: to open our first teen corner, a youth-friendly space attached to the rural medical clinic.]]></description><link>https://www.tongateencorners.org/post/trip-2-building-a-first-youth-friendly-space-in-simonga-in-2023</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69e24647724c2c08e3304e03</guid><category><![CDATA[Trip Updates]]></category><pubDate>Sun, 19 Mar 2023 23:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/def363_de8cf96be9064fb78ace34343c368632~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Celeste Schenck</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Trip 1: Our First Assessment Visit to Zambia in 2022]]></title><description><![CDATA[Dominique spoke about his lifelong desire to do humanitarian work, even as he directed three departments’ public health systems in France, and Charles his wish to return to Zambia where he was born to have impact on the communities he so loved as a child.  As he put it, “there is little there in terms of infrastructure; everything is to be built.”  Each of them had tears in their eyes as they evoked these complementary projects and the conversation ended with a decision to go to Zambia together ]]></description><link>https://www.tongateencorners.org/post/trip-1-our-first-assessment-visit-to-zambia-in-2022</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69e240ffa96d49e56ebd2150</guid><category><![CDATA[Trip Updates]]></category><pubDate>Mon, 19 Sep 2022 14:36:13 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/def363_58980dbc1d084ec3ba7eb5914d29f57c~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Celeste Schenck</dc:creator></item></channel></rss>