Falconer Home
Falconer Home
The Falconer Home came into existence in 1947 established by Lilias Falconer, who was born in Manchester on the 15th July 1915.
At the age of 15 she was telling her family of the call on her life to go to Africa “to look after babies and children”. In order to fulfil her vision Miss Falconer applied to Medical agencies for the opportunity to train as a nurse.
At first all of her applications were refused. In 1939 World War II broke out and she was accepted into nursing and trained by the Salvation Army. After a course in tropical medicine, she sailed for Africa. There she saw the plight of little babies left to die when their mothers died in childbirth. After agreeing to care for one such child, Luke Fundulu, five more were quickly brought to her and with her six babies Lilias went further into the bush where she established her Children’s Home and Orphanage in the small village of Kabulamema.
The Falconer Home came into existence in 1947 established by Lilias Falconer, who was born in Manchester on the 15th July 1915.
No child was ever refused admission to the Home, and although many arrived sick, undernourished and sometimes on the verge of death, Miss Falconer’s nursing skills saw many of them grow into adulthood. Dr. Kenneth Kaunda, Zambia’s first president awarded Miss Falconer ‘The Order of Distinguished Service’ in his Honours List in 1969 and in 1984 Queen Elizabeth II granted her the MBE which was presented to her at Kabulamema by the British High Commissioner for Zambia (Lilias refused to come back to the UK to receive it saying that if they wanted her to have it they better bring it to her – what a lady !!)
Today a verse from the Bible is still on the welcome sign in front of the Home
It was Miss Falconer’s wish that her work would continue by the children she raised and the success story of the Home is that some of the children have stayed and that when ‘Mama’ was ‘called to her rest’ they were already trained, willing, able and ready to continue the running of the Home. Today the general administration of the Home is carried out by Simon Samutala (pictured below). Simon came to the Home as a baby just two days old. Now in his sixties he oversees the needs of an ever increasing family. In her thirties, Miriam Mulyata came at seven days old. After completing her education and two years nursing training she is now in charge of the family’s welfare and with a staff of 25 cares for around 80 children, in addition to running the health care centre in the village.
So the work that Miss Falconer began in 1947 is today being carried on by her children, her dream is being fulfilled. During a visit to the Home in 1999 by Professor Nkuma Luo, the then Minister of Health in the Zambian Government, said “This Home is a unique place”.
St.Margaret’s Church has been linked with The Falconer Home for more than 60 years and supports the work financially and through the voluntary donations of parcels and provisions by members of the congregation and in prayer. Several church members have long standing personal connections with the Home and these links have been strengthened when Graham Roberts visited in July 2016 as part of the “Raise the Roof” team (Graham is front row, right in the picture below) to work on the renovation and development of one of the buildings into a boy’s dormitory
Other church members Duncan, Susan, Nicholas and Megan Stansfield, our main links with the home, fulfilled a long held dream to visit The Falconer Children’s Home in August 2016 and returned with many happy memories plus many pictures some of which are featured on this page.
“In addition to being able to hand deliver 50 kilos of gifts for the 80 or so children who live there we were also able to hand over £600 in cash that Megan raised completing a sponsored 5k colour run,” explains Duncan
“There is so much that we could say about our trip - the excitement of it, seeing the joy in the faces of the children and the workers/helpers at the home despite their circumstances, experiencing the sights and sounds of this beautiful continent, the feeling that comes from achieving something that we have wanted to do for so long whilst wondering whether we ever would and just enjoying the simple pleasures of blowing bubbles and, of course, the emotion of realising that all of this was started by one woman who dared to believe that she could do it.”
It is really her and the God she served who should be recognised.
If you would like to know more about this amazing lady and the place she created visit www.thefalconertrust.org where you can also obtain a copy of the book that tells the full story, “Mama Ndoma – The Story of Lilias Falconer, The Lady with the Golden Heart” by Pat Webb.
