21/08/2025
💔💔😭😭😭
Hastings Kambole and Purity Mwanza were both 14 years old and grew up in Lusaka’s Shantumbu area. Life had been hard for them from the beginning. They had no parents to take care of them. They grew up knowing hunger, cold nights, and the pain of begging just to survive.
Every morning, they would wake up and sit by the roadside, asking for help. Some people gave them coins, while others ignored them. But Hastings was clever with his hands. He would pick up old pieces of wood and use a knife to carve small boxes for keeping coins. The boxes were simple, but many people liked them. Hastings and Purity would sell them on the streets.
Even though the money was very little, they made a promise to each other. They said they would use it to go to school. They believed school was the only way to escape poverty. Slowly, they started saving. And with the introduction of free education in Zambia, they managed to register in school. They both entered grade 1 last year in 2024
At school, life was still not easy. Sometimes they went without books. Sometimes they walked barefoot. But Hastings and Purity encouraged each other every day. They sat together in class and helped one another with homework. Their friendship grew stronger because they both carried the same pain and the same dream.
Hastings always told Purity, “One day, we will finish school, get good jobs, and never beg again.” Purity believed him. He was not only her best friend, but like family.
But life is cruel sometimes.
On 17th August 2025, Hastings went to watch a football game between Manchester United and Arsenal. He loved football and was very excited. As he was walking back home along Shantumbu Road, a drunk bus driver lost control and hit him. Hastings died on the spot.
When the news reached Purity, her whole world broke apart. She could not stop crying. The boy who had been her strength, her dream partner, and her only true friend was gone.
Purity felt empty, lost, and devastated. The boy who once promised her a better tomorrow was no longer there.
Hastings was laid to rest on the 19th of August 2025.
