About the book

Dora Moono Nyambe was brought up in a compound on the outskirts of Lusaka. Her passion for education and development would blossom as a young adult. Overcoming sexual assault, racism and her own self doubt, Nyambe defied her detractors and launched a free boarding school in a remote village.

To escape the hot sun, Nyambe began teaching her students underneath a tree. With her meager savings and small donations from family and friends, she eked out a precarious existence in her first months. Still living in a mud home, Dora decided to share her life and work via Tiktok. Her growing audience online  pointed her to Gofundme, which allowed her to begin the dream of funding greater development of Mapapa.

Schmitt breaks new ground in telling this unforgettable story, as he travels with Dora back over a trying life and shows us what it means too ‘be a human, a person willing to educate and help others’.  

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Dora Moono Nyambe

Dora Moono Nyambe is the Founder of Footprints of Hope, an NGO established in 2019 in Mapapa, Zambia. The Organization is a boarding school working to reduce malnourishment, forced marriages and abuse by providing safe housing and education for rural village children. Dora has been recognized worldwide by international media outlets and most recently was a key note speaker in Istanbul, at the United Nations Conference for 'The National Day of the Girl Child'. She is 30 years old and the mother of 12 adopted children.

Joseph Schmitt

Joseph Schmitt is a 25 year old writer and Ecotourism Researcher. Born and raised in Kohler, Wisconsin, he has since traveled and lived around the world. Schmitt graduated from Northeastern University with a degree in Finance and Economics. In 2021 he was the recipient of the  prestigious US Fulbright Research Grant for his proposal on 'The Perceived Economic Impact of Ecotourism'. Schmitt's  experience and passion for wild places have taken him to some of the most remote locations in the world.