Mbereshi (also spelled and pronounced Mbeleshi) is a village in the Luapula Province of Zambia, named after the

Mbereshi River The Mbereshi River (also spelled and pronounced 'Mbeleshi') drains the northern Zambian plateau north of Kawambwa and flows west into the Luapula valley. It enters the Luapula swamps near the Mofwe Lagoon. It gives its name to the village and form ...

on its north side. It is the site of a large mission founded in 1900 by the London Missionary Society. In 1915 the mission established

Mbereshi Girls' School Mbereshi Girls' School was a mission boarding school at Mbereshi. As "the earliest girls' school in Northern Rhodesia ... this school gained an international reputation." Mbereshi Girls' Boarding School was founded by the missionary Mabel Shaw in ...

, the first girls' school in the territory, as well as a boys' school and a large hospital. The Girls school and Hospital are now Grant Aided institutions run by The United Church of Zambia. Mbereshi contains a number of examples of mission buildings, including a large church which is now part of the

United Church of Zambia The United Church in Zambia is the largest Protestant church in Zambia with coverage of all the ten provinces of the country The church formed on 16 January 1965, this is a result of the union of Church of Central Africa, Rhodesia (a mission work o ...

.Bwalya Chuba: "Mbeleshi in a history of the London Missionary Society". Pula Press, Gaborone, 2000. Mbereshi lies on the main tarred highway of the Luapula River valley running from Mansa to

Nchelenge Nchelenge is a town in the Luapula Province of northern Zambia, lying on the south eastern shore of Lake Mweru. It is contiguous with Kashikishi, and they are sometimes referred to as Nchelenge-Kashikishi. Nchelenge is the administrative centre ...

and is north-east of

Mwata Kazembe Kazembe is a traditional kingdom in modern-day Zambia, Southeastern Congo. For more than 250 years, Kazembe has been an influential kingdom of the Kiluba- Chibemba, speaking the language of the Eastern Luba- Lunda people of south-central Africa ...

's town of

Mwansabombwe Kazembe (or Kasembe) is a name used for Mwata Kazembe's town in the Luapula Province of Zambia, especially on maps and in the Zambian postal service (as PO Kazembe). The other name for the town is Mwansabombwe ("where Mwansa works") and this is t ...

References

Christian missions in Zambia Populated places in Luapula Province 1900 establishments in the British Empire {{coord, 9, 44, S, 28, 47, E, display=title