Dora Moono Nyambe, a TikTok influencer celebrated for her humanitarian efforts and as the founder of a school in Zambia, has died at the age of 32.
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On Friday, Dec. 27, a message shared on Nyambe’s TikTok and Instagram accounts announced her passing. The post included details of a burial service scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 28, along with a note for her followers.
“It is with a heavy heart that we announce the sudden departure of our beloved Dora,” the posts read. “She will be remembered as a loved mother, heroine, philanthropist, and an extraordinary woman.”
A teacher, describing herself as Nyambe’s “best friend,” revealed in a TikTok video that Nyambe passed away on Wednesday, December 25.
The cause of Nyambe’s death has not been disclosed. On December 16, she posted on TikTok about sustaining a leg injury. However, it remains unclear whether this injury is linked to her passing.
In her final TikTok video, shared just days before her passing, Nyambe offered a heartfelt reflection on her life.
“When I started to adopt, people said I couldn’t do it because of my age and being unmarried,” she wrote alongside the footage. The montage captured heartfelt moments of her supporting countless children over the years.
“One day at a time,” Nyambe captioned the clip.
Dora Moono Nyambe’s Humanitarian Journey
Nyambe, who grew up in Zambia’s capital city of Lusaka, visited the village of Mapapa in 2019 to visit a friend. According to Northeastern University, this visit profoundly shaped her journey, as detailed in the 2023 book Under a Zambian Tree, co-written by Nyambe and Northeastern alum Joseph Schmitt.
In Mapapa, Nyambe saw the challenges of poverty, malnutrition, and limited access to education firsthand. She also witnessed girls being forced into early marriages, a troubling issue that inspired her mission to drive change.
She moved to the village with her adoptive children, determined to build and open a school beneath the shade of a large mpundu tree. During their time there, one of her daughters introduced her to TikTok. She later used the platform to raise awareness and support for her charitable organization, Footprints of Hope.
Nyambe’s LinkedIn profile reveals that she studied at Immaculata Teaching College from 2011 to 2013. Meanwhile, she launched her nonprofit in January 2019. Her videos have helped her raise money for the nonprofit, expand the school, and bring attention to child marriages. They have also received over 171 million likes on TikTok.
According to Northeastern, as of last year, Footprints of Hope served a campus of 350 students, complete with dormitories, a library, and a dining hall providing three meals a day. The school employed 15 teachers and offered education up to grade 7.
Meanwhile, her last Instagram post, a collaboration with Mr. Beast’s Beast Philanthropy account, highlighted her efforts to rebuild dorms after a “devastating storm” struck the previous year.