An investment in the welfare of vulnerable people is slowly showing returns.

If Michael Carew were not a practising Christian, used to dealing with troubled teenagers, he may well have given up on his three-year quest to build an orphanage and school in Kitwe, Zambia.

"You might think they'd embrace it and make it easy for you but they don't," says Carew, 50, adding that Western norms such as turning up to scheduled meetings or ordering building supplies before they are needed don't really apply in Zambia.

The word that crops up constantly, he says - when someone has "stuffed up", when a bribe is expected and the like - is "confusion".

It was the explanation he was given in January when, after two years of bureaucratic wrangling, he finally had all the documentation needed to apply for a permit to use the water from a nearby river for irrigation and fish farming at the orphanage.

At that point, after several five-hour drives to the Zambian capital, Lusaka, he was told that the Water Minister had not appointed a new water board since the 2008 elections. So no water permits could be granted.

"That's an example of the frustration," says Carew, who is back in Melbourne this month to raise more funds. "I have run around for two years, then they tell me it's 'confused'."

Carew arrived in Kitwe at the start of 2007, having visited Zambia for three weeks in 2005 and feeling an urge - perhaps even a calling - to return.

"I just knew I was going to go back and live there," he says, explaining that he often makes big decisions intuitively. "And that was OK with me, I was excited."

At that stage he had been working for 16 years for Anglican charity Anglicare, as a residential youth worker helping teenage wards of the state get their lives sorted out.

"I had a particular rapport with the really difficult ones," says Carew, who has a science degree majoring in psychology. "The more extreme behaviour [such as vandalism and violence] was often linked to a lack of trust."

By the time Carew first travelled to Zambia, he was an Anglicare manager, owned two properties in Melbourne and was, he says, "fairly comfortable and almost over the hill".

For some people, a midlife reassessment may involve buying a motorbike or leaving an unhappy marriage. Carew's response was to sell his house and use the proceeds to buy land in Kitwe, a city of about 1 million people in north-central Zambia.

He has begun construction of a home that should be finished by the end of the year and cater to up to 20 abandoned babies. He also plans a school and health clinic for the many children living in nearby shanty compounds, plus a farm, vegetable garden and ponds filled with freshwater bream.

"It's harder in some ways than I thought it would be," Carew says, describing how his visa renewal took seven months. "Our Western way of doing things doesn't work for them."

THE BIG QUESTIONS

Biggest break Getting my first job with the Salvation Army. It was only for three years but it set me up to get my next job, with Anglicare Victoria, where I stayed for 16 years. That gave me the expertise and confidence to begin the children's project overseas.

Biggest achievement Orchestrating the development of the children's program in Zambia. Operations are fraught with difficulties, such as government corruption and the many inefficiencies that hinder development in this country.

Biggest regret Not getting married. I think that our relationships are the most valuable assets we can have and for most people the right life partner is the most precious of all.

Best investment Buying the land in Zambia. This began the transformation of the project from a good idea to reality and gave potential donors the confidence to partner with me. Ultimately, I am investing in the welfare of vulnerable people and that's going to bring some rewarding and lasting returns.

Worst investment Joining a pyramid-type company about 12 years ago. I experienced an inner conflict when I approached friends because I felt that I was trying to create a business opportunity for myself at the possible expense of my friends.

Attitude to money Make as much of it as you can through ethical, honest means so that you can live well yourself and still have stacks of money to help those less fortunate.

Personal philosophy The Bible has become my personal philosophy - love God and love others. I try to live my life within this simple yet challenging framework.