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Dora Moono Nyambe, who rose to fame on TikTok and even captured the attention of Mr. Beast with her humanitarian efforts in Zambia, has died at 32. Read on to see the tributes that have poured in.
TikTok Star and Humanitarian Dora Moono Nyambe Dies Christmas Day at Age 32
The humanitarian community is mourning a devastating loss.
Zambian teacher Dora Moono Nyambe, who rose to fame using social media to help her organization Footprints of Hope Mapapa to feed, house and provide education to hundreds of children in a rural community, died on Christmas Day. She was 32.
“It is with a heavy hearth [sic] that we announce the sudden departure of our beloved Dora,” read a statement posted to Instagram Dec. 27. “She will be remembered as a loved mother, heroine, peace philanthropist and an extraordinary woman.”
Her cause of death was not shared.
Nyambe, who grew up in Zambia’s capital city Lusaka, first visited the rural community of Mapapa in 2019, she told Northeastern University’s newspaper Global News in 2023. After seeing how the poverty, lack of education and resources affected the community, she decided to move to Mapapa and start a school. After she advocated for her community on social media and raised money from donors all over the world, the school expanded into a campus serving more than 350.
And her work soon attracted the attention of influencer Mr. Beast, who through his Beast Philanthropy, helped raise funds to bring electricity to Nyambe’s Mapapa school and later help rebuild a dorm that was damaged during a major storm.
Following her sudden death, Beast Philanthropy Executive Director Darren Margolias shared an emotional tribute on social media.
Dora Moono Nyambe/Facebook
“@doramoononyambe chose the difficult path so that she could protect and love the most vulnerable children,” he wrote on Instagram Dec. 26 alongside a video sharing the news of Nyambe’s death. “My favorite quote is ‘What you share with the world is what it keeps of you.’"
He went on to share a message directly to his late friend.
“Dora your legacy will live in the hearts of so many who learned how it felt to be loved and valued because of you,” he noted, “who learned the meaning of courage, conviction, compassion, and dedication because they had such a powerful example in you.”
“You were taken too soon,” Darren continued, “but your legacy will persist in so many lives that were so deeply affected by you.”
He also stressed that the work Nyambe was doing in Zambia would continue but noted the challenges her team now faces and how fans can support Footprints of Hope. As he put it, “Dora built something beautiful and important and necessary and it must survive her.”
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