Like many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Zambia has been heavily affected by HIV/AIDS and high rates of poverty. The increase in HIV related deaths of prime-aged adults has led to pronounced concentrations of orphans in the country.
In 2014, about 11% of children ages 0-17 living in Zambian households were orphaned. Many extended family members have been left with the challenge of raising these children under impoverished conditions. While orphans in orphanages are generally more visible to outside aid and volunteers, orphans in poverty being raised by extended family tend to lie in the shadows. Recognizing the value of family in the Zambian culture, the goal of our foundation is to help promote the social development of orphans in kinship care and empower their caregivers to support them and not opt for institutionalized care.
Where donations go?
Educational Sponsorship
Basic education is a fundamental human right as recognized in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Our foundation focuses on enabling orphans during their formative years to go to school and stay in school. Access to good quality education has life-long benefits in terms of increasing opportunities and reducing risk of HIV infection.
We provide educational support such as school fees, uniforms, school supplies and school meals for orphaned children to prevent school dropout and un-enrollment. We also connect their caregivers to resources that strengthen and sustain their ability to raise the orphaned child in a family setting. Orphans in need are typically identified and referred to us by their teachers.
Peer to Peer Support
Our foundation goes the extra step to help promote youth development and empowerment by providing the opportunity for our older orphans in higher grades to tutor orphans in lower grades under supervision. This gives our older students opportunity for mentorship, as well as to earn a little extra cash to help improve their economic conditions. This has been found to boost their confidence levels and improve their own academic and social skills.
Access to Success Tutoring Program
Our foundation emphasizes the importance of educational success and not just educational access for orphaned children in primary and basic school. Most of the children we support initially struggle academically due to sporadic school attendance, resulting from limited resources. Without any extra academic support, most students drop out of school due to poor performance regardless of educational funding resources.
For all the children who join our foundation, we collaborate with their teachers who help us identify students that need extra help to get caught up academically. Students in need of academic support receive tutoring services from a paid professional during after school hours, weekends or during school breaks depending on their need.
Family Support
The foundation assists the families of the children we serve by providing an opportunity for their caregivers to get a small loan to help them start a business such as selling eggs or fresh produce, buy chicks to raise chickens for sale, buying a sewing machine to start a tailoring business etc.
