Our grassroots community partners are the beating heart of Zambia Orphans Aid (ZOA for short). They are all registered NGOs in their own right, have their own bank accounts and the ability to provide documentation proving funds have been spent appropriately. But first and foremost they deliver the projects that transform the lives of the orphans and vulnerable children they live amongst.

This is what makes our work so special and effective. The community groups and schools we partner know the children, their individual situations and the challenges they and the wider community face, inside and out. This means the solutions come from the ground up, the communities support the projects and the difference made to children’s lives and that of the wider community is far reaching, sustainable and really does transform lives.

Meet our grassroots partners

Chiboyla Education and Health Organisation (CEHOZ) established Chiboyla Community School in 2012, a school that has five classrooms and supports 600 pupils on the outskirts of Mazabuka, Southern Province.

Twatasha Disabled and OVC Organisation, founded in 2008, is a community initiative based in Kafue District of Lusaka Province, Zambia that provides inclusive education to children with disabilities and other vulnerable children.

Hope and Faith is a remarkable community school of nearly 700 pupils from Reception to Grade 12 based in N’gombe, a slum area of Lusaka. It was set up by Rosemary Mumbi in 2004. 40% of pupils at the school are either orphaned or vulnerable.

We partner with Lubushi Parish Rural Resettlement Scheme that reaches Lubushi’s most disadvantaged orphans and other vulnerable children to help them attend school and college. Lubushi is in Northern Province.

Nevers Care and Support Group is a fostering and education project for orphans and other struggling single and double orphans in Chitamba Village, Northern Province.

Twavwane Community School, based in Kabanana, Lusaka Province, was established by local social workers to provide education to orphans and vulnerable children. 

Angelina Tembo Girls School, Central Province, is managed by the Little Servants of Mary Immaculate Sisters, supporting orphans and vulnerable children to go to school.

Through Stephen Luwisha, in the heart of Kabwe town, Central Province, we support 49 orphans and vulnerable children from primary through to tertiary education.

Chibolya Education and Health Organization (CEHOZ)

Chiboyla Education and Health Organisation (CEHOZ) established Chiboyla Community School in 2012, a school that now has five classrooms and supports 600 pupils from pre-school to Grade 12 on the outskirts of Mazabuka, Southern Province.

The school had been running since 2005 in a dark, cramped, disused beer hall with CEHOZ volunteer teaching. Although far from ideal the closest state primary was heavily oversubscribed so this was better than nothing for the hundreds of children who were desperate to go to school.

CEHOZ has done a great job sensitising villagers about the benefits of education for girls, who traditionally work in the house until they’re married off at puberty. Consequently over half the pupils are female and the community are very involved in running the school.

The school has an on site boarding house so disabled pupils from outlying areas can attend classes on a daily  basis. A trained support worker, two house mothers and the provision of adaptive equipment mean that these students are fully integrated into lessons and playtimes.

Generous support from The Savannah Charitable Trust has funded the development of the school buildings as well as ongoing running costs of this thriving community school.

Income generating activities such as maize, poultry and block-making businesses supply food and bricks to the school and any surplus that is sold goes towards the school’s running costs.

Twatasha Community School

Learning on the classroom floorTwatasha Disabled and OVC Organisation, founded in 2008, is a community initiative based in Kafue District of Lusaka Province. It provides inclusive education to children with disabilities and other vulnerable children from local communities by building resilient livelihoods through education, social integration and skills development. Twatasha Community School is registered under Twatasha Disabled and Orphans and Vulnerable Children Organisation. The organisation was founded by local community members that have experienced the impact of disability and resulting vulnerabilities, who desired to support children with disabilities and other orphans and vulnerable children with access to inclusive education, health promotion and physiotherapy and other community based social interventions such as psychosocial support, child protection and disability rights

Hope and Faith School

Hope and Faith is a remarkable community school of almost 700 pupils from Reception to Grade 12 based in N’gombe, a slum area of Lusaka. 40% of pupils at the school are either orphaned or vulnerable.

In 2004, Rosemary Mumbi, a retired government school inspector took two homeless orphans into her home and started teaching them with books donated by neighbours. With no state school in N’gombe what began as homeschooling two orphans went on to become a community school of 16 classrooms and 20 highly committed teachers.

Rosemary is an extraordinary woman. One of only 100 graduates in Zambia in 1964 at the time of independence from the UK, she became a headmistress at the age of 23. It’s her vision and passion that has made the school what it is today and provide a different future for the 700 pupils that go there.

Lubushi Orphans

We partner with Lubushi Parish Rural Resettlement Scheme that reaches Lubushi’s most disadvantaged orphans and other vulnerable children to help them attend school and college. Lubushi is in Northern Province, far away from Lusaka, Zambia’s capital and the industrial Copperbelt and is very isolated, especially in the rainy season. 90% of the 10,000 inhabitants are peasant farmers living below the international poverty line of $1.90 a day.

As part of our commitment to keeping girls in school we’ve built a girl’s boarding house for 84 girls at Lubushi School. This will help girls who live far from the school to access school. Because many girls travel a long distance from home to get to school they end up lodging in cheap accommodation in the local town. This has resulted in a high number of pregnancies amongst students.

The headteacher explains, “Six girls have become pregnant in the first half of this year already.” The community have made all the bricks needed for the boarding house.

This project has been generously supported by Fondation Eagle and Jephcott Charitable Trust.

Nevers Care and Support Group

Nevers Care and Support Group is a fostering and education project for abandoned orphans and other struggling single and double orphans in Chitamba Village, Northern Province.

30 years ago Susan Nawila took in twin babies that she found dumped in a bag by the roadside. People started to bring other abandoned children to her – a baby dropped into the village latrine, a brother and sister sleeping rough in the market and many more. At one stage she was caring for 150 children who slept with her in the local church.

Susan formed Nevers Club and encouraged local families to foster two or three of these orphans and other abandoned children. These foster families had very little themselves, it was very much the case of the poor helping the destitute.

Susan’s twins are now grown up and have their own families. One is a teacher, who thanks to the education he received is now able to help other children growing up in a similar situation to himself.

We have supported Nevers since 2009 children by paying for school fees, uniforms, shoes, books and stationary as well as providing free school lunches. We also support students who go on to tertiary training.

Nevers volunteers farm and sell maize and beans to supplement our support and supply the children with food, soap and clothes.

Twavwane Community School

Twavwane Community School, based in Kabanana, Lusaka Province, was established in 2003 by a group of local social workers. There was no state primary school in this area of north Lusaka with a population of 7,500 people.

Classes at Twavwane average 70 pupils because there are so many children wanting an education and a lack of schools to provide it. Many malnourished, HIV+ children are referred to Twavwane by the local clinic. The school provides free school meals to all 530 pupils. Without a nutritious diet anti-retroviral therapy (ART) medication can be ineffective so it’s imperative that children get at least one nutritious meal a day.

We support 40 primary, 60 secondary school pupils as well as 15 tertiary students. Until recently pupils had to squeeze four to a two-seater desk and many more sat on the concrete floor. Teachers stood all day with no place to mark work. But thanks to our generous supporters the school now has desk space for every child and teacher.

In 2017, your generous support meant we could build a new kitchen to replace the lean-to shelter and provide a dining area where pupils can eat during bad weather.

This year we have built new toilet blocks and a perimetre wall to keep the children at school safe.

Angelina Tembo Girls School

Angelina Tembo Girls School, Central Province, is a grant aided primary and secondary school managed by the Little Servants of Mary Immaculate Sisters under the Catholic Church.

The school is on the Butungwa Road on the north-west of Kabwe town, six kilometres outside the Central Business District.

We support orphans and other vulnerable children at the school who are also given at least one meal each day to promote better concentration and good learning. The number of orphans and vulnerable at the school is increasing due to economic challenges, high poverty levels and a high death rate in the area.

The school has a chicken run housing 700 chicks at a time. It has proved a successful source of income to provide vulnerable children with a nutritious school meal.

Stephen Luwisha

A photo of Live Changa receiving a laptop from ZOAKabwe Diocese Health (Stephen Luwisha) is a ministry based in the heart of Kabwe, Central Province. The aim of supporting orphans and vulnerable children’s education from primary school through to tertiary is to change their future, enabling them, in turn, to help their families and give back to their community.

As well as supporting school fees and other education support such as uniforms, shoes and books Stephen Luwisha provides care and protection against all forms of abuse and provides life skills to increase the self-awareness of orphans and vulnerable children.

We are currently supporting 36 secondary school pupils and 13 tertiary students. A further six have recently graduated and are looking for jobs to start their careers.

Keeping girls in school
A photo to illustrate our menstrual hygiene management work

£7.50 can provide one girl with five re-usable sanitary pads that will last for two years.

£3,000 can train a whole school in menstrual hygiene management.

Paying for school fees
A photo of pupils in school uniform to illustrate our education support work

£40 can can kit a child out with everything they need for school.

£51 can pay for the school fees for one year for a primary pupil.

£88 can pay the school fees for one year for a secondary pupil.

Mpaso, 14 years old
A portrait of Mpaso Phiri to accompany his testimonial about the support he's received to go to school

My mum and dad died when I was young so I live alone with my grandmother. Growing up without a parent is a challenge. I walk eight kilometres to and from school and when there’s non food at home it makes it hard to concentrate in class.”

Providing school meals & food parcels
A photo showing pupils receiving their school lunch

£26 can provide a child with a nutritious school meal for a whole year.

£12 can provide an emergency food parcel for a child to share with their family for a month.

Making sure education is inclusive
A portrait of Gabriel to accompany his testimonial

£500 can provide adaptive equipment to support pupils with disabilities.

£85 can pay for the monthly salary of a house mother to give additional support to pupils with disabilities.

£250 can pay the monthly salary of a frontline worker counselling at risk children.

Joseph, 7 years old
A portrait of Joseph to accompany his testimonial about the support he's received at school

I never used to walk but crawl. When I came to Chiboyla School in 2013 I was given crutches to help me walk but now I’m able to walk without crutches. I do physiotherapy every week that helped me start walking. I’m happy! I no longer use crutches and am able to walk and play football with my friends.”

Supporting students through tertiary education
A portrait of Mike, a recent graduate, to accompany his testimonial

£200 can provide a student with a refurbished laptop.

£1000 can pay for the college fees and subsistence support for a student for one year.

Hazel, 21 years old
A portrait of Hezel, a student nurse, to accompany her testimonial about ZOA's support

I’m grateful to ZOA for coming into my life and helping me pursue my dream. I’m a third year student at Kafue Institute of Health and Sciences and Research. I’ve just completed a number of placements in different departments at UTH, Zambia’s most prestigious hospital. You really are changing our lives. Thank you so much.

Help Change a Child's Future

Your help can support children through primary and
secondary school, provide nutritious school meals so pupils
aren’t learning on an empty stomach and support those that can
through tertiary vocational training. We provide a holistic
approach so also provide mental health support and other inputs
where needed.

Thank you!

Your support makes a big difference.

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