We are a small group of committed individuals (Jane Okafor, Anna Caprile, Anna Carmen Murru, Veronique Catany, and Mart Zinnemers) passionate about education from different countries and backgrounds, who have been in close contact with child education in Zambia from various perspectives (volunteering, professional activities, and fundraising) for a number of years. During this time, we have repeatedly encountered a discouraging number of children out of school, both in Primary and Secondary cycle. The estimated number of children out of school in Zambia is between 500,000 [1] and 800,000 [2], as recently estimated by FAWE, mainly for economic reasons.

 

When enquiring about the school costs, we found out that financing school yearly costs amounts from 150 USD in Primary education to 180 USD in Secondary education. An amount of 10 USD to 25 USD per month represents a financial obstacle which prevents a child to access to a basic human right and hampers his or her future forever.

 

We consider ourselves to be privileged to have had a good education. We believe that the Right to Education is a basic and universal human right, and that no child should ever be prevented from access to it. We know that the Zambian Government is undertaking commendable initiatives in this regard, some of them with the financial support of international donors and under the auspices of UN initiatives. Still every morning 800,000 Zambian children who are supposed to be in school, do mainly poorly paid jobs or simply stay  home instead of going to school. Every morning a door to a better future, a break from the cycle of poverty, closes a bit more for them.

 

We have decided to put our heads together and do something to help some of these children NOW and HERE, and that is the reason Chance4all was born in September 2017. Chance4all aim is to be the facilitator between children with educational needs and sponsors, including local companies, willing to help reduce the number of out of school children in the country. With this objective in mind we have set up a simple framework to identify genuine cases of children in need of support who are out of school, engage both individual and corporate sponsors, and ensure that the funds are properly utilized and reach the children’s educational needs. 

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In 2017, we have started with three students from Bauleni compound under this scheme (from Primary to Secondary Education). Since then, we screened for additional students, jointly with Bauleni Special Needs Project (BSN), the NGO In&Out of the Ghetto and Appleseed, to benefit from our Education Sponsorship Scheme. And in 2023, we will have 31 sponsored children in primary and secondary levels and three in tertiary level all under our program.

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Our medium-term objective is to expand our Sponsorship Scheme first to other low-income compounds in Lusaka, then to other areas of Zambia where there are high incidences of out of school children and reach as many students as we can sponsor. Our modus operandi is to cooperate with already existing community centres, local schools and administrations, in order to identify the neediest children who are eligible under our Sponsorship Scheme.

 

Our long-term dream is to not be needed anymore. Our long-term dream is that the children of today are able to build a country where every child, boy or girl, wakes up every morning to join a school class with books under the arm and aspire to realise their dreams, whatever they may be.

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We also believe in the power of engaging communities in their own development process. Because of this we will carry out sensitization and educational activities on key issues affecting children and youth in their communities, including sexual and reproductive health rights, gender equity and climate education.

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[1]The Out-Of School Chidren (OOSC) study published in November 2014 in the framework on the joint global initiative by UNICEF and UNESCO estimated at 500,000 the number of children of primary and secondary age out of school (Global Initiative on Out-of-School Children, Zambia, November 2014, Page ix; https://www.unicef.org/zambia/Study_on_Out-of-School_Children_in_Zambia.pdf).

[2] http://zambia24.com/news/2017/08/23/89-million-african-children-are-out-of-school-fawe/.