Education Program
We run a K-7 Community School, certified by the Ministry of Education of Zambia. We also provide scholarships for our high-performing graduates to go on to high school and college. In a country with a 6% college attendance rate, this year 26 out of our 31 seniors were accepted to university and in the past 15 years, 65 students have graduated college!
We follow our students from when they join our school in Kindergarten through high school at partner schools, a gap year life skills program, and college graduation.
The work we do is changing the face of this community one student, one family, and one generation at a time. When our students graduate high school, go to college, or get jobs, they create a whole new future for themselves and their families and transform their community.
K-12 Education
The Chikumbuso Community School is located in a slum called Ng’ombe. The 500 children we serve yearly are the poorest of the poor, those most often left behind and unable to access the transformative opportunity of a good education. All of our students have lost one or both parents and, before joining our program, often didn’t even eat once a day. We provide a high quality K-7 education at our school and give them financial aid and a community of a support as they move to high school and college. Our community school is so good, our students are often at the top of the class in their high schools.
Of the 500, 172 students are sponsored, providing them access to a monthly food stipend, school supplies, uniform, and exam fees. This is done at a cost of $700/year or $58/month. Sponsorship is a critical source of regular revenue for Chikumbuso, enabling us to educate all of our students and provide them with the additional support they need to be successful.
Computer Classes
Computer literacy at the elementary level has become an essential skill for our students in order to succeed in their high school and college curriculum. We have a state-of-the-art computer lab provided by generous donors. This lab gives our students access to 21st-century skills and new professional opportunities.
School Library
One of our favorite rooms at our school is the library; it plays a central role in the education of our children. Here, our students are taken through history, visit countries, and study science all from the comfort of the library’s cushions. Children also take books home to share and read to their families.
After-School Clubs
To enrich our academic education, we run after-school clubs led by our teachers. They provide fun and joyful ways for our students to connect with each other and stay safe after the school day ends. These include art, scripture, math, reading, recycling, scouts, and music. Our after-school clubs are often supported by individual donors and community groups.
School Feeding Program
Chikumbuso serves approximately 500 lunches every school day for students and staff. This equals about 72,000 meals per year, and roughly 6,000 pounds of the local mealie-meal. We do our best to provide a balanced diet of nshima, vegetables, beans, soya pieces, eggs, kapenta (fish), and chicken. For many children, the school lunch is the only meal that they will receive each day.
Higher Education Opportunities
High School Scholarships
Chikumbuso has committed to sending our successful 7th-grade students on to secondary school. This is at no cost to the students and includes their tuition fees, uniforms, and sundry costs required by their school. Our student sponsorship program helps us make this possible for our students.
College Scholarships
Our goal is to offer higher education free of charge to students who continue to work hard in school and who, through passing regular exams, are found capable of continuing their education. We hope to regularly send these students on to college and currently have 80 students in college and 65 graduates.
Gap Year Program
The Gap year program at Chikumbuso supports our high achieving and hardworking high school graduates with life skills training such as finances, self-assessment, computer skills, career counseling, and more. Early on we realized that our students needed more training than our high school was offering. These much-needed skills, the community of peers, and the introduction to new mentors have been critical to our incredible graduation success rates!