Zambia

Across Zambia, tens of thousands of children lost one or both of their parents to HIV/AIDS or other illnesses. CARE’s SCOPE-OVC programme (Strengthening Community Partnerships for the Empowerment of Orphans and Vulnerable Children) works through community schools to help orphans and vulnerable children deal with the loss and grief they are experiencing. Sometimes this can be as basic as encouraging children to play. Often, it is helping community members to recognise trauma in children. The project also tries to give orphans and vulnerable children, who often cannot attend school because they are too poor or have responsibilities at home, the chance of the best possible education.

In 2007 CARE  launched Tipunzile – Let Us Learn – a programme to improve the quality of basic education in community schools. Tipunzile used our radios in community schools to ensure children have access to the Learning At Taonga Market interactive radio education programme created by the Education Development Center in collaboration with Zambia’s Ministry of Education.

With funding from The Times Christmas Appeal, we matched funding from CARE and provided more than 900 additional solar and wind-up radios to community schools. CARE distributed five radios each to 130 community schools and 55 government primary schools with the most limited resources. The Ministry of Education provides Learning At Taonga Market training guides free to the mentors (volunteer teachers) at community schools