Cecily’s Fund works to ensure that as many children as possible get the schooling they deserve - a challenge we approach in a number of ways.
Over 60% of Zambians live in extreme poverty, and whilst education in Zambia is now free, many families living in poverty still struggle to buy essentials such as uniforms, books, and shoes that help keep a child at school and continue their education without dropping out early. Competing challenges of the need for money to buy food and other items often force families to encourage children to leave school and help to sell vegetables and other things in local markets.
Cecily’s Fund works with a number of poorly resourced schools to help improve the educational and social outcomes of the most vulnerable children to help them grow and develop as individuals. We adopt a youth-led approach that trains young school leavers to be Peer Educators who after training, return to schools to teach other youth about how to stay healthy and be responsible citizens.
We build capacity in the schools by working closely with Head Teachers to ensure that there are appropriate systems and policies in place to support the most vulnerable children.
We work with parents to teach them how to save money and grow their wealth in spite of living in poverty and hardship. This is combined with training in financial literacy and small income generating activities which help to bring income to the family and improve their livelihoods.
Our ethos is to develop sustainable solutions that help communities to be self-sufficient, empowering individuals to take control and ownership. Programmes are developed through consultation with beneficiaries, local partners and our own monitoring and evaluation visits to Zambia.
The risks of dropping out of school are most severe for girls. It is common for pregnancy or marriage to bring an end to a girl’s education. Cecily’s Fund helps to counter this by making sure families are aware of the long-term value of education, to encourage them not to seek early marriage for girls, and to teach girls at-risk about their basic human rights and how to stay mentally and physically healthy.
Peer Health Education plays a vital role in helping girls and boys at-risk, by providing appropriate information and strategies to help them stay motivated and be responsible so that they want to complete their education and develop their true potential. Cecily’s Fund’s Peer Health Education programme helps empower and motivate young people to succeed and become good citizens that give back to their own communities, whilst contributing to Zambia’s development.
Our work is funded through grants and donations. These enable continuity for our work in Zambia, and consistent support to those communities which are often overlooked and have no voice. Your donation will help us to support a whole community and the children in their care.