Initiatives
Individually, our initiatives are designed to address specific issues as they relate to education and and development. Collectively, they are proving to be relevant tools in addressing the root causes of poverty. The range from direct support to students and teachers to to engaging individuals and communities by including them in project design and implementation and providing them with resources to help them improve the ways they do everyday things. Our goal is for our the programs and initiatives we implement to empower people to do things for themselves.
Individually ProjectEDUCATE initiatives are designed to address specific needs. Collectively, they are an innovative and relevant tool designed to effectively address the root causes of poverty in the context in which they exist in communities.
The initiatives are:
- OperationTECHNOLOGY
- OperationREAD
- OperationEMPOWER
- OperationGIRL-CHILD
- OperationREHABILITATE
- OperationREACH-OUT
- The ProjectEDUCATE Scholarship Fund
- The Mongu Community Support & Resource Center
- ProjectEDUCATE Health Initiative
Current Initiatives
- OperationTECHNOLOGY (Bridging the digital divide)
OperationTECHNOLOGY is designed to help introduce and/or improve the use of Information Communications Technologies(ICT's) into schools with the goal of helping to use technology to improve lives and help close the ever widening digital divide.
Though access to computer technology and the internet has tremendously increased in the developing world, Zambia continues to lag behind. Information Communications Technology(ICTs) are relegated to the wealthy, a few elites, the government, business and diplomatic communities.
Less than a handful of schools have access to ICTs and are mainly those found along the line of rail or major cities like Chingola, Kitwe, Livingstone, Lusaka and Ndola.
The few internet cafés operating charge exorbitant fees perpetuated by the extremely high cost of phone bills and internet subscription fees.
Primarily, constraints to Information Communications in Zambia have been due to a number of reasons. Among them:
- Poor and lack of infrastructure
- Lack of technical skill and support
- Poor availability of information
- Poor connectivity in rural and remote areas resulting in high costs and restricting access by the underprivileged.
- in high phone bills and operating costs seriously limiting access by the underprivileged
OperationTECHNOLOGY focuses on providing access to underprivileged and under-served communities. In an attempt to help individuals and communities with make effective use pf technology, OperationTECHNOLOGY also provides basic computer and Internet skills training. The training is provided free of charge to teachers in order to help the acquire the skills they need to effectively teach computer skills.
Objectives:
- Introduce and improve the use of ICT's in schools
- Create and sustain a platform that facilitates the exchange of information
- Educate communities on the role and potential of ICT's in development
- Provide ICT training, consultancy and technical support
- OperationREAD
Zambia's educational system is poor and so where available, educational infrastructure is mainly poorly developed. Schools lack basics like books pencils and erasers. Because of the high cost of living, many students cannot afford to buy notebooks. Schools are in just a precarious situation and are unable to afford and adequately provide text books . This makes teaching and learning and difficult. An estimated 35% of Zambia's schools going children do not attend school due to the costs associated with buying books.
OperationREAD focuses on improving the flow of books to learning institutions and strives to improve minds and lives through reading.
The ProjectEDUCATE/Books for Africa partnership provides books to schools. Through this partnership we are able to provide an invaluable educational resource and are thus able to help improve the quality of education in the area.
Objectives:
- Increase and improve school access to books
- Encourage students to read outside of the school curriculum in order to broaden student horizons
- Vision a society empowered by reading
- OperationEMPOWER
OperationEMPOWER is designed to help improve teacher's skills though a series of workshops and seminars. OperationTECHNOLOGY has designed a basic computer training curriculum for teachers. This will be used to help improve teacher skills along side the Teaching of Mastery Certificate designed by Teachers Without Borders. This is an innovative approach to educator/teacher development.
OperationEMPOWER is imperative to the projects' work because more than half the teaching staff especially in rural remote areas are under qualified. The effects of HIV/Aids are not to be underestimated as studies have shown that Zambia loses at least 700 teachers to the pandemic each month.
- OperationGIRL-CHILD (closing the gender gap)
The mission is to help girls and women live empowered lives. The operation is designed to to enhance, improve and level the educational field for girls and women.
In much of the Africa, the female child continues to be discriminated against and passed over in favor of the male child in terms of education. Educational discrimination of girls and women presents a huge barrier against local and international efforts to eliminate poverty, improve health and strengthen democracy.
Education of women and girls yields major development dividends. Children of women who have completed primary education are on average twice as likely to survive beyond the age of five and half as likely to suffer malnutrition. Mothers who have completed primary education are 50% more likely to immunize their infants. It is clear then that the education of girls and women is critical to society’s development. For this reason the initiative is dedicated to improving conditions to allow girls and women to fully participate not only in their individual lives but their communities as well.
- OperationREHABILITATE
Is dedicated and designed to help improve educational infrastructure.
The objective is to provide building materials for rehabilitation of schools. In many cases infrastructure is dilapidated. Basics such as chalk, desks, chairs, pencils are lacking. As if walking for miles to get school were not hard enough, often children are forced to attend class out doors because of poor structures or the lack of thereof. Meaning classes are determined by whether conditions. If it rains, it is too cold or too windy class will have to be canceled that day.
Through OperationREHABILITATE, we are working toward creating an environment where educational infrastructure is able to sustain a healthy, conducive and productive teaching and learning environment.
- OperationREACH-OUT
Is designed to encourage and help students become active and productive members of their communities. This will foster a sense of duty and responsibility in the youth.
Each week, students from the participating schools are assigned a community task. They are encouraged to visit the sick and elderly, and to come up with initiatives to help and improve their schools and communities. The idea is to foster a sense of duty and responsibility and entrepreneurship as early as possible.
- The ProjectEducate Scholarship Fund
The fund was set-up to assist brilliant but underprivileged students have access to the financial resources needed to help them complete their education. Many times exceptional and outstanding students are denied education because they simply cannot afford it.
The fund was established with these students in mind. It is an attempt to level the educational field for deserving students. Through the fund, we work toward a future where all deserving students have access to the required finances to help them complete their studies be it locally or abroad. It is in the hands of such students that the nation's future lies and they must be supported at all costs.
- The Mongu Community Support & Resource Center
Is a support and resource center for the community. At the center, communities will have access to material, financial and technical support to help them start and run small scale businesses to help sustain their livelihood. The center aims at providing communities with a resource center that will foster, encourage and support community participation in the project cycle.
- ProjectEducate Health Initiative
The ProjectEDUCATE Health Initiative is designed to work with hospitals and clinics to help improve the delivery of health. Among other things the initiative works with hospitals and clinics to help convert their paper based records into electronic format. In addition the initiative will include medical missions to Zambia designed to help provide free medical care to those in need.
If you are a medical professional interested in volunteering with us in Zambia, please send us an e-mail detailing your interest.