The
aim of the Arise project is to give children in Kaniki and the surrounding
areas opportunities that they wouldn’t otherwise have. For the majority of
children and young people supported by Arise, this means paying their school fees
and ensuring that they have the practical and spiritual support which they and
their guardians need. The main focus of Arise so far has been on supporting the
children to reach Grade 12 (the final year of secondary school), with only a
few of them having the opportunity for further study. However, we now have a
growing number of young people who have successfully completed Grade 12 and who
are really keen to attend college. They have aspirations to become nurses,
teachers or mechanics. High aspirations are not common among school children
here, so we really want to encourage and support these individuals. We have
noticed that without college, many girls return to help out in their family
home when they have completed Grade 12, and many boys are faced with a future
of finding piece work (occasional manual labour) in order to survive.
 |
| Arise students with high aspirations |
We
have seen a few examples where Arise has been able to support individuals to
attend college over the past few years. Unfortunately, the cost of college fees
is significantly higher here than school fees and therefore it has not been
possible for the project to support many students in the past. Sadly, the cost
of college fees is far too high for the people we support to be able to pay the
funds themselves, despite working hard to get the grades required for college.
To put this in context, on average it costs the equivalent of £1000 per year
for a two or three year course here in Zambia. The most common type of
employment for our Arise guardians is piece work, which is typically paid about
£1.50 per day. College fees are a struggle for most people living in Kaniki and
the surrounding areas, and a virtual impossibility for our Arise guardians who
are among the most vulnerable.
 |
| Me with one of the college students that Arise currently supports |
We
hope that increasing the number of opportunities we provide for our young
people to attend college will mean that they have greater potential in securing
skilled employment, and therefore providing for their own families and future. This fits with our focus on empowerment which is at the heart of the vision for
Arise. I thought I would share the stories of two students who we would like to
be able to support to attend college.
Albert* lives in Kaniki Extension and has been supported by Arise throughout school.
His guardian works selling tomatoes by the roadside and his younger brother
attends Kapumpe School. Albert has proved that he can study hard and speaks a
good standard of English, even though many children of his age in the community
do not. He completed Grade 12 at the end of 2015 and since then has started a
small business making and selling bricks to help provide for his family and to try and save some money for college. It has been a pleasure for us to see his
entrepreneurship and commitment to his future. He would love to one day train
to be a secondary school teacher.
Matthew* lives in Kamalasha which is near Kaniki. I first met him early last year when I
went to visit some families in the local community. Sadly his family were
gathering for a funeral because his brother had died of TB. His brother was
just 21 years old and was Matthew’s only sibling. Matthew has been supported by Arise
throughout school and also completed Grade 12 at the end of 2015. His ambition
is to become a clinical officer (a licensed practitioner of medicine in Africa)
so that he can help people who are sick like his brother was.
 |
| Arise secondary school students studying for exams with one of our Zambian volunteers |
The
need here is huge and as an Arise team we are confronted on a daily basis with
situations that we would like to support but don’t always have the resources
and capacity to be able to. In response to the situations that Albert and
Matthew are in, and many other young people like them, we are setting up a
Scholarship Fund to enable more young people supported by Arise to attend
college. We have put together a process so that once students have completed
Grade 12, they will be eligible to apply for an Arise Scholarship. They will be
expected to complete an application form with details of what and where they
wish to study, attend an Arise panel interview to discuss their suitability and
commitment, and contribute a portion of the fees which is determined by their
personal circumstances.
 |
| Meeting with Arise secondary school students |
All
money donated to the fund will go towards paying tuition fees, accommodation,
food, transport and books or equipment for the young people we sponsor through
college. We know that the benefits of a college education extend not only to
the young person but also to their family, friends and wider community. To find
out more, please read the poster below:
We
would be extremely grateful to anyone who is able to make a donation towards
the Scholarship Fund, or who can pray for our team and potential students as we
start up this scheme. Thank you for your interest and support!
*Names have been changed for privacy.
No comments:
Post a Comment