Deep Roots Zambia - established 2000

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Education in Zambia

In-Country Partner

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Deep Roots Zambia supports basic and secondary school children in the rural areas around Monze and Kalomo in the Southern Province of Zambia. Going to school is the best chance Zambian children have to take control of their lives; an educated population is the best chance Zambia has to combat AIDS, gender inequality, and the overwhelming problems of poverty. Yet an education is out of the reach of many children.

Deep Roots Zambia is working to change that picture by providing financial and moral support to orphans and other children in need, who show promise in school but would otherwise have to abandon their education prematurely. Deep Roots Zambia sponsorships come in three parts: financial aid, counseling, and cultural exchange.

1. In addition to paying for school fees, supplies and uniforms, DRZ provides each new child in its program with a young goat to generate income for other expenses.
2. DRZ also recognizes the importance of encouragement, especially for children whose guardians or parents are not educated themselves. Thus, each child is visited regularly by a staff-member to check on her or his progress and living situation.
3. Sponsors of children in grades 8 and up are given the option to be linked one-on-one with a specific child. While providing the opportunity for an education to the children is the primary goal, DRZ facilitates the exchange of letters, pictures and drawings between the children and their sponsors.

Deep Roots Zambia works in cooperation with the Zambian non-profit organization DAPP (Development Aid from People to People). DAPP works with small-scale community-based development projects to improve health, education and the environment. It has been a long-time partner of UNICEF, USAID and other groups in Southern Zambia. DAPP handles everything from paying school fees and distributing school supplies to organizing the periodic visits to each of the children in Deep Roots Zambia's scholarship program. Community committees charged with tracking and helping orphans and supported by DAPP also play a key role in the selection process.

BASIC SCHOOL

Basic school offers grades 8 and 9 for those children whose results on the national exams at the end of grade 7 did not allow them to continue straight to secondary school. The vast majority of kids do not make the cut for secondary school; many are not even allowed to progress to basic school; and of those who pass their exams a large proportion nonetheless drops out of school, because they cannot afford the school fees.

This is where Deep Roots Zambia steps in. Deep Roots Zambia pays for school and exam fees, school supplies and a uniform, and provides support through home visits to ensure that talented children do not have to spend their days herding cattle or working the fields. The yearly cost for a basic school scholarship is less than US$50.

SECONDARY SCHOOL

Secondary schools are significantly more expensive than the lower grades, partially because there aren't any in the rural areas, and the pupils have to travel to the nearest town (or one further away, depending on their assignment) to attend boarding schools. In addition to room and board, the school fees are quite a lot higher. In exchange, students have access - for the first time in their schooling - to labs and other specialized equipment. Most rural schools have neither electricity nor telephone connections, let alone computers and internet access.

A Deep Roots Zambia scholarship pays for all the relevant fees, supplies, a uniform and a blanket, plus transportation costs and a small stipend to pay for hygiene and similar needs. Deep Roots Zambia's in-country partner DAPP also assists children in the Deep Roots Zambia program to secure places in near-by and high-quality schools. The total cost for one year at secondary school is approximately $400. (Compare this to the per capita gross domestic product (GDP) income of about US$1500.)

POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION

While Deep Roots Zambia's focus is on enabling Zambian youth to attend grades 1 - 12, in some cases we also support post-secondary education. When a Deep Roots Zambia scholar graduates from grade 12 and has plans for further education, she or he has the opportunity to apply for special funding from Deep Roots Zambia. Typically, such an application is approved if the past sponsor agrees to continue the sponsorship or if another donor specifically agrees to provide the necessary funds.