Eleven years ago, street children, orphans and vulnerable children in Kabwe, Zambia had no hope of attending school or breaking the cycle of poverty that has crippled their families for generations. Seeing the despair on the children's faces inspired the founding of The Robert Sh*tima Project, which consists of a school and orphanage for Kabwe's most vulnerable populations. With 420 children atten
ding Sh*tima basic and Markit secondary, 90 of whom live on-site at the Julie-Anne Children's Home (JACH), the project has overcome significant barriers and we are extremely proud of our students and how far we have come as a community. Today, the project continues to identify and recruit the most vulnerable children in Kabwe. Due to the dire poverty in the region, many of the students suffered from Malnutrition and lack of access to basic health care before attending the Robert Sh*tima Project. Additionally, many of the students have lost parents and siblings due to illnesses, particularly HIV and AIDS. 71% of our students have lost at least one parent, and 25% of our students have lost both. The remaining 29% are what we classify as vulnerable, which means that they were either living on the streets, where being abused at home, or are from a very large family where their parents are unable to feed, cloth, or pay for school fees for all their children. In fact, 89% of our students' parents are unemployed. They arrive at the gates of Sh*tima having experienced some of life's biggest challenges. Education and skills training is their hope to make better lives for themselves, their children and families, and even Zambia itself. Facing such extreme difficulties has not made it easy for the project. Often, the students have never been taught proper classroom behaviour or personal hygiene care, which are things we often take for granted in the modern world. Many of the OVCs come to us illiterate, as young as 6 and as older as 12. In some cases, above 12. Over the past 11 years, the RSP has worked with the support of a number of organizations to develop proper resources to ensure that all our students are given a chance to live a meaningful life and break the cycle of poverty. As such, significant focus has been given to the development of proper infrastructure such as classroom facilities, a science laboratory and a school library, among other much needed infrastructure. Additionally, the RSP is sponsoring approximately 35 students at college, university and at TEVETA recognised skills training institutions within, as well as outside of Kabwe District. Furthermore, the RSP is proud to have returned one of our former students who is now teaching in the secondary section after having completed his college education in 2014.
