Looking back & forward

Looking back

In January 2019, we started an evening school programme for adults in Siansowa, in partnership with Zongwe Farming. We offer Zongwe employees the possibility to finish their basic education, by sponsoring for their school fees. A lack of money is often the reason why adults do not go back to school after dropping out. We are now also including people from the village who do not work for the farm.

As most of you probably know, the Amartya Foundation stands for ownership and pride, rather than dependency and aid. For this reason, we came up with a scheme that allows the people we sponsor to also contribute to education in the area, by holding back k10 (less than €1) from their salary every month. This k10 is used to help vulnerable children in the area with their education. This year however, the Zambian government introduced free basic schooling for children up to the age of 9, which means that we will now only use the contribution for uniforms, shoes and learning materials.

In 2019, the Amartya foundation raised over €2.000 for the sponsorship programme. We had new sweaters made, which have been a huge success! We still have a couple left, for anyone who donates €50 or more. €50 will pay for 1 student’s school fees for a whole year. We also had the adventure of a life time, being part of the Baltic Rally to raise money for the programme. This was an experience we will never forget.

Looking forward

When the programme started in January, 16 people had signed up. As we are finishing the year, the number has grown to 20 students! The students have all passed this year so they will start a new school year in January 2020. We are expanding the programme to another school as well, and we will be sponsoring 30 students next year!

Want to know more about the programme? Read all about it on our sponsorship page.