What We Do
Our Mission:
We are bringing street children back into family life within the community.
Our Vision
We will achieve our mission by providing street children individualized treatment, rehabilitation and transition opportunities, thereby creating productive adults. This mission includes enhancing and strengthening community. To achieve this goal, we will create a reproducible approach and a sustainable organization.
Our Values
We believe a child should grow up in a family
We believe in an individualized approach to child development
We value spiritual development
We value local culture and norms
We value agriculture because of its sustainability
We believe in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child
We value innovative, results-based approaches
Action for Children~Zambia (AFCZ) is determined to provide the street children in Zambia with the basic human dignities that many of them are denied. Since our founding in 2005, we have helped thousands of children leave and stay off the streets. Our primary focus is in five areas:
Outreach
Our outreach programs take our staff, volunteers and some of our resident children into the streets to connect with the children still in the streets, provide them with food and care for minor medical issues, and help them get to know us and our program.
Crisis Care
The streets of Zambia are dangerous and very violent. For children who are injured or sick, we cover the costs of treatment or hospitalization. For those who have been assaulted, we work to find safe homes. For those who have died, we provide funerals and proper burials.
Residential Treatment and Care
Our residential treatment and care is dedicated to providing children with a family life in connection with their community. Kulunga Bana Youth Center is a long-term home for children who will be staying with AFCZ until adulthood or youth who are participating in the work program through learning farming skills.
Education Scholarships
Every school-age child who completes treatment is offered a full education scholarship. AFCZ covers costs for everything, from school fees and books to uniforms. Once children have completed primary school, they are offered a choice between continuing to secondary school, attending a vocational/trade school or pursuing employment through the work program.
Work Program
For older youth who do not prefer to pursue further education, we offer a work program. We provide any basic training they may need, from learning English to workplace ethics. We work with local employers to place these children at job sites and while their employers teach them job skills, we work with them on budgeting and household management. When they are ready, children who have completed the work program move into their own homes in the community.