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The Zambia Community Education Initiative (ZCEI) is both a student organization at Cornell University and a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that aims to develop sustainable secondary education in Zambia by working with local communities to make education accessible to all. We believe that secondary education is critical to strengthening not just academics but community development, health, empowerment, and poverty relief. We also believe that sustainable development is development led by the community itself. For this reason, we aim to provide financial support and oversight to Zambian-led community education projects.


WHAT WE DO


ZCEI currently works with the Temba and Julia Ndulo Foundation, a Zambian non-profit, and the Chisekesi community in Southern Province to fund the building of a secondary school. The inhabitants of rural Chisekesi - living in Choompa and Hanamaila - have no secondary school in the community. More specifically, ZCEI works in the United States to raise funds for the school construction project as well as to raise awareness of the education crisis in Zambia. 


WHY WE DO IT


One of the major problems facing rural communities in Zambia is the lack of educational facilities to enable children to advance in their education within their communities. Often times, students seeking secondary education must attend boarding schools far from home, which are far too costly for most of the rural Zambian population. Even those who afford the education find it difficult to complete their education, as many boarding schools are poorly monitored and students become entangled in illegal activities and sexual abuse.

We believe that education is key to the resolution of the dire poverty faced by many rural households in rural Zambia. Government projects are often focused on primary education, and so a large proportion of the population never completes schooling past the primary level. Once completed, our project will be of immense benefit to the community, both by providing essential education to the local children and by acting as a catalyst for further income generating activities to develop in the community.