Free Baptist serves 140 children in the Kanyama compound of Lusaka, Zambia.
Kanyama is a high density, low-income neighborhood on the outskirts of Lusaka that is home to 400,000 people.
The compound formed during the Colonial Era, when African migrants seeking work could not live within the city limits. The land is prone to flooding and still lacks adequate electricity, water, sanitation, and waste management infrastructure.
As a result, the community experiences chronic groundwater contamination and some of the city’s highest rates of waterborne illness including schistosomiasis, malaria, cholera, and diarrhea.
Since 2000, Free Baptist has provided nutrition and education to thousands of young children who would otherwise miss out on school.
The children who attend Free Baptist experience ‘social exclusion,’ defined by the UN as “a state in which individuals are unable to participate fully in economic, social, political and cultural life, as well as the process leading to and sustaining such a state.”
About Free Baptist
Head teacher: Mr. Chilemalema
Number of students: 140
Grades: 1 to 6
Number of teachers: 5
Number of classrooms: 4
Number of toilets: 4
Number of taps: 1
Free Baptist’s Needs
Classroom construction to add Grade 7
Additional toilets
Construction of a wall fence for security
Textbooks for all grades
Additional desks
After-school soccer league
Pictured: overcrowded conditions in one of the classrooms