The people of Western Zambia are warm and welcoming, the children energetic, intelligent, and eager to learn. The lives of these men, women and children are set against a backdrop of poverty and a crushing lack of opportunity. Western Zambia is one of the poorest regions of sub-Saharan Africa, with one of the highest rates of female child marriage and little else but subsistence farming to live on.

Despite these insurmountable odds, the women and children of Zambia show infectious optimism and perseverance that inspire us at WISE to do our bit to create economic opportunities through education, agriculture and entrepreneurial training.

For most students in the Province, education ends at the 7th grade. We give high school scholarships for at-risk, vulnerable students in remote villages, but we don’t stop there; we follow these students through post-secondary school, until they are truly self-sufficient and able to give back to their families and communities.

Our model works. Vulnerable children from remote villages in Zambia, facing the prospect of never completing school and being married well before the age of 18, are now heading to universities to pursue the professions of their choosing. Families are able to have sufficient income to send their younger children to school. And we are just getting started. We invite you to read more about our work and explore ways you can help.