Luapula Foundation (LF) was co-founded in October 2001 and first registered as a non-governmental organization in April 2002. It was founded as a reaction to the scourge of AIDS to provide a safe net for the vulnerable children as a result of AIDS. The Foundation remained resolute and mainly supported the grandparents’ households who remained taking care of vulnerable children in Zambia. The foundation has evolved to become one of the leaders in Social Protection, Safeguarding and Protection and Development in Health and Education. LF is well positioned to address the crucial breakthroughs needed for children in the Zambia context; with significant human resources for advocacy, strong partnerships, and technical expertise in Community System Strengthening (CSS) to promote Social Protection and Health for Children and Adolescents in Zambia.
Driven by the vision of seeing ‘a nation in which every child/adolescent appreciates the right to protection, development and participation’; Luapula Foundation continues to do its work guided by its mission statement ‘to positively influence attitudes and culture towards children/adolescent rights by mobilizing the Zambian community towards supporting children/adolescents to raise their voices, express themselves, through meaningful participation thereby creating real change’. The organization work now spans across the nation with programs and work in at least 7 provinces.
Character and identity
Luapula Foundation is a diligent services provider to most affected children in the society of Zambia. Working with parents and caregivers, Luapula Foundation targets children who are multi-dimension poverty affected communities in need of basic rights such as food, education, water, safe environment which promotes development and growth.
Luapula Foundation embraces and empowers the needy children to voice out their experiences and make demands which the Foundation remain committed to respond to within their communities. The organization response includes both direct service provision as well as referrals and collaborations with other stakeholders working in the same sector.
Brief experiences
Since inception in 2001, Luapula Foundation has provided:
- Over 10, 327 children with education support; the support varies from school supplies, school fees, psychosocial counseling services, household economic strengthening;
- Over 29, 687 clients provided counseling and testing service to over 29, 687 clients
- Over 2,727 children accessing protection services against all forms of abuse;
- 16, 296 received Abstinence and Being Faithful HIV prevention messages through life skills clubs
- 2, 727 children and adolescents participating in child rights projects;
- Over 500 children suffering from malnutrition in refugees’ camp and host communities through providing emergency supplies, engaging caregivers in production of crops which would support children development and growth;
- 1, 832 children born from HIV positive mothers have been given an opportunity to access early learning services through play and communication integrated to feeding, response to illnesses and caregivers develop skills to provide responsive care giving services;
Luapula Foundation life changing experiences sprout from focus on the family needs, children’s early life, development and growth. Children are given space to develop to realize own potential through protection, provision of basic needs and support to their immediate environment as the children grow.
Philosophy
Luapula Foundation believes that all children can realize their own potential if only they are supported with basic rights for children. Luapula Foundation belief comes as a result of working in the rural Zambia where children suffer multi-dimensional poverty and inadequate protection to promote their development and growth. Luapula Foundation delights in being part of many national and international organizations with children in Zambia.
Partners’ History of Luapula Foundation to date:
In 2002, it mobilized $845 to start its work with 24 households in foodstuffs supplementation, support to education with school supplies such as books, pens, uniforms and shoes. The resource mobilization was also boosted with the Barclays Bank (now ABSA) Kwacha to Kwacha matching grant where the bank doubled what the organization had realized from its fund raising efforts. Barclays Bank also celebrated it Make a Difference Day under Luapula Foundation project sites and supported with blankets and food stuffs.
In 2003, the first funding partner, Firelight Foundation, Santa Cruz California, United States of America, granted Luapula Foundation $5,000 to expand its program from 24 households to 80.
In 2003 Luapula Foundation secured a piece in Mansa for offices. The Japanese Embassy provided a grant for the construction of the offices in 2004; this provided office space for staff, enabling Luapula Foundation to relocate offices from the living room of one of its co-founders in Mutende Site and Service to the new offices in Suburbs of Mansa. Before then, the office was a small hut thatched with grass in Mutiti village in the outskirts of Mansa District of Luapula Province, Zambia
American Jewish World Service (AJWS) in America was the third partner who supported Luapula Foundation to take to scale the household support program for improving the safe net in education and knowledge increase and development of skills in HIV works. AJWS also supported the Foundation with the construction of another office space building. The Embassy grant provided secure office space in wall fence but did not provide furniture.
In 2005, Luapula Foundation applied and received a grant from the United States Ambassador Small grants under PEPFAR. The grant helped the organization to furnish its offices and help make the office ready for use. It was during the Ambassador’s site visit of the small grant project that she alerted Luapula Foundation about New Partnership Initiative funding; which Luapula Foundation applied for.
In December 2006, Luapula Foundation was awarded a grant to the tune of $3.8 million for four years by United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the program ‘New Partners Initiative’ (NPI) through Washington DC Office. The funding supported Luapula Foundation to implementEmpowerment of HIV/AIDS Affected and Infected Individuals /Communities project covering the entire Luapula province from 2006 to 2011. It focused on providing OVC support; empowerment of out of school youth with livelihood support; Abstinence and Being Faithful (AB) prevention program in schools; and HIV Counselling and Testing across the whole Luapula Province (reaching out to all the 7 districts at the time). 10,179 pupils were reached with school support; 14,822 in school children were reached with AB prevention messages; 444 parents/guardians were empowered with conservation farming knowledge and materials; 148 lay counsellors were trained and they provided counselling and testing services to over 26,577 people within Luapula Province, making Luapula Foundation becoming one of the leading HIV counselling service provider in the province at the time.
In October 2013, USAID funded Luapula Foundation close to $5 million for technical support to Ministry of Community Development and Social Services community structures in 5 provinces and 14 districts in Zambia. The Strengthening Systems for Orphans and Vulnerable Children under the Community Rising Project: meant to improve coordination and OVC access to services which included but not limited to health, education, economic empowerment and other service. It built the capacities of volunteer structures (Community Welfare Assistance Committees) from Ministry of Community Development and Social Services. The project strengthened 504 Community Welfare Assistance Committees (CWACs), 84 Area Coordinating Committees (ACCs), 14 DWAC and training over 4,000 community volunteers across the 5 provinces (Central, Copperbelt, Luapula, Lusaka and Southern Province).
The Society for Family Health (SFH) under their Population Service International’s (PSI) – PRISM project, supported Luapula Foundation to implement HIV Prevention in Luapula Province under NEW START, this was implemented between Oct 2009 and Sept 2014. aimed at increasing the uptake of HIV/AIDS counselling and testing services in Luapula Province and to contribute to HIV prevention efforts. The project provided long-term post-test follow-up counselling to clients who had tested HIV positive through its Horizons Program. Clients were also linked to hospitals and clinics for appropriate HIV related services. This was in addition to the provision of other reproductive health information during the counselling session.
Stephen Lewis Foundation of Canada has provided grants to enable Luapula Foundation support People Living with HIV/AIDS under NZP+ through their support groups since 2009 to 2018; this included forming support groups for people who knew their status to help overcome stigma and discrimination, training in leadership and governance to enable them manage and run their support groups district structures (Kawambwa, Mansa and Samfay) and Provincial office in Luapula Province.
Stephen Lewis Foundation of Canada and Firelight Foundation (USA) granted Luapula Foundation support to children born from HIV positive mothers from birth to age 3 in early childhood development (ECD) since 2016. The program supports child development and growth through brain stimulation and nurturing activities; the four pillars include: Feeding children, Play and Communication age appropriate activities, Prevention of Illnesses and Injuries and Responsive Caregiving. During the period, Luapula Foundation was also privileged to work with the Firelight Foundation Zambian partners a lead organization; supporting the capacity building need for their 7 partners in Zambia from 2018 to 2021.
Save the Children International with a branch office in Zambia funded programme in Child Protection for four years (2019 to 2021) working in 4 wards of Ndola district. The funds were from Government of Finland.
Cotswold Foundation from USA provides support to project aimed at deterring girls to engage in child marriage in Katete and Luwingu Districts in Eastern and Northen Provinces respectively. Funds have been used to address the felt needs of the girls such as classrooms construction, solar light to promote evening studying at schools, purchase of education materials and sessions to build girls’ confidence in themselves.
UNICEF funded Luapula Foundation for two years (2019 to 2020) to support uplifting vulnerable welfare in attaining quality education and child protection. The Service Efficiency and Effectiveness for Vulnerable Children and Adolescents (SEEVCA) project; strengthening community systems for coordinated OVC services covering case plus care across 7 district in two provinces (Copperbelt and Lusaka Provinces). The project strengthened the Ministry of Community Development and Social Services community structures in OVC case management.