Matende Centre for the Underprivileged is an after-school program situated in Luapula Province in Kawambwa District of Zambia. We help children between the ages of 3 and 18 years old.  Our vision is to promote the well-being of the children by supporting good nutrition, sustainable health, social connection and improved academic standards for the children of Kawambwa.
 

The Center provides meals, homework assistance, life skills training and social activities to the children. We also include hands-on training for skills such as agriculture, breeding of goats and chickens, and growing vegetables. We work hard in promoting self-sustainment projects.
 

The idea to form Matende was conceived to answer the needs of increasing number of orphans who lost their parents to tropical diseases. Our immediate goal is to help curb hunger, and our long-term goal is to promote self-sustainment. Our target is to have about 1000 children in our program in the next five(5) years.  By providing meals and a safe supervised environment, we continue to support from the nearby villages.  

 

This directly protects girls from getting into prostitution or early marriages, and boys from engagement in criminal activities.  We currently have a list of 20 children who are waiting to be admitted to the program.  Our biggest need is consistent additional funding. We also have ongoing projects, some of which are completed and some are in progress.