About Us
We are a preschool and community center based in Livingstone, Zambia.
We hope to impact and empower the lives of the current and future generations through education!
Our mission is to empower the Mwandi Community in Livingstone, Zambia, through accessible and free education. As a preschool and community center, in the morning we provide quality learning experiences to children, who are fully sponsored. In the afternoons and during holidays, we open up to the wider community, offering a diverse range of educational opportunities and workshops for people of all ages to foster growth, empowerment, and inclusivity.
Zambia is located in Southern Africa, surrounded by 8 countries. With more than 70 tribes, each with its own language, Zambia is incredibly diverse!
Baobuyu is located in the Southern Province of Zambia, in a city called Livingstone, which is home to the mighty Victoria Falls, the wild Zambezi River, and some of the most friendly and welcoming people in the world.
Still, most Zambians are living in extreme poverty with little or no access to clean water, electricity, and basic needs. Access to quality, lifelong education is scarce across the country, especially in rural villages.
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Community and government schools in Zambia are free, but there are many barriers to education, like the cost of uniforms and school supplies, which keeps children from attending school. Zambian classrooms are often overcrowded and lack educational resources like books, which hinders children's learning (BBC News, 2024). In Sub-Saharan Africa, where Zambia is located, 9 out of 10 children cannot read and understand a simple text by the age of 10 (UNICEF, 2024). In Zambia, according to UN standards, only 2% of children achieve minimum proficiency in reading by the end of primary school (grade 7) (UNICEF, 2021). The same statistic is true for proficiency in mathematics. Knowing this, it is critical that children have access to quality early childhood education, so that they have a strong foundation for growth and learning.
Baobuyu operates in an urban area. Compared to rural parts of the country, people have more opportunities for work, school, and equal access to education and future prospects. However, quality early childhood education is still hard to come by.
60%
(The World Bank, 2024)
of Zambians live on less than 2 US dollars a day
more than
2%
(The United Nations, 2021)
of Zambian children reach minimum standards in reading and math
20%
(VVOB Zambia)
of primary school students had attended preschool
less than
Early Childhood Education (ECE) in Zambia
Early Childhood Education (ECE) is the foundation for a child’s learning and development, giving children the best start in life. It existed in Zambia long before independence, but was not incorporated into mainstream education until 2014. Since then, the government of Zambia has created ECE centers in primary schools, recruited ECE teachers, and made it part of mainstream education (World Bank Group, 2023). Despite this, the enrollment rate in ECE programs was 11.2% in 2020, significantly below the target of universal access according to Zambia's Eighth National Development Plan.
At Baobuyu we pride ourselves on providing excellent early childhood education that goes beyond the standard. At Baobuyu, education is holistic. Our comprehensive approach includes not only teaching fundamental academic skills but also nurturing values, social development, and the importance of a healthy lifestyle, all aimed at providing children with the best possible foundation for lifelong success.
"If many little people in many little places do many little things, they can change the face of the earth!"
African Proverb
Baobuyu’s Sustainable Development Goals
Baobuyu proudly aligns with 6 UN Sustainable Development Goals across our diverse projects and programs!
End poverty in all its forms everywhere
Baobuyu aims to reduce poverty for men, women, and children in Mwandi, by ensuring that the most vulnerable families have equal rights to education and economic resources. By enabling access to free education for the whole community and creating space for social and economic projects to grow, Baobuyu is committed to making a difference and supporting the community to have access to basic needs, agency, and resources to step forward in breaking the cycle of poverty.
End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture
Our preschool provides children with nutritious food all year round through our Healthy Eating Program, with the goal of addressing their nutritional needs. Every day, our children are given fresh good from our garden, which promotes sustainable food production and resilient agricultural practices. Our Healthy Eating Program also bans all sugar, salt, and oil from our kid's diets. Through workshops on healthy eating, we educate our students and parents on how to maintain a healthy mind and body. We also love planting fruit trees all around our school and in the community, which are an easy source of nutritious food. This creates more secure access to healthy food in the community.
Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
Our aim is to provide as much free education for the community as possible. The goal of our preschool is to ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable, and quality early childhood education. We believe, care and development in early childhood education leads to relevant and effective learning and set our kids up for success. Through our afterschool clubs, we also support the increase in the number of youth and adults learning relevant skills and achieving literacy and numeracy that allow them to access employment, decent jobs, and entrepreneurship.
Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
Baobuyu is dedicated to uplifting and empowering women. Through our Female Empowerment Initiative, we teach and advocate for women and young girls to push for an equal future. In both our Girl Power group and Women's Sewing Circle, we teach about sexual and reproductive health, advocate for the end of gender discrimination, and enhance each woman's power to shape her own future. We hope that the women will spark a ripple effect within their communities by sharing their passions and skills across generations, helping every woman determine the course of her own future.
Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
We empower communities both socially and economically. Through our community projects, Baobuyu invests its time in uplifting the community and providing an inclusive, non-discriminatory, and sustainable space for everyone. Specifically, our Women’s Sewing Circle promotes entrepreneurship, creativity, and innovation. Empowering women not only benefits the women but their families and communities as well.
Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
At Baobuyu, we take pride in our ability to reduce, reuse and recycle. Through our Recycling program, we recycle everything at the school and lend a helping hand to the community by gathering loose plastics and converting them into art projects, toys, and eco-bricks. We not only instill the values of taking care of our toys and materials at Baobuyu but also the environment around us. It is important that children learn to take responsibility for protecting our environment and their future. Check out our sustainability page to learn more about our commitment to ensuring sustainable consumption and production at the school.
Baobuyu Learning Center
Nonprofit preschool and community center in Livingstone, Zambia providing as much free education as possible.
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