Community Partnerships | Baobuyu Learning Cen

Community Partners

We are lucky to have the opportunity to work together on projects with a number of organizations in Livingstone!

Mwandi Strikers!

Football fosters a sense of community no matter who you are. Here, football clubs are one of the key communities uplifting players, the community, and future generations. For those living in extreme poverty, football clubs are critical to developing life-long skills, giving kids a space where everyone can be themselves, be included, support one another, and push each other to improve.

The Mwandi Strikers Club uses sports as a platform to communicate positive ways of living, instill good morals, develop a positive approach to education, empower youth, and reduce bad vices such as underage drinking, drug abuse, early marriages, unwanted pregnancies, and prostitution. The club consists of 5 teams, welcoming approximately 200 kids from the ages of 10 to 24 years old.

When we first met the kids, there was a huge presence of love, happiness, hope, and pride in all of them. As Baobuyu continues to seek ways to expand our impact in the community, we are thrilled to announce our partnership with the Mwandi Strikers. Baobuyu has pledged to support them and their dreams. The kids are equally eager to get involved within their community. They understand and value the concept of paying forward the kindness they receive. Together, we engage in activities such as building eco-bricks, planting trees, and community clean-ups. We eagerly anticipate witnessing the growth and success of this club!

Free Haven Community Initiative (FHCI)

Free Haven Community Initiative (FHIC) is an NGO based in Livingstone whose four main areas of focus are Education, Nutrition, Health, and Empowerment. They facilitate educational programs around Livingstone for students learning outside of school. Free Haven has a sponsorship program for students from grades 1-12. This allows them to provide students with extra lessons, a nutritious lunch five times a week, all school supplies, and so much more!

In 2022, Free Haven approached us with a partnership opportunity. They were interested in interviewing our current graduating seniors and their parents to be included in their sponsorship program. They chose Baobuyu because of our parents' commitment to their children's success and the strong foundation our students have in reading, counting, and manners. Since then, 7 of our graduates and their families have been accepted into Free Haven's program and provided with an opportunity for lifelong education! If you would like to see more of what Free Haven does, please visit their website: https://www.fhcizambia.org/

Nekacheya School

One of our proudest achievements is that with the help of our interns we have created a book all about puberty for boys and girls. We initiated this project to teach our Girl Power group all about their bodies and what they can expect as they go through puberty. This project was so well-received that we partnered with the Neckacheya school. The Baobuyu staff and interns facilitated a 6-week session for Grades 4 and 5 at Neckacheya, teaching the book and testing their knowledge at the end to see all they have learned!

Additionally, we have provided reusable pads and bamboo period panties for the girls from Neckacheya, further reaffirming our values of education, conservation, and sustainability.

DeSanto Center for the Deaf

We began teaching our senior class the alphabet in sign language when we realized that some children were naturally more visual learners. Once sign language was introduced alongside the written letters and sounds, they understood the written alphabet more easily. It also boosted their self-esteem! Ever since the teachers have worked hard to expand our understanding of sign language by watching educational videos to then teach the children!

In 2020, when schools closed due to COVID-19, our director, Tammy, started to learn sign language at the DeSanto Center for the Deaf. She soon discovered that a partnership would be a huge benefit to our kids’ education. So in 2022, we teamed up with DeSanto, spearheaded by their director, Lisa Zahra. Once a month, Lisa’s younger students come to our school, where we learn new words, sentences, play the drums, dance and create. It is a great opportunity for both groups of students to get a real understanding of each other. If you would like to see more of what DeSanto does, please visit their website: https://deaaf.org/.

African Impact

Tammy first came to Zambia in 2011 to volunteer with the NGO African Impact, where she saw firsthand how an education could be life-changing. This gave Tammy the inspiration not only to move to Zambia, but also to establish her own school.

African Impact has been a huge supporter of Baobuyu from the very beginning. They continue to help with projects, female empowerment sessions, teacher training, and painting our school. They have also so kindly donated endless resources to us. We’ve also partnered with African Impact for fundraisers like pub quizzes and joint movie nights. If you would like to hear more about the wonderful things they get up to, or how you could become a volunteer with them, please click the following link: http://www.africanimpact.com/.

Zambezi Animal Welfare Services (ZAWS)

Teaching others, and caring for animals has always been near and dear to Tammy’s heart. That’s why Baobuyu’s partnership with ZAWS is so important to us. ZAWS is a non-profit organization that rescues, rehabilitates and re-homes dogs and cats. They also hold awareness-raising sessions for the community, provide vaccinations, organize community outreaches, as well as treat animals within the Livingstone area.

We are very fortunate to have an animal shelter in such a small city as, without it, animals would not have a chance at life or hope for rescue. Baobuyu proudly partners with ZAWS and we have been a home for their outreach programs and several of their rescue dogs. It is truly an incredible initiative and one we will support where possible. If you’d like to find out more about ZAWS, check out their Instagram (@zawslivingstone) or their website: http://www.zawszambia.org

Maramba Old People’s Home (MOPH)

We think it is important that our kids are involved in their community, across all generations. At the end of 2018, we took our kids on a school trip to the Maramba Old People’s Home, where we spent the day singing, dancing, and storytelling! We were busy the week beforehand preparing cards, wall pictures and bracelets to give as gifts to our new friends.

Since then, we have continued to visit MOPH and built this relationship further! Every year, we take our senior class to visit MOPH bringing handmade bracelets and cards from the children each time, as well as mangos and bananas for each resident! We look forward to our visit every year, and teaching our children the importance of inter-generational communication and care.

Conservation and Tourism Society (CATS) – 2018 to 2019

CATS is a community-led organization based in Livingstone dedicated to preserving our environment. They provide educational workshops in a range of settings – from schools to lodges and restaurants – about why our environment is so important and how we can minimize our impact on it.

We began our partnership with CATS in 2018, with regular sessions held for both our preschool students and Girl Power group.