Copperbelt Health Education Project

Kitwe, Zambia
In Partnership with Cecily's Fund

The Copperbelt health education project (CHEP) was set up in 1988 in response to the rapidly emerging problems of HIV and AIDS in Zambia and in the Copperbelt region in particular.

Its aim is to inform and educate people in the area about HIV and AIDS and encourage them to adopt healthy, safe behaviour. As well as running its own programmes, it acts as a support centre for other smaller health awareness groups that need materials and training.

It draws on best practice from all over Africa and in turn is seen as a generator of best practice.

CHEP aims to help people break the vicious circle of poverty, ignorance, diseases and helplessness through development of knowledge, values and life skills that enable creativity, responsibility and health life styles.

As an organization CHEP has four major project focus areas:

LHL (The Lung & Heart organisation of Norway): supporting CHEP to mitigate and prevent incidences of TB and HIV/AIDS by working together in improving the care delivery of TB and HIV/AIDS patients at community level.

Community Based Care for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (CBCO): The objective of CBCO is to improve the long-term quality of life of over 3500 orphan and vulnerable children In order to meet this objective in a meaningful and sustainable manner the project is implementing the following “high impact”, community demanded and driven interventions:

Economic Empowerment - Members of a Savings and Loans Association agree on an amount which everyone will contribute at weekly meetings
Food and Nutrition- Provision of farming inputs and livestock to OVC households by CBCO.
Psychosocial Support - Deals with issues of child development for OVC aged 6-11 years in kids clubs and youth club in life skills.
Healthcare Support for OVC deals mainly with life skills issues.
Education support - Provision of scholarships to OVC selected into Basic Schools

The Cecily’s Fund Project: The objective of Cecily’s Fund is to ensure that children and youths develop and maintain behaviours that will reduce the risk of contracting HIV/STIs. It started in 2003 with 20 OVC school leavers reaching 10 basic schools in Kitwe. It has since developed with 50 Peer Health Educators in 25 schools the past three years.

CHEP / CHANGES2 Project:

Objectives:

To identify and select eligible OVC scholarship recipients
Disburse 70 % scholarships to girls and 30% boys.
Disburse scholarships to OVCs on the Copperbelt and central provinces.
To support (SAFE Clubs) HIV/AIDS activities in schools

Activities:

Disbursement of scholarships/funds
Distribution of comfort kits and sanitary pads
Signing of scholarship Contracts with schools
Distribution of IEC materials to Anti AIDS Clubs in schools
Monitoring of scholarships and support activities

To find out more about CHEP's amazing work please click here

Cecily’s Fund

Cecily's Fund is a UK registered charity that makes it possible for Zambian orphans and other impoverished children to go to school. They give them shoes, uniforms, books, pens and help with fees, without which they could not go to school. The organisation also helps them to help other children by becoming Peer Health Educators and Teachers.

Cecily’s Funds have teamed up with Zambian organisations who understand the battle for survival against poverty and AIDS. Together they identify the poorest children and then deliver what they need through government schools. They regularly visit the children’s schools and homes to make sure the money is doing exactly what it was intended to.

Many of these children were orphaned or driven to poverty as result of AIDS. Without schooling they have little hope or support. But at school they:

Get emotional support from teachers and friends
Become more confident and learn how to avoid getting HIV
Learn skills so they can go to college and earn a living

Cecily’s Fund made a promise to support each child that we take on right to the end of his or her school career. This is only possible with the help of the organisation’s supporters.

To find out more about Cecily's Fund's amazing work please click here

Registered Charity No. 1071660