Supporting Education for Vulnerable Children
ROP exists to provide free, comprehensive education to orphans, former street-connected children, and other vulnerable children who face extreme poverty or other challenges that prevent them from going to school. We pay their tuition costs, buy their school materials and uniforms, and pay for any other school related needs they have.
We also work closely with the staff at their schools to ensure they progressing academically and not facing any barriers in school or at home that could affect their learning and development.
Since 2008 ROP has helped over 1,000 children attend primary and secondary school, in addition to providing vocational training and living stipends to former ROP students who have earned university scholarships.
Social Care and Family Support
No child can be expected to succeed in school if their personal lives are in disorder, and at ROP we place significant emphasis on providing holistic social care to all the children we support, and to their families as well.
The majority of ROP’s beneficiaries are former street children, and because of that they often come to us with significant trauma from living homeless as well as from the circumstances to led them to the street.
From the moment a child joins ROP we assess their background and their mental health, and we attempt to connect with their families to find out what went wrong at home, and how we can help. Our long-term goal is to rebuild healthy relationships between parents and their children, so the child can focus on their schooling and just being kids, and so the parents can play their part in supporting their children’s development. When necessary, ROP provides financial support to families that are stable but live in extreme poverty, so their children have a roof over their heads and food to eat and thus can focus on their education.
Support in School
Through the social work program we fund at Empower, Develop, Dignify, children also receive ongoing support while they’re in school. We advocate for them with school leaders and teachers to ensure they are treated fairly and equally no matter their backgrounds, and ensure that they are happy any active in the classroom. When there are behavoir or other challenges facing our children, we engage with school leaders and the parents to find and support solutions that are in the children’s best interests, and follow up to ensure those solutions remain in place for as long as they’re needed.
“With the support from Lusaka, we have been able to serve our students better than ever.”
— Alonzo F., School Principal
