Sponsorship Program

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

— Nelson Mandela

Unlike most places in the developed world, education is not free to the public in Zambia. Students at public and private schools are required to pay school fees as well as purchase a school uniform, shoes, and other supplies, which many families cannot afford. FHCI’s founders believe that every person should have access to education, thus, we created FHCI’s Sponsorship Program.

Meet The Students

How the Sponsorship Program Works

For Students in Livingstone

Each student in the sponsorship program is paired with a sponsor who provides the necessary funds for the student’s education. Admission into the program provides vulnerable students in grades one through twelve with:

A uniform, school shoes, and school sweater to keep them warm in the colder months
A backpack containing all of the essential school supplies – pens, pencils, a ruler, pencil sharpener, eraser, and ten composition books
Extra Lessons six to twelve hours a week taught by one of FHCI’s project coordinators
A nutritious lunch five times a week
School fees and requirements
Access to empowerment programs and workshops
Counseling and health services when needed
Individualized attention and care

For Students in Boarding School…

We provide students in grade 8 -12 who excel in school, or have unstable living conditions and no familial support, with the opportunity to attend boarding school. We currently have 22 students split between Kazungula Boarding School - which lies on the Zambia Botswana border approximately seventy kilometers west of Livingstone - and Zimba Boarding School - which lies approximately eighty kilometers north of Livingstone. Since the students in boarding live at school for nine months out of the year and have to travel back and forth from Livingstone to school three times a year, their fees are more expensive than the other secondary students. The boarding school students sponsorship fees provide each boarding school student with:

A uniform, school shoes, and school sweater to keep them warm in the colder months
A backpack containing all of the essential school supplies – pens, pencils, a ruler, pencil sharpener, eraser, and ten composition books
School fees and requirements
Boarding and feeding fees
Counseling and health services when needed

For the boarding students who do not have families or other relatives to support them we also provide them with:

Transportation to and from school
Toiletries and bedding
A trunk to store their belongings
Snacks and juice so they do not go hungry in between meals

For Trade School Students

Students in grade nine and above who prefer to study a trade or pursue a life skills track, rather than an educational track, have the opportunity to attend trade school in Livingstone, to study a trade of their choice. Fees for these students vary on a case by case basis since each trade is a different price and has different requirement.

For University Students

Click here to read more about our University program.

Once You Become A Sponsor

Throughout the year sponsors receive updates about their student. These updates include:

A welcome email with organizational information and personalized student information as well as a current picture of the student
A copy of the student’s report card
A brief progress report outlining the student’s overall performance during the term
A thank you letter from the student

Sponsors also have the option to write their student a letter, if they so choose.

Who Are Our Students?

Of our 130 students in preschool through university, over half have either been orphaned, or abandoned by their parents. Many of the students are in the care of aunts, uncles, or grandparents. We also have fifteen students who are affected by HIV. The students in the program range from grades one through twelve; we also have students in trade school and in University. For the 2024 school year, to sponsor a primary school student costs $335 a year. To sponsor a secondary school student costs $420 a year and to sponsor a boarding school student costs $690.

Further Information About Our Program

When we initially began our sponsorship program in 2018, we had thirty-nine students distributed between twelve schools in Zambia. In 2019 we accepted sixty-one additional students, bringing the number of students in our program to 100. We also partnered with seven additional schools. With the onset of 2020 our program continued to grow and we now have a total of 130 students in our program.

Since our inception in 2018 we have worked with over 300 students and thirty-five schools, including one trade school and five universities. So far, twenty five students have graduated through our program and twelve students are currently in University.