End Period Poverty for 200 Girls in Kafue, Zambia

For a long time, we have struggled with how to refer to the all-important group of girls, boys, and young women and men who take advantage of the African Education Program (AEP)’s Learning and Leadership Center in Kafue, Zambia. Calling them participants does not speak to their level of commitment. Beneficiaries takes away their ownership. So we asked them what they would like to be called.

They came up with Mwalii Leaders, standing for Motivated, Worthy, Accepted, Loved, Inspired, and Inclusive.

Click here to watch a video intro to see how a Mwalii Leader grows from Mbewe (meaning seed) as young learners all the way to Banja (meaning family) when they become alumni.

Let’s shift gears to the 2022 Nyali Scholarship Fund. Zambia recently elected a new president, Hakainde Hichilema. He represents hope and a new beginning for the country. As a part of his agenda, he announced that, in 2022, education will be free through 12th grade.

The school fee payments that AEP previously made as a part of a Nyali Scholarship enabled Mwalii Leaders to continue their education in public schools. However, these school fees were just a small part of the offerings provided through a Nyali Scholarship. Most importantly, scholarships meant Mwalii Leaders could access all of the afterschool programs, including quality academic tutoring and leadership development, offered at AEP’s Learning and Leadership Center. At the same time, costs to attend college have increased and the number in College Prep continues to grow.

In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic’s devastating effects on the Mwalii Leaders’ morale are clear. Their families have equally suffered.

This is why Nyali Scholarships are needed more than ever.
They enable AEP to continue its work to build the Mwalii Leaders’
self-esteem, resilience, and leadership skills, as well as create
safe academic learning opportunities.

Since AEP’s 15-Year Anniversary Celebration, we have been reflecting a lot on our programs and why they work and we keep coming back to the word “interwoven.” All of AEP’s programs weave together to create a fabric of opportunity for the Mwalii Leaders to overcome daily challenges, dream big, reach their full potential, and become the leaders that their communities deserve.

For example, you may not know that the Njila (College Prep) facilitate most of the one-on-one and small group academic tutoring for their younger peers. At the same time, they access an essential program that prepares them for the next step in their educational journey and eventual careers.

Another example is Read for Rose Special Education Program where eighteen Mwalii Leaders with disabilities learn academic and life skills. The most inspiring learning takes place during integrated learning between those at Read for Rose and their peers without disabilities.

These two programs join our Nutrition Program and our Health Program, and several others, to provide significant value to what is offered through a Nyali Scholarship, AEP has never specifically raised funds for them because of their interwoven nature. So, this year, AEP is moving away from defining Nyali Scholarships by individual levels (high school and college).

We hope that you will join us in viewing the Nyali Scholarship Fund as a mechanism to ensure that all of the Mwalii Leaders, of all ages, can access all of AEP’s interwoven programs.

We also hope you will continue to support the girls and young women who are helping us end period poverty in Kafue. As Mwalii Leaders they are becoming peer educators to lift up the next generation of youth in a bold way. But, we can not do this without you.

Will you join us in supporting our Mwalii Leaders today? Click on this link for more details.

We wish you a prosperous and healthy New Year!

--The African Education Program