Empowerment Programs
Zambia's goal is to achieve gender equality by 2030. Gender Equality and Empowerment is something that FHCI cares deeply about and is actively working towards. In order to help Zambia meet this goal, and in turn, to meet our own goal, we offer several Empowerment and Impact Programs.
“No country can ever truly flourish if it stifles the potential of its women and deprives itself of the contributions of half of its citizens.”
— Michelle Obama
If you are passionate about Gender Equality and Empowerment, help us achieve our goal by donating towards this program!
Impact Program
We launched our first Impact Program in January 2021. This program was a year long course for the grade 6 - 12 girls in our Sponsorship Program, as well as for girls from surrounding schools. Approximately forty girls attended this course. Since the majority of girls do not have access to menstrual hygiene products, we provided each girl in the program with a menstrual hygiene bag, containing underwear, soap, and either five reusable pads, or a reusable menstrual cup.
Shortly after the first course, boys were added to the program, and since then, the Impact Program has been implemented in four Livingstone schools, reaching hundreds of Zambian students with critical life skills and information on topics such as:
Biological Sex, Puberty, and Reproductive Systems
Gender and Society
Consent, Autonomy, and Human Rights
Sexual and Reproductive Health
Family Planning
Relationships and Social Skills
Mental Health and Well-being
Substance Abuse and Risky Behavior
Bullying and Prevention
Toxic Masculinity
HIV Prevention
Starting in 2024, we also added a literacy component to the program, as many students (even in the upper grades) struggle with the basic skills of reading, writing, listening, and speaking. This made it difficult for them to understand and grasp the concepts being taught in the Impact sessions. Since starting this literacy element, we have seen a significant increase in the scores on post-tests given at the end of the program.
72%
of Zambian students don’t finish grade 12
30%
of girls have had at least one child by 18
42%
of girls are married before 18
Play and Prevent
As part of the Impact Program, half of the sessions that we conduct are what we call “Play and Prevent.” At these sessions, with the help of our local partner Play It Forward, we head to the soccer pitch and use engaging activities to teach some of the essential topics of the curriculum. Children and adolescents often learn best when they are moving their bodies, and this is on full display during these sessions!
Community Empowerment Group
Our Community Empowerment Group is open to all community members in Livingstone. In this group parents, guardians, and other community members will learn about human rights, family planning/contraception, how to engage with their children in a healthy way, how to have healthy relationships with their children, how to make their children feel loved and accepted, how to have difficult conversations with their children, as well a variety of other topics. After each session parents have an opportunity to ask questions, share their experiences (only if they feel comfortable doing so), and discuss the session topic. In 2022 we hosted our first Community Empowerment Group Sessions. We had an amazing turn out and nearly 150 parents, guardians, and community members attended between the two sessions! In 2023 we hosted another community and empowerment group session and the participation of this session was incredible!
