It all started in 2013 as a dream.The dream was to make a difference and build a Pre-School and Community Centre in a small rural village called Mwandi in Livingstone, Zambia. The primary goal of the Baobuyu Learning Centre is to provide as much FREE education as possible to the entire community.

 

Zambia is one of the most underdeveloped countries in the world, with the majority of the population living in rural areas in extreme poverty and making a pre-school and community center in one of those rural villages was going to improve drastically the life of the kids but also the entire community.

 

Fast forward a few years, with a lot of hard work, determination, tears and triumphs, an NGO was set up, land purchased, and the idea of the Baobuyu Learning Centre was born!

We had an ambitious build and constructed the school in an incredible 6 months, thanks to a lot of hard work from us and a lot of friends who came all the way to Zambia to make Baobuyu real, in time to open for the new school term in 2016.

 

The Baobuyu Learning Centre offers Preschool to 2.5 years to 6 years of age, a girl empowerment club for young girls 12-18 years of age, a women’s club for women 18 years and above and workshops throughout the year.

Baobuyu Preschool

We have 2 grades, one from 2 – 4 years old and from 5 – 6 years old. We teach passionately Pre-Maths, Pre-Language, Social Studies, Environmental science, Computers, Arts, Music, Physical Education, Gardening and Cooking from 7.30am to 15pm. Besides, we make an big effort to teach the kids important values such as knowing to work with other kids, to respect each other, to don’t use never the violence, manners and to be empathic, among others. Baobuyu believes in the benefits of  learning through the experience and also to have time to be outdoors and learn from the nature. We hardly believe that happy, loved and well educated kids will become the best adults.

Baobuyu knows the importance of a healthy diet so we cook every day to provide free healthy lunches every day for all our kids and teachers.

The Baobuyu Preschool was officially opened on 11 January 2016 with 9 eager and enthusiastic pre-schoolers and has grown to 21 children today.

The biggest goal is that there is constant learning and input from the community. During weekends and holidays the Learning Center is used for community programs and workshops for the local people, on social issues such as girls empowerment, health talks and skills training. Our vision for the future is to begin more afternoon workshops and courses to encompass the whole community. This will include health talks, computer literacy and adult education. It is important that education and transferable skills are open to all, in order to empower the whole community and get families talking about important issues.

 

Memory (Lydia’s mum)

“Thank you once again for helping Lydia in school. She can now teach me the importance of water in my body, exercising for good health, she corrects me when I speak bad and she can teach me good things. Thank you very much and may God bless you”

 

We have a sponsor a child program to help the most vulnerables families in the community and change their kids’ life giving them the opportunity of education.

Baobuyu Learning Center always welcomes visitors and volunteers, so do pay them a visit if you are in Livingstone. Check out this video here to show you more about the school: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ1DxwJDTvY