Hello my name is Bret Freeman. My family represents and is a proud sponsor of Yasheni Homes and Multipurpose Centres in the Lusaka Zambia. 

Yasheni Homes and Multipurpose Centres (YHMC) was established in October 2001 and commenced operations in March 2002.

The organization was established to provide Care and support to children in desperate situations and to ensure sustainability of vulnerable children especially those whose parents died of HIV/AIDS and TB, thereby increasing the accessibility of its’ clients to improve orphan care and support services.

With the Yasheni campus we serve approximately 300 students in the Lusaka region from pre-k to seventh grade.

The passion of our leaders is such a breath of fresh air. We serve locally with the beautiful children in local Zambian villages.

The purpose of this campaign is to generate enough funds to install a solar grid for the campus to sustain power and teach with enhanced teaching tools by being able to utilize satellite internet and other digital media.

On the elementary campus our goals are to create solar panel grid for sustainability as brown-outs occur frequently, especially in the spring and summer months. This affects the consistent flow for teaching. Our wish list to provide health services, an art program and life skills to our Yasheni students and generate an opportunity for all students regardless of financial status to have a sustainable feeding program. We have assisted raising scholarships for the children the past 7 years. Since COvID the challenges have been staggering at times as our enrollment has increased from 90 students to almost 300. While the tuition is about $5 per month, even that is staggering for most of the families. The need is great while the support is sparse at best.

Scholarships have been made available through private support to the families and have assisted in the educational support by the director and staff. Their passion shows in the compassion they have for the children and will prove there is nothing they cant overcome.

Here is the back story from our Founder / Director Evelyn Kaenga.

YASHENI is a ‘BEMBA’ word (one of the Zambian language from the northern part of Zambia) meaning enlighten or turn on the light.

YHMC VISION

To create self-sustaining communities that are, liberated from poverty, disease, illiteracy and ignorance, paving way for individual members of society in achieving self-actualisation and to realise their maximum personal and collective society potential.

YHMC MISSION

To psychologically, physiologically and materially rehabilitate vulnerable members of the society, particularly orphans, vulnerable children and vulnerable women affected by poverty, disease, illiteracy and ignorance, by successful coordination and implementation of community based projects and programmes that address and provide solutions to these social adversities.

Our mission also seeks to mobilise and educate the entire community in a manner that re-enforces their community commitment.

Objectives of YHMC

To promote the rights of children and women and directly implement child and personal development projects through community counseling, formal education, drama, literature, the media and recreational activities.

To ensure quality health care is provided to orphans, vulnerable children, incapacitated parents, guardians, disempowered women and youth.

 To enlist community support for children left orphaned by HIV/AIDS/TB.

To provide community school facilities, sport and recreational activities for

orphans and vulnerable children who for various reasons cannot be

incorporated in formal education system.

To provide life skills development training to orphans and vulnerable

children, care givers/guardians and disempowered women and youth.

To involve older orphans and vulnerable children, guardians/caregivers,

disempowered women and youth in income generating activities in order to enable them attain domestic sustainability at household levels.

What we do

YHMC undertakes a wide range of activities under mission to the Chainda project, these include:

Health, Hygiene and nutrition education and demonstration

Basic and literacy education

Community counseling and intervention

Outreach activities

HIV/AIDS/TB/STDs sensitisation programmes

Sports and recreational activities including culture and performing arts;

dancing, drama, music etc

Home visits and home based care

Organising technical seminars and workshops

Various life skills training and income generating activities that include,

tailoring, tie and dye, batik, embroidery, weaving etc. and personal development. We plan to include more activities in form of food processing, home economics, art and crafts, crop farming/poultry, animal husbandry, landscaping, carpentry, welding, block making and entrepreneurship skills as well as micro financing

Support and Monitor the performance of our various clients Beneficiaries

Orphans and vulnerable children

Foster parents, relatives and caregivers of orphans and vulnerable children

Women

Youth

The community as a whole

Background

When the programme was initiated in Chainda Township, Lusaka, 56 double orphans, were registered, of these 5 were HIV positive and needed a lot of attention as the all suffered from various ailments. The 56 children were taken for basic medical examination and needed to be de-worming, 5 were found to have TB. Majority of the children were malnourished and being cared for by their grandmothers, who were in need of economic and social support for their own and the children’s survival. Due to the cases that we have had, we began a feeding programme, to combat malnutrition, so as to help in increasing the mental capacity and provide an education incentive for the children.

Home visits and home based care were introduced for some of the guardians who were suffering from TB and various HIV/AID related illnesses.

A good number of orphans, vulnerable children, women and youth have participated in the programmes that Yasheni has offered.

Included in our numerous social welfare programmes is;

Community schooling.

Life skills training

Feeding programme

Women and

youth empowerment programmes

Home based care

 Health care

 Counseling and intervention

Women play an important role in their communities and YHCM has provided women’s programmes and training in income generating activities. Approximately 550 women from the communities have been trained and more are yet to be trained.

Presently the women have participate in primary health care, personal development, tie and dye, batik, door mat making, weaving, tailoring, embroidery as well as small scale farming. These activities empower them and help them in sustaining their household.

Assistance and Challenges

Yasheni had from time to time received financial, technical and material assistance from both local and international donors, well-wishers, agencies and government departments. Among those that had provided such support were the following;

 UNICEF

 World Food Programme

 Nicola Horlick

 Angel Network (Oprah Winfrey)

 And others

Yasheni being a nonprofit community based establishment, has no income generating venture and has been mostly dependent on self-financing from the Director and founder. The assistance that Yasheni has received from the various providers, has been for specific programmes and specific periods. However, the assistance has not been adequate for long term sustainability of some programmes and the continued efficient operations and professional service to the communities that have been earmarked to be assisted due to material constraints. This has also been due to material constraints and change factors that have affected both local and international donors and well-wishers.

We still offer basic services from time to time. Strategic plans have been drawn up and we are currently looking into income generating activities that will sustain the programmes.

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Where we are found

Yasheni Chainda centre is located in Chainda Township/ Lusaka, is located in Chainda Township, Lusaka East, along Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe/Twin palm roads opposite Meanwood properties.

The programme has expanded and been operating in two rural areas, in the northern part of Zambia, Chinsali and Kasama, since 2005.

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