My name is Chetanjot Singh, and in February 2025, I will be traveling to Zambia to volunteer alongside my school, contributing to projects that have been ongoing for many years. This trip is part of my Gold Gaisce award and an opportunity to support the long-standing initiatives my school has established in Zambia.

In 2002, KH Gaisce participants began what would become a long-term project in Zambia. Through a former KH staff member living in Zambia, participants of the President's Award raised funds for a local charity school in Makalulu, a shantytown on the outskirts of Kabwe—the largest shantytown north of Soweto in RSA. The school provides education, medical care, clothing, and food for the children. Our efforts included employing local workers to build a block that doubled the school’s capacity, constructing a toilet block, and sinking wells. Before the well was in place, the school had to close during cholera outbreaks. Now, clean water from the well serves the entire community.

In 2006, another trip saw the construction of the Chilillila Centre, a preschool for vulnerable children, which also houses AIDS testing and counselling rooms for the community. This became the base for a broader community outreach program.

We also helped establish Ranch’hod Hospice, which provides nourishment, medical care, and support. Additionally, we supported the Busy Bees grandmothers’ group, based at the hospice. These grandmothers raise their AIDS-orphaned grandchildren. KH funded initiatives for them, including supplying Singer sewing machines, piglets, a sausage-making machine, Zulu beads, and a peanut butter-making machine—enabling them to produce items to sell at market, with all profits going toward feeding their families.

Running parallel to these efforts is Sables, a project established to take homeless children off the streets and provide them with vocational education. Today, Zamda Ireland oversees the running of this project.

We also support a rural school in K’ngombe, donating clothing and educational supplies, while providing seeds and fertilizer for the community to plant and harvest for their own sustenance.

As we continue to sow seeds of hope, we watch them grow into trees of opportunity, providing shade and sustenance for generations to come. Together, we cultivate not just land, but futures—one project at a time.

Thank you for all the kind donations,

Chetanjot Singh