Chibombo Programme Unit

District population: 241,612
Communities where Plan works: 11
Sponsored children: Around 8,000

Chibombo Programme Unit is located in the Central Province of Zambia, which is home to many ethnic groups including Tonga, Bemba, Nyanja, Shona, Ndebele and the dominant Lenje tribe.  The majority of these people are small-scale farmers.

Plan has been working in this area since 2000 by helping communities deal with child abuse including forced marriages, lack of health facilities near households, inadequate classroom space for children, unsafe water, poor farming methods and falling crop harvests.

Over this period, communities have become better organised and more involved in their own development.  Plan works with parents, children, village head people and chiefs on various projects.

Programme highlights

Food security

Working with government extension workers, Plan has trained farmers in improved agricultural methods such as conservation farming, livestock rearing and fish farming.  These activities have been supplemented with provisions of seeds, goats, simple irrigation equipment and various related training, such as business and market development and school gardening for children.

Promoting quality basic education

Plan Zambia trains volunteers who provide care for children enrolled in our early childhood care and development programme.  We also train centre committees and primary school committees composed of children, teachers and parents in managing centres and schools respectively.

We also support quality education by providing classroom furniture and books, rehabilitating classrooms and raising community awareness on the importance of educating children.

Health projects

To reduce childhood illnesses, deaths, and malnutrition, Plan Zambia has been working with community volunteers and government health workers to increase access to healthcare.

Volunteers who are trained by Plan conduct awareness sessions in villages on primary health care, malaria, hygiene, HIV and nutrition. Twice every year Plan also contributes to government child immunisation campaigns against diseases including measles and polio.

Community self reliance

“With the help of Plan we managed to build a school,” said Deliwe, aged 16.  “The trainings that Plan facilitated made this possible.”

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