Hello

Since 2016, as a UK registered charity, we have been working hard to enable young people in Zambia to access education. Our belief has always been that education has the power to change lives and transform communities. Sadly, after 7 years, we are sorry to announce that we have recently made the difficult decision to begin winding down the charity.

Raising funds for EDULIFE has always been a challenge, and the current economic climate and cost of living crisis has made fundraising for small, volunteer-run charities like ours even more difficult. Our primary responsibility is to our students and we would never wish to be in a position where we were unable to continue funding them to the end of their studies. As such, we need to be pragmatic about our commitments and have decided that it is the right time to begin the process of closing EDULIFE.

Currently, our projected financial forecast means that we can continue to support the students currently enrolled in our programmes. We have sufficient funds to ensure our students can complete either their university courses or secondary education, with the last University student finishing in 2025. Until that time, the charity will remain operational – albeit not visibly – and will be run by a small team of the existing Trustees. We will ensure continued support to our students and transparency to our sponsors, whilst maintaining operational governance in line with the Charity Commission’s guidelines.

While we are sad that EDULIFE is coming to a close, we are extremely proud of the difference that we have made to the lives of those we have been able to support.

James is one of four children and grew up in a single parent family. Tragically, in 2017, James’ mother passed away following an accident. James went to live with friends, but continued to make the 15km cycle to and from school every day. Sadly, his family were unable to support him in continuing his education, but this is where EDULIFE were able to step in. With the help of his EDULIFE sponsor, James was able to complete Grade 12 and is now in the final year of his Pharmacy degree.

Kelvin’s dream is to be an engineer. He is the second of six children, and his father died when he was two years old. Since then, the burden of providing food, shelter, clothing and school fees has fallen solely on his mother. Things have not always been easy but, with the support of our sponsorship programme, Kelvin passed Grade 12 and is now at university studying electrical engineering.

We are also pleased to have seen numerous students through to graduation in recent years, including two doctors, several nurses, and a number of teachers. Kuzipa is a primary school teacher and EDULIFE alumni. At our most recent student day, she explained that through her experience in the EDULIFE Sponsorship Programme, she discovered talents within herself and has been able to be of help to the society around her. She added that “looking at our education levels in Zambia, you find that most children don’t know how to read and write so that has been my inspiration to learn further so that I can be of help there.” We are delighted to have been able to be part of Kuzipa’s story, and help her gain the skills she needs to empower the next generation.

From all of us at EDULIFE, we would like to thank all of those who have been part of the charity over the years, donating both time and money to allow us to make a difference. We are so grateful for the support – we couldn’t have done it without you.