Our Reading Centers and Libraries

Africa Hope Fund currently has five reading centers located in the South Luangwa Valley of Zambia. Originally started by Jenny Waterhouse from Raise a Smile, she played a pivotal role in the establishment and success of the Raise a Smile reading centers, an initiative dedicated to providing educational support to children in need. Jenny, with financial support from Africa Hope Fund, invested extensive time and resources into setting up the reading centers, which now serve approximately 1,500 children weekly. The centers focus on teaching essential skills such as reading, writing, and English language proficiency. Recognizing the potential and importance of the cause, Africa Hope Fund's CEO Carol Van Bruggen and Board Member Debby Lott got involved in 2012 and ultimately took over the project with Project Luangwa. Together, our collaboration has further strengthened the reading centers, creating a lasting positive impact on the lives of countless children in the community!

Uyoba school

Uyoba was our first reading center, (opened in 2015) and the oldest. What initially started out in a small classroom on the school campus, was eventually turned into an off campus reading center after getting the blessing of the local village chief to build a brand new classroom located next to the school. Initially considered a lost cause, Uyoba saw a transformation with the initiative of two assistants who began teaching children. Carol, Africa Hope Fund’s CEO played a crucial role in helping to construct new buildings and renovating existing structures to establish a vibrant library.

Mnkhanya

This is our smallest reading center. The school has about 500 kids, and does not have electricity or running water. The school works in conjunction with the reading center, allowing each class to have a designated time to attend the center. The three reading assistants work with small groups. Each group is different, and dependent on the age range.

Mfuwe Day

Mfuwe Day reading center and library was established in 2018. The school had a pre existing library building, which Raise a Smile and AHF was able to use and start training their reading assistants. The headmasters at the school quickly fell in love with the reading program, and noticed a significant increase in students’ test scores, prompting them to see the value in the program and encourage its usage.

Kapita

Built by Project Luangwa in 2015, a sponsored librarian looked after the center, until we took it over in 2018. Along with Jenny we came in and trained the reading assistants and established a reading program that is now over seen by Africa Hope Fund and Project Luangwa. This has greatly enhanced the level of literacy in the school and hugely improved the resources available, as it is one of the more remote schools.

Chiatika

Opened in 2017, this was our second reading center, prior to being taken on by Jenny, and Africa Hope fund, two of our reading assistants taught lessons in the hallway due to the reading center classrooms falling apart. The updated classroom was rebuilt and became the model classroom in the Mambwe valley