As our highlight of the month for April, we are pleased to present to you the organization: Chindiwn Home Based Care Savings Loans Association's (CHBC-SLA) in Zambia. CHBC-SLA’s mission is to help improve the lives of women and young adolescent girls impacted by poverty, HIV and AIDS and other social economic challenges through a comprehensive approach that includes income generation, health care, sustainable livelihoods and education.  Their approach to social change is to see every woman in our catchment area realizing their rights and become champions of change.

 

"Empowering women and young adolescent girls for a better future."

CHBC-SLA therefore, makes every woman count by supporting the livelihoods and health of women and young adolescent girls we give them choices and opportunities in society that enable them to be counted in society.

The organization was implemented in 2008 to help build the resilience of women and children from impoverished families, largely in response to the closure of the Zinc and Lead Mine in the 1980s where many were affected socially and economically in the area, contributing to a rise in poverty levels. Kabwe is the capital of the Zambian Central Province with a population estimated at 210,000. Formerly named Broken Hill, it was founded when the Broken Hill lead and zinc deposits were discovered in 1902. With the closure of the mining company which was the primary employer of over 95% of the workforce in 1984-86, many families have been left vulnerable to chronic poverty fueled by HIV/AIDS.

The organization believes that women are the most marginalized in society and that working in women’s empowerment to confront poverty makes women and subsequently their communities more resilient. CHBC-SLA believes that when women are marginalized, children become victims of abuse and neglect in many households including young adolescent girls, therefore they support marginalized children and adolescent girls in Kabwe in going to school and furthermore, learning about sexual health and rights.

 

 

CHBC-SLA works with the community towards four strategic objectives:

1. 1.Advocating for the rights and well-being of women and young children

2. 2.Social and economic empowerment for marginalized women and young adolescent girls- to help families at risk improvelivelihoods. They work with small groups of 10 women
3. 3.Empowering communities through parents and teachers to continue enrolling and support girls in school
4. 4.Health Care with a human rights lens that includes sexual heath and rights and prevention of gender-based violence, provision of basic services such as palliative care and support to those already infected by HIV/AIDS or other chronic illnesses. They collaborate with home based caregivers and clinics to help those who are sick at

 

 

 

The Main Successes of CHBC-SLA are:

-Supporting 15 women groups (each group has a minimum of 10 members) to be educated, mobilized and engaged to started sustainable income generating activities.

To date, these women continue to meet and manage projects that support their own livelihoods. In addition, CHBC-SLA has aided young adolescent girls who without their own choice got pregnant and dropped out of school. With the support of our programme, the organization has witnessed many of these girls returning to school.

-They have also had success in helping improve the capacity of local parents and teachers associations to be organized and continue to work hand-in-hand with local schools to identify young adolescent girls and help them with their rights on sexual health care.

Of course, as with all our monthly features, no organization is without its own set of challenges. It is always our hope that by highlighting these, we will foster networking and idea sharing opportunities amongst our partners and followers.

The primary challenges of CHBC-SLA are:

-Transportation to reach out rural communities. They are currently working to address this shortcoming by campaigning to raise funds to purchase a vehicle to help them reach their targeted population and provide necessary health care information to rural women. This response also includes training in economic and social skills allowing women to better support their families.

-Women continue to be disenfranchised particularly in communities with low literacy levels and this is something the organization would like to focus on as it gains more capacity and continues to grow in the future.

 

Contact:

Website: http://sloansassociation.org/
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Address: Chindwin Home Based Care Savings Loan Association (SLA)
Kabwe, Central Province Box 80457
Zambia

Telephone : +260-97-44-0271 or 260-977-46-0721

Follow them online:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chindwin-Home-Based-Care-SLA/185579181500992

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/CHBCSLA

Blog: http://sloansassociation.blogspot.com/

*Photos for feature: http://www.sloansassociation.org/photo_gallery