COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE LEARNING

Accurate statistics on Luanshya, Zambia, are almost impossible to obtain. Depending on the record source, Luanshya’s population is estimated to be anywhere between 150,000 and 250,000 people with the median age being 18. Speaking at the launch of the 2021 Labor Force Report, Zambia’s Minister of Labor explained that only 26.8 percent of persons in the country are employed in the formal sector while 51.4 percent of the youth between the ages of 15 and 35 in are not in employment, education, or training. In Luanshya, the number of youths between the ages of 15 and 35 that are not in employment, education or training is believed to be at 80 percent or more. Part of this problem is the lack of access to information that can help them in solving daily life’s problems and developing themselves.

Luanshya, once a gem of the Copperbelt that produces Zambia’s copper, the country’s main income source, fell into poverty when the copper mines were privatized and eventually closed. The only new businesses that thrive in Luanshya are nightclubs patronized by youth. Young girls who cannot earn a living or continue with education fall into prostitution and are often victims of violence. In the same youth age group, the HIV rate is 15% with new cases resurging in the recent past.

Lack of access to information is stagnating Luanshya youth. When they graduate high school, they have no plan for their next steps in self-development. They end up at home or on the street with no guidance or resources to better their outcomes. Many fall to criminal activity and substance abuse. Zambia is termed as third world not for lack of resources but for the information gap that keeps key populations from shifting mindsets from third world mentality to development and self-sufficiency.

The Luanshya Information and Learning Center is housed in the town's public library, the only functional recreation building in Luanshya. When the library started floundering, we strove to innovate and founded the information and learning centre in 2023. Our Centre provides free computer access and internet to the community as well as workshops to equip high school graduates and youth in the 16–25-year age group with essential skills and resources for a successful transition to higher education, employment, or entrepreneurship. We engage local expertise as facilitators and are actively accelerating digital equity in Zambia. The centre is the first of its kind on the Copperbelt. Evolving the library into a youth center is a critical benefit to Luanshya youth as recently told to the Harvard Gazette.  Our goal is to create opportunities for learning, support literacy and education, and help shape new ideas and perspectives that are central to a creative and innovative community.

Our target audience is youth from 18-25 years; however, the center is frequented by all ages including 8-year-olds from primary schools who are learning to use computers.

Currently we have 12 computers and are unable to keep up with demand on any given day.

The center is especially beneficial to youth from high-poverty locations, which is the vast majority in Luanshya, who are benefiting from learning opportunities outside of school. These students/youth are coming from homes that cannot afford computers or smart phones. In some instances, a parent may have a phone but unable to afford adequate wi-fi access to enable the students in the family to access information to better their outcomes. 

Youth are also able to access international education platforms such as  EdX as well as international scholarships and opportunities that are available to students from developing countries. In our workshops, youth are guided to access community development funds that the government offers to small businesses. We offer 20 in person spots for the workshops and on zoom for the rest. Attendance is 120 people both in person and on Zoom. We have to turn people away as we only have so much capacity.

The center founder is Luanshya bred and born and currently an administrator at Harvard University. She founded the center based on her own needs as a young woman growing up in Luanshya.

The team on the ground in Luanshya is headed by the chief librarian as well the towns head of the Ministry of education. 

Overall,our team is comprised of Luanshya community leaders. They are parents who are not able to provide computer and internet access to their children and the center initiative is a community solution.

The Center is first of its kind on the Copperbelt region of Zambia and there's no other organization that is providing free information and resources to youth such as we are doing. There is no comparison.  The library where the center is housed was on the verge of closing when we opened. It is now a vibrant hub of activity for youth that we have had to put chairs outside for those seeking free wi-fi for their personal devices. 

1.We are meeting the needs of a changing community. Every decision we make is grounded by a desire to meet the ever-evolving needs of Luanshya residents. We focus on meeting the needs of unserved and underserved people with limited access to information access alternatives.

2. We are promoting social equity with limited resources and no operating funds.

3. We are promoting volunteerism and people are receptive and enjoying the community engagement.

As a small, emergent, all-volunteer nonprofit organization, we face unique needs as we develop our infrastructure and programs and strive to sustain our organization’s stability and institutional strengthening, for example:

The library that houses the center is 60 years old and has little to no updates in the facilities and have not addressed the following:

• Changing needs of residents.

• Lack of funding for basic services. in the current economic environment in Luanshya, information access is not viewed as a priority. People are focused on getting food on the table, everything else is secondary.

• The need to leverage funds through partnerships.

• Backlog of deteriorating assets that need renovation

The centre’s concept can scale to the entire Copperbelt province of Zambia, which comprises seven towns, Kitwe, Ndola, Mufulira, Luanshya, Chingola, Kalulushi and Chililabombwe. Each of these towns have local government owned old libraries that are unfunded and neglected but still maintain staff. Our solution is ensuring libraries remain relevant and built on people, place, and platform. With the Luanshya Information and Learning Center as the prototype, these libraries can be repurposed into innovation labs and learning organizations for youth and marked as iMisepela Access Points (MAPs). Imisepela is the word for youth in the Bemba language that is spoken on the Copperbelt province of Zambia. In MAPs, libraries can shift from being repositories for materials to platforms for learning and participation, where youth can meet and innovate, and access information and learn skills. These can also be places where youth can showcase their skills with such activities as art exhibits and coding and chess.

The Center is first of its kind on the Copperbelt region of Zambia and there's no other organization that is providing free information and resources to youth such as we are doing. There is no comparison.

1.We are meeting the needs of a changing community. Every decision we make is grounded by a desire to meet the ever-evolving needs of Luanshya residents. We focus on meeting the needs of unserved and underserved people with limited access to information access alternatives.

2. We are promoting social equity with limited resources and no operating funds.

3. We are promoting volunteerism and people are receptive and enjoying the community engagement.

We will need to know what is working and what is not working as we begin that comprehensive process of determining how best to use our resources. In response to this need, we are implementing a performance management system and will use several tools to create a clear picture of results, including an annual report and an innovative Results Framework designed to measure program participation.

long-term vision of success, including impact

• Produce and sustain a well charted path for youth to transition successfully from high school into adulthood with better outcomes.
• Promote the creation, maintenance, and enhancement of a learning society, encouraging its members to work with
• educators, government officials, and organizations in coalitions to provide lifelong learning services to all.
• Encompass a collaborative learning environment that will adapt to the changing needs of the community.
• Ensure that all information resources that are provided directly or indirectly by the center, regardless of technology,
• format, or methods of delivery, should be readily, equally, and equitably accessible to all users.
• Provide early childhood literacy programing.

We have repurposed a failing library into an information and learning center with the use of internet.

We have 3 full time staff and 4 volunteer. The number of volunteers changes depending on day of the week and events

Almost 2 years

Our team is a combination of men, women and youth all based in the community of Luanshya. 

We regret that our team has not been able to accommodate the needs of handicapped members because our facility is not handicap accessible. We are housed in a 60 year old building. Currently, we are seeking funds to retrofit the building to be accessible.

We are a non-profit relying on donations and currently developing financial sustainability. 

We provide free computer access and wifi to the community. 

We are working with town stakeholders to formulate a plan to keep the internet access stable as well as maintain computers. Our application to SOLVE is part of the plan to seek resources for better sustainability planning.