Empowering Zambian youth to lead positive change

Unlike my other reports, this one is more subdued. Since a travel ban has been imposed on Zambians going to the US and the ongoing war in the Middle East, we have had to rethink the universities our students go to.  

Our current second years were eagerly awaiting their ED decisions when the travel ban was announced. This was terribly sad news for our students. Some had already received offers and others were deferred to regular decision. We decided a stoic pragmatism was the only way forward. We have been researching universities in different countries and are pleased to announce that we already have some successes: Grace is going to Hong Kong Poly U, Wynter and Noah to Ashoka in India, Agripa to Bocconi in Italy and Ireen to University of British Columbia. Applications are ongoing to other universities offering full scholarships in our network. 

As if this isn't enough to contend with, there was a sudden appreciation of the Zambian kwacha leading to a huge increase in the funds we need to manage our site and programme. We continue to look for partners and donors to help us plug this gap. 

That aside, we are excited that most of our second-year students have internships, ranging from audit with KPMG and PwC, to healthcare at a local hospital and all other work in between. Apart from the benefit of gaining work experience, these internships are vital for our students to start building their networks in Zambia before they set out to study abroad. They also get to see that there are professional organisations in Zambia doing purposeful work. 

We are also delighted that several of our students graduated last year and are now at home working in engineering, healthcare, agriculture, IT and entrepreneurship. 

But this period has also forced me to reflect on what we do at Our Moon and on how amazing the transformation is in our students. In a world where young people are constantly rushing and rarely pause to evaluate their progress, Our Moon creates intentional space for deep reflection. Students document their thinking and listen to their inner voice, enabling them to formulate their own responses to complex challenges. This early grounding in self-awareness fosters independent thinking and open-mindedness that underpin both academic success and ethical leadership.

I am actually in Zambia for three weeks, to complete student selection and onboard them. They start on 10 April, so I am very excited to welcome them to the programme. I will be sure to introduce them to you and update you on their progress. Thank you to everyone who has donated to our programme and given these extraordinary young people the greatest chance of their lives.  

Links:

• http://www.ourmoon.org.uk