The Circle / OXFAM

A villager uses a water point installed at a school in Zambia as part of the project.

Pupils at Kalindini Community School sitting on the procured desks. Photo by James Kayamba in Mufulira Zambia

Mrs. Edith Chipulu adressing a PCSC meeting at Kalindini Community School. Photo James Kayamba in Mufulira Zambia

Children at Kalindini Community School performing dances to welcome Oxfam during the visit. Credit JKayamba in Mufulira

In 2011, The House Festival will be supporting The Circle, a dynamic affiliation of women who are passionate about empowering women and fighting poverty. Working in partnership with Oxfam, The Circle aims to contribute towards creating lasting and effective change.

Of the 1.3 billion people living in extreme poverty worldwide, more than two-thirds are women and girls. The Circle believes that by empowering women, they can help them to lift themselves, their families and their communities out of poverty. The Circle supports a set of Oxfam projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America that empower, educate and support women and girls to do exactly that.

The House Festival will specifically be donating to a Circle-supported Oxfam project in Zambia promoting education for orphans and vulnerable children:

Oxfam is working with local partners in Zambia’s Copperbelt, Lusaka and Western provinces to raise the standard of education, particularly for poor children at community schools. This includes improving the teaching and learning environment through teacher training, supporting school committees to run schools more effectively, and distributing equipment and books. They are also installing water points and toilets at schools to help raise attendance rates, especially among girls, and reduce absences due to sickness.

For the long term, they are helping school committees understand and claim the help they are entitled to from the government. The project also lobbies for national change, aiming to ensure that policies supporting the education of orphans and vulnerable children reflect reality.

For more information please visit:
www.oxfam.org.uk