As exam period gets underway in Zambia and schools prepare to close for the end of the year it is time for me as sponsorship manager to reflect on another successful year. I have once again been reminded how important education is in defining future opportunities.  The rooms at Chawama SEE school were being used by pupils to study on a weekend. At 10am on Sunday I found a grade 9 boy outside on a lone desk under a bamboo roof revising history for his upcoming exam.   

In 2009 Friend of EduSport sponsored 28 peer leaders, 2 teachers and 2 community coordinators.  We have seen a commitment from our sponsors in the UK to continue their support of their allocated peer leader, with a few now coming into their 4th consecutive year.  We have also been delighted by the increase in uptake of the direct debit payment method (£5 a month) which reduces our administrative duties considerably.  Since our sponsorship programme started in 2007, we have had 31 beneficiaries across 3 communities. It gives me great pleasure to say that this year we have enabled 5 young people to sit their end of school certificate (grade 12) exams; the equivalent of A levels in the UK. Additionally, 6 sponsored peer leaders are writing their grade 9 exams to allow them to progress into high school.   

To continually develop our sponsorship programme we have confirmed our pending list for the start of the school year in January 2010.  As we look to extend our reach and provide more peers the opportunity to continue their education we are conscious of maintaining close relations to those we support.  We rely on the community coordinators and committees to provide recommendations and feedback on those peers who are most active and deserved of our support.  As part of this commitment to good practise and partnership, Friend of EduSport have already met with the peers and parents in Chawama to discuss the expectations of sponsorship and ensure all parents and peers sign a contract of commitment.  It has been fantastic to meet the parents and guardians of our sponsored peers, some of whom we have known since 2007. As part of the contract it is clearly stated that the peer must be active in EduSport activities and maintain a good school record. We had several useful discussions through which we increased our understanding of some of their challenges and gained valuable feedback on the operating of our sponsorship.  Again it was refreshing to receive such a positive response from the beneficiaries; another indicator that our sponsorship programme is impacting lives not just of the individuals but also within families. 

We are excited to announce that we have our first sibling of one of our original sponsored peers joining our pending list (apologies for those that have tried to access the sponsorship page recently, it has been undergoing some work to ensure it is up to date. If you have any questions please email directly at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ). For those that know Cezarin from Kalingalinga (currently undertaking an internship with Go Sisters in Livingstone), we can now confirm her younger sister, Ruth, has been recommended by the committee to join our pending list.    In the past few weeks we have also seen Jacqueline Chola from Chawama introduce two of her sisters to peer leadership and the Go Sisters programme.  This has been an exciting development for us. 

Our pending list for January 2010 has now been confirmed and will be posted on the website in the coming weeks. To date we have confirmed sponsors for 11 peers in Chawama (thanks IDEALS 2009 for your commitment), 10 in Bauleni and 6 from Kalingalinga.  However we have another 9 young people currently on our pending list.  For more information simply click on the ‘sponsorship’ tab on the left hand column or consider giving the gift of education through our Poverty Preventing Presents option. Your support is gratefully received!