Why We Exist
Arise exists to empower orphans, vulnerable children and their guardians while helping them to get to know Jesus Christ as their personal saviour.
The AIDs epidemic has hit Zambia hard and whilst HIV awareness is rising, the effects of the epidemic has far-reaching consequences with many children left orphans. Often surviving relatives will take in these orphans to care for them. However they are often elderly or widowed themselves, having their own biological children to support and may lack the economic or emotional ability to provide for additional children. At Arise, we work closely with local Zambians to identify those children and guardians who are most in need in the area surrounding Kaniki.
Arise is a Christian organisation and our beliefs influence our working practice. Our approach is holistic. We care for our member’s physical, spiritual and emotional well-being. Support that we offer is therefore varied; it includes weekly guardian’s discipleship groups where we not only study the bible but also practical skills to help improve everyday life. The Arise team visit the homes of children and guardians on a regular basis, both to talk with them and offer prayer and encouragement. Children and guardians are also able to visit the Arise office to ask for help or advice with specific needs. Arise seeks to meet individual needs as they occur, such as providing emergency food parcels for the most vulnerable families, money for transport to hospital or fixing a broken roof.
Arise values empowerment. We seek to change the poverty mind-set many have and work closely with the guardians to support them to sustain and encourage their families. We encourage the guardians to do all they can as we don't want them to become dependent on handouts. Many of our guardians are able to rent a small plot of land for subsistence farming. We partner with ‘Foundations for Farming’ which teaches them how to apply Biblical principles (such as not wasting produce, working hard, etc.) and learn more effective farming methods. Alongside this we have been working closely with the charity 3:18 who have recently helped us to incorporate micro-loans and business training for small groups of guardians who would like to start their own business.
Arise considers education as a key to a child's future. Despite community schools in Zambia being free and open to all, pupils are expected to pay voluntary contributions. Government schools, which offer a high standard of education, are not free in Zambia and many of the guardians cannot afford the school fees. Arise pays the school fees, plus any exam fees, uniform costs and some book costs to ensure every child accepted into Arise has access to education. Our concern for quality education for these children inspired us to build Kapumpe Christian Primary School. The standard of education at Kapumpe is much higher than that of local community schools (where class sizes are often 60+), giving Arise children a major advantage in life. We envision all our supported children of primary age to be able to attend Kapumpe. To visit Kapumpe's website, click here
Our commitment to education has led to us recently launching a scholarship program in order that some of our older students may have the opportunity to continue their education at college. A college education broadens the skills of a student, most courses are based on a specific vocation, which in turn helps to ensure they can find stable employment.
In addition, we run a weekly youth program for Arise children and young people from the local community. This allows us to get to know the young people more, share a message from the Bible, play games together and encourage them in their daily life.
To read more about the history of Arise click here