Hewlett Packard has chosen Alan Kerins Projects as its Charity of the Year for 2011. This is a great deeply humbling honour, to be chosen by one of our key local employers. Hewlett Packard has a long tradition of being involved with charities in Galway, and we are delighted that this year HP has chosen AKP.
HP will organise fundraising events which will support the Alan Kerins Projects in Western Province in Zambia. The Alan Kerins Projects(AKP) works directly with children and young people in the Western province of Zambia. The organisation has worked in partnership with local organaisations to construct community and educational facilities and to set up income-generating activities in the area.
HP has agreed that the funds it generates will be used to support the newest venture.
To develop a Sports, Recreation and Training Centre for Children and Youth in Zambia. This multi-functional facility will create a unique Sports, Recreation and Training Centre for youth and children in the Kaoma district in the Western Province of Zambia. Proposed facilities include a central, multi-purpose hall that can be used for indoor sports as well as other educational and community purposes. The facility will be surrounded by a number of auxillary programme rooms that will cater for activities such as life skills, leadership and citizenship training, drama and theatre, adolescent friendly health services. Part of the complex will include visitor accommodation that can be used for volunteers and staff and can contribute to the upkeep of the building.
The main objectives of the Centre will be:
- To improve access to information, recreation and training for children and youth
- To improve opportunities for civic engagement amongst children and youth
The centre will be youth led and will involve full collaboration with the local community. The Centre aims to deliver sports, recreational and social civic engagement programmes, to engage the local children and youth and actively involve them in their community. As part of the programme it is intended to establish a youth-led information centre, which will serve to improve access to information and raise awareness, particularly among young girls, about the potential risks and ways to protect themselves against contracting HIV.
It is proposed that the centre will be constructed in Kaoma town. A site has been identified by the local authorities and preliminary discussions have been held with the Land Commission in Kaoma, who visited the site with Alan Kerins and local community leaders. Negotiations are underway to secure the site.
This programme proposes to assist children and youth affected by HIV/Aids using a combination of integrated sports, training and civic engagement interventions. The facility and services will be youth-led and will provide a place of refuge for vulnerable children and youth. It will offer them an opportunity for personal development through sports, training and civic engagement activities.
AKP’s vision is for the facility to act as a beacon for all organizations that target children and youth through their programmes. Organisations will be able to use the Centre as a forum for imparting training programmes to their target group and to impact areas, such as, HIV/Aids, adult literacy, gender awareness and children’ s rights.
The site for the Kaoma Youth and Sport Centre, and the Chairperson of the Steering Committee, Mr. Mbewe
Phase One has just been launched. It will consist of the following:
- Soccer pitch, Running track
- Volleyball court, Netball court
- Nets, posts and balls
- Meeting areas – local ‘rondavels’ which are open round structures, 4 metres in diameter with a grass roof
- Electricity
- Water supply
- Toilets
The Rondavels for the Youth and Sport Centre will be similar to this one
The objectives of the programme are:
- To enable girls and boys to realise their potential
- To use sport as a way of promoting leadership skills in local young people
- To provide facilities for growth and education for the young people of Kaoma
Phase Two will be developed in close consultation with the steering committee, paying particular attention to the inputs of the youth. It is likely that Phase Two (due in 2012 / 2013) will consist of the development of the site including:
- Changing rooms and showers
- Building meeting rooms for youth groups
- A library and study centre and Computer lab
While the site is being developed, there will be an on-going leadership programme run using the site. The site will also be available to local sports clubs, the schools and other community groups. The site will be owned by the community. Alan Kerins Projects is in the process of recruiting a project manager to facilitate the building programme, and a Community Development Worker who will assist in the roll out of the leadership programme, and will support the organisations intending to use the Centre for the benefit of the youth of Kaoma.
This building is part of an education and learning centre supported by Alan Kerins Projects in Mongu. Some of the buildings planned for the Kaoma Youth and Sport Centre will look like this.
