We, the youth of the MCOP, are a constantly growing team of school-goers, those who have already finished their schooling and those who were forced to drop out. Although our needs as individuals differ, we believe that we should also remain welded solidly as a team. The team gives us a chance to share our challenges with one another and to carry each other in our daily lives.

We have approached the management team of the MCOP on certain issues we face. They listened to us, seek to support us the best they can and encouraged us to share our plea with a broader audience. Thus I, Lewin Shikombela, want to address you, our dear readers, on behalf of the Mmabana youth.

Our situation is drastic. Please read it with deep consideration. It is not a shopping list but real challenges that impact our future as young adults:

• In Zambia we have no free education.
• Those who can not pay are kicked out of school.
• The government is doing nothing to help us.
• Churches say they are poor.
• Organisations declare they have no funds.
• Our fathers, for those who still have one, are unemployed.
• Our mothers, for those who still have one, are unskilled and lack the education to find a job
• Those who are “single” orphans (i.e. having only one parent left to them) are being told that they are not entitled for welfare support, as they are not “double” orphans.
• Those who are “double” orphans (i.e. without any parents left to them) have been told to wait until next term’s budget to see if the government can help them.
• Let us not forget that some orphans live in extended families of up to ten children under one roof; still the foster relative can not even afford to buy them food.

We could continue this list, but chose to stop as an act of our desperation. We face this situation on a daily basis. It is a harassment that brings us stress. What can we do? Where do we find the money to pay for our school fees? At 16 to 18 years old, we are supposed to be “normal” children, studying at school. We prayed but there has yet been no answer.

The MCOP has been attentive to us, but they have also explained to us that unlike other NGOs, their concept lies within fighting for a free education policy instead of granting singular subsidies. Nevertheless as the affected youth we ask ourselves, what measures can be taken to prevent outstanding dropouts due to the lack of school fees?

We hereby ask the members of the MCOP and their Supporters to help us in any way they can, so that we may return to school. I, Lewin, for example, am the only one in a family of seven children to have reached grade 12. My mother still dreams, a miracle may happen. Many of my friends are in similar situations. Those who are orphaned, living in a child-headed family, are at the highest risk of disaster as they turn to prostitution as the only answer for survival.

This letter was written on behalf of all my friends and we are proud to be part of the Mmabana youth. Many thanks to the MCOP for the freedom of expression they grant us.

Lewin Shikombela