African Revival is a UK charity (registered charity no: 1108718) which focuses on improving education in Sub-Saharan Africa. African Revival currently has active projects in Uganda

Uganda

Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...

 and Zambia

Zambia

Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....

, and also provides funding for projects taking place in Sudan

Sudan

Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...

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History

African Revival was founded in 2005 by the UK businessman Tony Allen, who remains closely involved as a member of the board of trustees. African Revival initially had a broad focus and was involved in many aspects of rural development, including income generation and farming projects. Since 2009 the charity has focussed exclusively on improving the quality of education, particularly focussing on infrastructure development and schools linking.

Vision and Mission

African Revival’s core vision is to work towards creating “an Africa where children have access to education, opportunity and choice for the future”. In order to work towards this aim, the charity’s mission is as follows;

To work directly with communities in Africa to:

• Identify and overcome barriers to education
• Build schools and facilities for a thriving learning environment
• Deliver high quality educational models to achieve good standards of early years education
• Train and motivate teachers and pupils to embed a love of learning for life
• Encourage parents and communities to prioritise education for their children
• Support sustainability through a community led approach

Zambia

African Revival currently works with around twenty schools in the Kalomo District of Southern Province, Zambia. African Revival works closely with schools and communities in order to improve the quality of education on offer. Projects include infrastructure development and a school linking programme (see below). Infrastructure development focuses on areas such as classroom construction, latrine construction, teacher housing, borehole drilling and desk provision. Local communities actively participate in planning and managing projects through participation in need assessments, budgeting, material provision, and the provision of building staff.

African Revival Zambia also works closely with the schools to conduct training in areas such as hygiene, sanitation and community organisation. Through these means African Revival works to assist the schools in consolidating the gains made through improved infrastructure and facilities.

Schools Linking Programme

In 2006, African Revival Zambia set up a Schools Linking Programme which links schools in the Kalomo District with schools in Hertfordshire. Through letter exchange, reciprocal visits and fundraising activities, the aims and objectives of the programme are as follows:

• To share knowledge and ideas not just about education but about life
• To motivate young people’s commitment to a fairer world.
• To bring a global aspect to the curriculum.
• To challenge stereotypes and perceptions that people may have of life in other countries.
• To encourage friendship with others across the other side of the world.
• To see development issues as personal rather than theoretical

Events

African Revival runs a number of fundraising events in the UK and abroad. Previous events include the Zambia Bike Challenge 2009, a 1920's Bootleg Ball hosted in the Park Lane Hotel in London, and a Beat the Goalie Competition attended by the Business Secretary Dr Vince Cable MP .