The population of Zambia is estimated at 11m people.  Out of that total, there are an estimated 1.1m orphans under the age of 14. This means that 1 in every 10 Zambians is a vulnerable child with a precarious future.  75% of these children have been orphaned as a result of HIV/Aids.  Against a background of a difficult socio-economic climate and the outfall from the HIV/Aids pandemic, many families simply cannot cope with the burden of such children.  This has led to the breakdown of the traditional support mechanisms provided by the Zambian extended family ethos, and more and more of these children end up trying to fend for themselves by begging and sleeping rough in the main towns of Zambia. In many cases, the children have relatives who are unable to support them and in some cases of which we are aware, the child actually becomes the breadwinner for the entire household.  These children have become known as “street kids”, and are regarded by the public generally with a mixture of fear and suspicion, coupled in many cases with an overwhelming sense of helplessness at the scale of the problem, and the hopelessness of the child’s situation.

We believe that these children have the same right to health, happiness, leisure and education as our own children.  They need a stable and secure environment, where the necessities for survival are assured, and in which they can learn basic life skills and social integration and interaction.  Once these basics have been learned, the child can be provided with education through formal schooling for younger children, and vocational skills training for older children.

Old MacDonald’s Farm is a project set up to assist street children and other vulnerable children in Zambia.  The project aims at bringing the children off the street or out of the unfavourable situations they may be in and bringing them to stay at the Farm with a view to rehabilitating them and giving them a strong foundation on which to build their futures.  When a child is of school age, every effort will be made to send him to school.  For those over school age or unable to benefit from formal education, vocational training in a skill of their choice is provided.

For more visit the OMF website.