The African Education Program (AEP) was born in 2002 in the cafeteria of Radnor High School in Pennsylvania. Four sophomores decided they wanted to do a service project for students living in communities that were under-resourced and affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Zambia. Today, AEP unlocks the potential of African youth and adults by building and growing community-led initiatives focused on quality education, health, and community development.
The African Education Program’s flagship Learning & Leadership Center in Kafue, Zambia drives holistic change through inclusive education access, health and wellbeing, leadership development and community development initiatives. In 2025, over 5,000 children, youth and women will be impacted: 850 will benefit directly from daily programs at the Center, 4,000 youth will engage through a Peer‑to‑Peer Education Program in local schools, and 400 rural youth will be reached through the Kids to Care Initiative, focused on HIV awareness.
Children and youth attend the before and after-school educational resource center to supplement what they learn in the local community schools. A hot, nutritious meal is provided to over 350 children through the daily Nutrition Program. For most of these children, it is their only full meal of the day.
The Read for Rose Special Education Program opened in 2019 to the community’s most marginalized children and youth. Today, there are 41 differently-abled participants. Each child in the Read for Rose Special Education Program has individualized learning plans, tailored to their unique abilities and academic potential. Several Read for Rose students have learned sign language and braille for the first time, opening the door to attend a local, publicly funded school for children with vision and hearing impairments. Read for Rose students living with speech and hearing impairments acquired the skills necessary to join their peers at a local secondary school. Family members of Read for Rose students have learned sign language, mending communication barriers and enabling them to communicate fully with their children and siblings for the first time.
Thanks to a grant from the Big Green DAO in 2023, the Community Garden Project was formalized to teach children, youth and their families to grow healthy vegetables and become food secure while creating a more sustainable feeding program for the girls and boys at the Learning & Leadership Center. This “seed” of an idea blossomed into the newly opened Urban Farming & Permaculture Learning Space (UFPLS) in 2025, thanks to a partnership with Kia Middle East & Africa and The Waste Lab. Youth Ambassadors are now teaching their peers about urban agriculture, composting, regenerative farming, and biofabrication. This is just the beginning. The first UFPLS cohort will train 25 youth from the College Prep Program and they will be followed by youth from grades 8 to 11 as well as learners from the Read for Rose Special Education Program. Be sure to follow us for updates!