MIT Solve

About You and Your Work

Your bio:

My name is Reverend Beatrice Soko. I live in Kitwe house no 4238 Chimwemwe, Kitwe Zambia. Am the first and last born in my father's family. Am a married woman with six children.I have adopted a son who is an orphan, and he is doing grade 12 twelve this year. Therefore have been saving the lord 10 years now in the ministry and am the founder of Shepherd Center Organization Zambia looking for the less privileged girls and young women and disabled people in the community.

Project name:

Shepherd Center Organization Zambia

One-line project summary:

Helping the young girls ,women and disabled people in the society

Present your project.

1. am committed to help the young girls in education and teaching young women who are illiteracy ,also helping the disabled people to find wheel chairs.

2. Promoting Education to young generation to be Leaders of Tomorrow

3. by giving them education and survival skills in order for them to be self-reliant and contribute to the incomes of their families.

What specific problem are you solving?

1. the first problem in the community is the young girls and women are lacking education due to poverty from most of their families

2. the area where the organization is based is out skirt of Kitwe town and there are schools near by

3. people with physical challenged have been rejected due to the deformity of their body as the result are left out without education

4. i have 20 young girls and women who are learning and 15 physical challenged people who receive support from the organization and also 20 elderly women who are receiving support such as blankets and clothes and this due to the increase of poverty in the community .

What is your project?

My project usually help the young girls and women in survival skills such as tailoring and designing also i have introduced the village banking which most of the members contribute $1 every week and after twelve months they share their contributions with interest. then for disabled we teach them the word of God once in a week. and this project is helping the community not only women but also men.also this projects has helped so many families during rain season because the village banking it is helping the families members to buy inputs for farming.

Who does your project serve, and in what ways is the project impacting their lives?

since 2010 have been working with women in collaboration with the community development officers who help us interns of workshops for us to eliminate poverty levels. we also involve other church leaders to sensitize against early marriages to the girl child.

Which dimension of The Elevate Prize does your project most closely address?

Elevating opportunities for all people, especially those who are traditionally left behind

Explain how your project relates to The Elevate Prize and your selected dimension.

The problem am facing for this community is most young girl and women are illiterate and it is difficult to community things and that is why have this initiative ti promote education so that they can understand things and also they can improve their lives

How did you come up with your project?

It was in 2009 after I had graduated from theological university and had a vision to look after the orphans and I went to see the chief head man of the community who accepted my proposal of helping the vulnerable people and people choice the members whom am working with them right now. And my mission was to advocate on early marriage and to help disabled people .IT

Why are you passionate about your project?

It is my calling and my passion to look after the disabled and the young girls and women. Because when I was young when I was rejected by my own biological mother. and from this angle God has given me the heart to look after the vulnerable people in the society. Before I became a pastor I had been doing tailoring and designing and I also had done home-craft and through these skills am able to teach the vulnerable people.

Why are you well-positioned to deliver this project?

Therefore am concern with vulnerable people in the society due to my background. And also after I had graduated with the theological paper have I come to understand that God will use the right person to work his work of helping the people using their experience .

Provide an example of your ability to overcome adversity.

When I started the project , I faced so many problems because the community could not understand that through education they can eliminate poverty. And what I did for survival skills I provided a tailoring machine to help them to sew their own clothes and this helped the people to love the project.And I taught them how have self confidence in every thing they do.

Describe a past experience that demonstrates your leadership ability.

It was in 2012 when I taught about 4 fourth young women tailoring and designing and we contributed money for these young women graduated with (TAVETA )Technical Education ,Vocational and Entrepreneurship Training Authority and we have bought a land for the projects to be done on own our own land as the organization

How long have you been working on your project?

started this project since 2010 and registered it.

Where are you headquartered?

Zambia, Province of Bergamo, Italy

What type of organization is your project?

For-profit, including B-Corp or similar models

More About Your Work

If you have a website describing your project, provide a link here:

Nil

If you have additional video content that explains your project, provide a YouTube or Vimeo link here:

—

Describe what makes your project innovative.

my project innovative will help the community to empower the younger generation in accessing the formal education and this will help the uplifting the standard of the vulnerability of the people to have the responsibility and co-operative actions that can lead them to development of the community

What is your theory of change?

THE TRAINING WILL BE DONE FOR 6 MONTHS AND THE STUDENTS WILL SIT FOR FINAL EXAMS UNDER (TEVETA) TECHNICAL EDUCATION VOCATIONAL AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP TRAINING AUTHORITY TO OBTAINS CERTIFICATES AND ALSO WORKSHOPS WILL BE DONE BY THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT OFFICERS TO ENSURE TEACHES GETS PROPER METHODOLOGICAL ASPECTS .FOR THREE WEEKS AND THIS WILL HELP THE COMMUNITY TO HAVE EDUCATION SYSTEM THAT WILL PROVIDE THE CHANGE IN THE SOCIETY

Select the key characteristics of the community you are impacting.

Women & Girls
Poor
Persons with Disabilities

Which of the UN Sustainable Development Goals does your project address?

4. Quality Education
17. Partnerships for the Goals

In which countries do you currently operate?

Zambia

In which countries will you be operating within the next year?

Zambia

How many people does your project currently serve? How many will it serve in one year? In five years?

They are(20 )girls and young women , also we have (15) physically challenged people both women and boys and we have 20 elderly women which are giving the support and we have 10 kids who are under five age between two years to five years

What are your goals within the next year and within the next five years?

My objectives is to train these young girls and women in survival skills for 18 months and they will obtain certificates and

What barriers currently exist for you to accomplish your goals in the next year and in the next five years?

My barrier is financial capacity . I can not afford to buy sewing machines which will accommodate the training for these vulnerable people .

How do you plan to overcome these barriers?

Upon receiving the support it will help the organization to promote education both kids and these girls and women in the community.

What organizations do you currently partner with, if any? How are you working with them?

currently nothing.

Your Business Model & Funding

The Prize

Why are you applying for The Elevate Prize?

The Aim of applying Elevate prize is to help me to help the young girls and women since i buy them materials for training and provide food for vulnerable people.upon receiving the help the organization will run to help the young to access the training and it will help them obtain the certificate upon completion of the training. when i thought of women and girls from grass-root level to be supported and be empowered i fought of youths who are orphans and those rejected women in the community to give them the hope in there lives. By introducing the skills which can help and impact the society through survival skills. because i knew that they are many people that will benefit from the same skills and i looked to the disabled people , these are the people that are being rejected due to the disabilities and few people accept them naturally .being leader it takes a heart to teach about loving these people without any condition and this has helped me to preach the gospel of Christ as the bible says that we should love one another.in Africa Zambia in particular people are facing so difficulties due to high level of poverty and illiteracy. and young girls are forced to enter into marriage and they stop to access education and this has made lack of employment in the country because the government cannot employ illiterate young youths.if only have the access of Elevate prize i will train more youths .

In which of the following areas do you most need partners or support?

Mentorship and/or coaching
Monitoring and evaluation

Please explain in more detail here.

To promote education to young generation to be leaders of tomorrow ,to promote education to physically challenged people through survival skills and also empowering girls and women to be self independent through survivals skills . we all know that every human need education and support .however we need to put up the positive energy and utilize every rehabilitative measures and ensure all the vulnerable access training through survivals skills such as tailoring and designing , promoting agriculture and village banking which will assist them to be self-reliance in the society.more over the organization is sensitizing and advocate on early marriages to the young girls.and lastly the our organization has the mandate to look after the old age women age 80 to 100 of age and we provide food and blankets for them .and our plan to out-up a class for pr-school kids age 2 two years - five 5 years.

What organizations would you like to partner with, and how would you like to partner with them?

MIT AND SHEPHERD CENTER UPON RECEIVING THE FUNDS THE CENTER WILL BE PARTNERS AND BUY THE MACHINES WHICH WILL HELP THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY TO BE SELF-RELIANT AND THE CENTER WILL PRODUCE ITEMS FOR SELLS IN ORDER TO RUN THE ORGANIZATION BY THE SAME MACHINE SUCH AS SCHOOL JERSEY WILL BE PRODUCED AND ALSO TROUSERS AND SHIRTS WILL BE PRODUCED BY THE CENTER. THEN THE TRAINING IT WILL CONTINUATION PROCESS WHICH WILL HELP THE GENERATION TO COME TO HAVE THE SAME TRAINING OS SURVIVAL SKILLS. MORE OVER THE ORGANIZATION HAD TRAIN WOMEN WHO ARE TO TEACH OTHER STUDENTS WHICH MAKES US TO CONTINUE WITH THE TRAINING. AND THESE WOMEN ARE

1. NANCY MBULUMA

2. RUTH PHIRI

THE CATCHMENT AREA OF OUR LOCALITY IS ABOUT FIFTEEN THOUSAND PEOPLE ONLY VILLAGERS DEPENDING ON AGRICULTURE SYSTEM , SO THE ORGANIZATION WE THOUGHT OF HAVING SURVIVAL SKILLS SINCE THE AREA IS OUTSKIRT OF KITWE TOWN AND PEOPLE CAN'T AFFORD TO ACCESS TRAINING IN TOWN .AND ON THIS SCENARIO I THOUGHT OF HELPING YOUNG GIRLS AND WOMEN TO HAVE TRAINING THROUGH SURVIVAL SKILLS. THE PROGRAM HAS NINE MONTHS THEORY AND NINE MONTHS PRACTICALS. WE HAVE PROVIDED BIBLE STUDIES FOR ALL STUDENTS INCLUDING DISABLED PEOPLE .SO THAT THEY FEEL THE LOVE OF GOD. THEN ALSO THE ORGANIZATION IS LACKING THE ISSUE OF TRANSPORT ESPECIALLY FOR PHYSICALLY CHALLENGED PEOPLE WHEN IT TIME TO GIVE THEM WHEEL CHAIRS AND THIS HAS MADE OUR WORK SO DIFFICULT DURING THE TRAINING. WE HAVE WOMEN WHO ARE WORKING VOLUNTARY WITHOUT PAYING THEM.