Meet Edith, a 9th grader from Kafue, Zambia, who dreams of one day becoming a doctor. “I want to help my family and other people in my country,” she says. “I also want my country to be a developed country.”

Edith is one of many students who, thanks to the Kafue-based African Education Program (AEP), gets help with her schoolwork, access to a library and creative arts, HIV and reproductive health education, and most importantly is still in school. In just a few years, AEP, led by our former Burness colleague Julie-Anne Savarit-Cosenza, has provided more than a thousand high school scholarships and almost 200 college scholarships so that Zambian children can become doctors, business owners, teachers—whatever they can dream.

As a way to celebrate Burness’ 30^th anniversary, our staff, families and friends want to raise $30,000 for a brand new computer lab for AEP’s students. The lab will open doors for Edith and her peers to connect to online resources, open-source educational curriculum, news and the global community. And it will support AEP's efforts to bridge the technology gap and empower teachers.

The lab will be housed in a larger educational resource center that will be the only facility of its kind in Zambia and will represent an innovative asset for the students, their community and their country.

Want to help us reach our goal? Here’s what you can do:

• Donate. 

• Spread the word.

“My mother always told me to work hard so that I should become somebody in life,” Edith has said.

Together we can support students like Edith, advancing AEP’s mission to empower Zambian youth through education and leadership, and breaking the cycle of poverty in their communities—ideals we can all strive for, from America to Zambia.

Computers Wanted: Hear What a Computer Lab Will Mean for David.