About DAPP Zambia

Since 1990, DAPP Zambia has operated Children’s Town in Chibombo District, a pioneering centre that combines protection, education, and vocational training for former street children and other vulnerable youth. At the heart of the initiative is the Youth Academy, a two-year programme for adolescents aged 15–17 that equips them with practical skills in agriculture, tailoring, metal fabrication, and cooking, combined with literacy, numeracy, and entrepreneurship. Industrial attachments in the second-year expose students to real workplaces, preparing them for employment or self-employment as they reintegrate into their families and communities. Participants undergo a two-year training in one of the 3 courses, namely, General Agriculture, Designing, Cutting and tailoring and Metal Fabrication, allowing them to undergo a holistic transformation process, after which they sit for trade test examinations. The program also seeks placement opportunities within local enterprises for others as part of their learning process whilst they undergo training. At completion of training, the program provides some reintegration support to facilitate a smooth transition of the former street children back into their communities. Starter toolkits are provided to enable all the trained children initiate their own income-generating activities within their communities. Children’s Town also runs a primary and secondary school that educates more than 560 children, integrating vocational elements from Grade 7 to 9 to give learners early exposure to practical trades and they sit for the TEVETA course level three exam (government authority responsible for VET regulation and coordination). This ‘two career passway’ approach blends theoretical learning with applied skills, making education more relevant to the challenges and opportunities facing young people in Zambia.