For many people, learning how to hold a pencil is a childhood milestone that soon fades into memory. Yet in Kabwe, some people remember that moment vividly. They first held a pencil not as children on their first day of school, but as adults who had spent much of their lives without the opportunity to learn to read or write.
One of them is a 64-year-old woman whose name has been withheld to protect her privacy. Her journey began in an adult literacy class and later led her into an examination room, where she successfully passed her Grade 7 examinations. She continued her studies and progressed into secondary school. Her story is just one example of a much broader transformation taking place at Freval Mission, where children who have lived on the streets, orphans, young people seeking practical skills, and adults who missed out on education are being given something difficult to measure but powerful enough to change the course of a life: a second chance.
This belief in second chances lies at the heart of the Kabwe-based organisation led by Executive Director Frederick Banda and a team of six staff members. Together, they are creating pathways back into education and society for people who have often found themselves excluded from both. Over the years, the organisation has acquired land and established its own school, complete with infrastructure that accommodates learners from Form One to Form Four. This has created a strong foundation for supporting vulnerable children and young people while expanding the opportunities available to them.
Freval Mission School constructed by the organisation. Photo credit: ZGF
For Mr. Banda, providing a safe place to stay or helping a child return to school is only the beginning. For children who have experienced life on the streets or grown up without the support systems many others take for granted, the greater challenge is ensuring they gain the education, skills and opportunities needed to build independent and fulfilling lives.
"For us, it is not enough to simply bring a child from the streets and think that the work is finished because they need education, practical skills and opportunities that can help them become independent and fully participate in society," Mr. Banda says.
A Second Chance at Learning
Freval Mission's approach recognises that not every child starts from the same place. Poverty, family circumstances and life on the streets often interrupt education, leaving many young people behind their peers. Rather than expecting every learner to immediately fit into conventional schooling, the organisation invests heavily in early childhood education and foundational literacy, helping children strengthen essential reading and writing skills before progressing further.
At the same time, Freval Mission understands that education alone may not be enough. The young people it supports will eventually need practical ways of earning a living and supporting themselves. To address this, the organisation works with specialised institutions and training providers to create opportunities for vocational skills development in areas such as carpentry and information and communication technology (ICT). These pathways allow young people to discover their strengths, build confidence and prepare for life beyond the classroom.
"These young people need different skills because one day they will have to build their own lives. We want them to have options, whether that means continuing with school, learning carpentry, developing ICT skills or finding another practical area in which they can grow," Mr. Banda explains.
In this way, Freval Mission's vision of a second chance extends far beyond immediate support. The organisation is not only focused on changing circumstances today but also on creating opportunities that enable greater choice, independence and dignity in the future.
When the classroom opens again
Freval’s adult learning class. Photo credit: Freval Mission
The Foundation's belief that education can begin again at any stage of life became especially evident when Freval established an adult literacy class for 19 individuals who had missed the opportunity to receive a formal education earlier in life. Some participants started at the very beginning of the learning journey, first learning how to hold a pencil correctly before gradually progressing to writing letters, reading and developing literacy skills.
As their confidence and abilities grew, one learner expressed a desire to sit for the Grade 7 examinations. What had begun as a basic literacy programme soon evolved into a pathway for formal academic advancement. In response, Freval engaged the District Education Board Secretary (DEBS) and successfully advocated for the learners to be registered for the examinations, opening a door that many may once have believed was permanently closed.
The learners were eventually registered and went on to pass their examinations, including the 64-year-old woman whose educational journey began in the literacy class and continued into secondary school.
Building Second Chances That Last
As a partner under the Zambia Governance Foundation's Catalyst Fund, Freval's journey illustrates the importance of building lasting assets and opportunities around a clear mission. The organisation now owns land, operates a school and continues to develop relationships with institutions that can provide vocational training and skills development for young people. These are not simply indicators of organisational growth. They are investments that enable Freval to continue creating opportunities for children, young people and adults whose circumstances might otherwise have placed education and economic independence beyond their reach.
More importantly, Freval's work challenges the idea that people should be permanently defined by the most difficult circumstances they have experienced. A child who has lived on the streets can also be a learner with aspirations. An orphan can grow into a confident and independent young person with valuable skills. An adult who never had the opportunity to attend school can still enter a classroom, learn to read and write, sit for examinations and continue their education.
For Freval Mission, a second chance is not about erasing the past. It is about ensuring that the past does not determine the future. Across its classrooms and programmes, the Foundation is demonstrating that opportunity does not follow a single timetable. When people are given the support, encouragement and space to begin again, circumstances that once seemed to define their lives can become only one chapter in a much larger story of possibility, achievement and hope.
To learn more about Freval Mission, feel free to reach out via info@zgf.org.zm
