Map of Africa with Facts; Map of Zambia with Facts.

Zambian Children's Fund Mission

The Zambian Children’s Fund is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization created to raise and educate orphaned Zambian children. Every child is provided with food, shelter, clothing, medical care, education and skills training, giving them an opportunity to become healthy, productive members of Zambian Society.

Zambian Children's Fund History

In 1999, Kathe Padilla flew to Zambia to see how she could help the growing number of orphaned children living on the streets of Lusaka. With a group of concerned Zambian professionals, she organized the first Board of Directors of what came to be the Chishawasha Children’s Home of Zambia(CCHZ). Kathe returned to the U.S. and incorporated the Zambian Children’s Fund (ZCF) to work as a sister organization to CCHZ to help with fundraising. ZCF was granted 501(c)(3) nonprofit status by the (U.S.) Internal Revenue Service in 2000.

In May 2000, CCHZ was recognized by the Zambian government as a charitable organization. The first program, called Home-Based Support, was started in 2001. This program helps orphaned children stay in school. Many of these children live with grandparents or other family members. After going through an interview process, CCHZ provides the child with uniforms, shoes and school supplies and pays the necessary school fees.

By 2004, CCHZ purchased 15 acres of land outside Lusaka and began building. The current campus now contains seven houses that provide shelter for 70 children, a 12-classroom primary school, a chicken house and a large garden. In addition, we recently started a Skills Center, where the children are taught sewing and carpentry. Support comes from the Colin B. Glassco Foundation, working groups in Ithaca, NY and Nashville, TN, a ZCF chapter in Canada, and individual donations from thousands of people all over the world.