What is Streetlife?

Streetlife began in 2002 after founder Lillian Mwila met two street children on her way to a prayer meeting.

She was able to give them some bread and juice and, within weeks, 80+ children were waiting for her every Tuesday. Find out more about how Streetlife was born in Streetlife: Lilly’s story here.

Today Streetlife feeds more than 600 children four times a week in Luangwa, Kapoto and Lukoshi, three of Kitwe’s most impoverished ‘compounds’, or small villages.

In its orphanages in Nkana West and Kapoto, it also provides homes for children who have lost their parents, many to HIV and AIDS, and young people whose families simply cannot afford to look after them any more.

Streetlife’s educational sponsorship programme also means that 250 children from all over Zambia – not just Kitwe, but also Kapiri, Kapoto, Ndola, Lufwanyama and Zambezi – are able to receive an education.

In Zambia, fees at all secondary schools mean many children drop out of the education system at the age of 13. Sponsorship means that children can continue their education in Grade 8 and beyond, with some of our first sponsored children now graduating from college to enter the working world.

At primary school level, sponsorship provides the resources to buy a child a pair of shoes, a uniform, school books, and something for their lunch.

At Streetlife, our motto for the children is rebuilding confidence. Many of the children we work with have lost confidence as a result of the trauma of losing both parents and coming from very impoverished families.

Streetlife supporters help us in all kinds of ways – financially or by giving their own time, visiting us in Kitwe to help with the feeding programme or in the orphanages.

As founder Lillian Mwila says: “Most of all we need your prayers because this job that we are doing is impossible without the grace of God.”