2020 ANNUAL REPORT

An Unexpected Year

As every organization across the globe, the COVID-19 crisis upended our regular operations and challenged Impact Network. In Zambia, schools closed in March, and Impact Network pivoted quickly to ensure that our students and families were safe. Since our students do not have access to online learning options, Impact Network turned to more innovative ways to keep our students and teachers engaged while school doors were closed.

While this year has been a unique challenge on all fronts, we continue our mission: to provide every child with a quality education.

While 2020 started as a typical year, by March the world was hit with the COVID-19 pandemic

Like many organizations, Impact Network had to respond quickly as things changed. When schools in Zambia closed mid-March, we immediately found ways to stay connected with our students, staff and community. Within a few months, we put together over 12,000 homework and health packets, sewed over 20,000 masks, and launched Impact Radio – daily literacy and numeracy lessons broadcast across all of Eastern Province. This important work built on lessons created by the Rising on Air platform, that were adapted and translated for the Zambian context.

Throughout the school closures, we teachers conducted one-on-one socially distanced visits to student homes to ensure students were safe and learning. Our teachers also wrote and illustrated over 300 local language stories that are being used in our classrooms in 2021! And, we continued our professional development opportunities by creating self-study packets for our teachers to improve their skills.

Schools reopened in October and we have been doing everything we can to make sure our students and staff are safe

2020 was a turning point for us.

While the core of our work is Impact Education, we continue to test innovative ways to improve the lives of our students and families.

In addition to our COVID-19 response, we launched two new areas of our work – Impact Girls and Impact Health. Impact Girls aims to holistically address critical issues facing rural girls and young women – a lack of power to make decisions about their own education, health, bodies and lives. Under this work, we conducted menstrual health hygiene classes and mask-making lessons, and created self-led girls groups. The need for this expansion of our work was made even more clear with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Impact Health ensures our students can lead healthy, secure, and productive lives. We implemented Life Skills & Sexuality workshops across our adolescent students, and ensured students had a healthy return to school.

We also celebrated our first environmental awareness week that aimed to raise awareness on environmental protection issues through educational workshops and engaging activities. Students planted over 200 trees, turned trash into treasure, put on a “green” fashion show, and tested their new knowledge via games.

As we close the book on our most challenging year yet, we are choosing gratitude. In these uncertain times, we are grateful for everyone that is a part of Impact Network – from our first students to our most recent donors.

Reshma Patel
Executive Director