Our Moon

Our Moon is happy to announce that we are launching the application for our 2022-2023 Young Leaders programme. We are inviting applications from recent Grade 12 leavers (either 2021 or 2020) who have strong academic grades, come from financially-disadvantaged households and want to make a difference in society. We want students with varied academic interests. Mostly, we want students who yearn to learn, have an open mind and are passionate about making a difference in the world.

ABOUT OUR MOON

Our Moon is a small education NGO registered as a charity in the UK by the Charity Commission and an international NGO in Zambia by the Ministry of Community Development. We unleash the potential in Zambia’s young people so that they leave us with the skills, knowledge and dispositions to contribute to positive social change in the country.

ABOUT OUR PROGRAMME

We run a full time programme which incorporates academic development, volunteering, physical and emotional health and university and careers guidance. Typically, this would incorporate a period of 9-10 months full time on our residential site in a rural area of Chibombo District. It is then followed by a period of project work and/or internships.

The academic component of our course covers four main subjects:

* Identity and Expression – a philosophy class which aims for our students to develop self-awareness, their ability to self-reflect and determine the path you wish to follow

* Develop higher English skills through critical reading and intensive writing.

* Develop further maths skills

* Start learning how to code, use a number of different software packages, learn how to use photo and video editing software.

The main outputs are a 4000 word fully referenced research essay on a global issue as witnessed in the Zambia context, SATs and the development of simple apps and videos.

Students on the programme will be involved in daily community service on our site with a choice of projects which could include agricultural projects and tutoring of local out of school young children. We encourage suggestions for projects the students would like to initiate based on issues and needs they see around us.

In addition, students are involved in sessions to look after their physical and mental health.

Before leaving our site, students will have received detailed guidance on their university applications. They will continue making applications once they leave.

ABOUT OUR TEAM

Our Moon is run by Justin Mushitu in Zambia and his team which includes tutors for the volunteering programme, English and maths. In addition, he has a chef who cooks healthy and varied meals for everyone, a social worker who ensures the safeguarding of everyone on-site, a healthcare assistant and various other people who ensure the safety of the site and help with cleaning and maintenance. It is an important part of our programme that all Our Moon staff and students are treated with respect and that each person has time to develop new skills.

Helen Leale-Green, the UK based CEO, is responsible for the careers and university guidance part of the programme which operates both online and on site.

ABOUT OUR SITE

Our Moon acquired some land from the Chief in 2019. It is in a beautiful area of Zambia and is blessed with wonderful large skies. All the students who have visited us on both long- and short-term programmes say that it is very conducive to study here.

We have built numerous structures and started developing the land. We have recently acquired some additional land which we hope to use for both recreational purposes and to grow our own produce. Building work is still ongoing when funding allows.

We have installed a few solar panels and have a bore hole with a solar pump. We are, therefore, self-sufficient in terms of water and electricity, but at the same time, a little restricted as supply can depend on the weather.

TIMETABLE FOR SELECTION

• 1 February 2022 – open applications
• 28 February 2022 – Applications close at midnight in Zambia
• 15-23 March – Long listed applicants will be invited to Our Moon for our four day selection programme (in two groups of eight)
• 26 March – Results of applications announced
• 30 March – Final eight students come to Chibombo

IMPACT OF COVID ON YOUNG LEADERS PROGRAMME

We are preparing to bring our selected students on site full time from 30 March. All students meeting us face to face and coming on site will be expected to observe health protocols at that time and take a COVID lateral flow test before travelling.

Bringing students to our site is, however, dependent on the COVID situation by this time. If we do not feel it is safe to do so, we will provide the programme online until such time as we can safely bring students on site. For our final eight selected Young Leaders, if we have to move to online classes, we will provide internet access, a chrome book and a kindle so that they will be able to participate fully, until such time as they can safely come on site. All devices will need to be returned in good condition to us once the programme has ended.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

All applicants are expected to have achieved a high academic standard. We would typically expect students to have gained between 6-10 points from six out of eight subjects in their Grade 12 ECZ exams. There is a little leeway for a student with a very strong application in other areas.

We expect all students to be from low-income families who would not be able to afford our programme or to go to university within Zambia without full financial support. We run an ethical programme and any student found to be lying about their financial situation will be asked to leave the programme with immediate effect.

All students will be asked to withdraw from any local university applications they have made until they complete our programme as the workload on our programme does not allow for students to leave our site to process applications.

Students will need to provide a recommendation from a teacher who can vouch for their academic success, commitment and drive, and write about any extra-curricular activities that have been done (this can include acknowledgement of significant help the student provides within the home).

Students will also need to provide transcripts of each terms’ results from grades 10-12.

HERE IS THE LINK TO OUR APPLICATION PORTAL

https://portals.ourmoon.org.uk/prospective-students/apply-now