Kuyamba House in Livingstone was established in May 2016 by African Shade, a Zambian charity organization and USA non-profit. 

The staff of African Shade and Kuyamba are made up of volunteers. They serve as teachers, counselors and mentors.  Each staff member is supervised by internationally trained addiction counselors.  All funds to run the Kuyamba House are raised through fundraisers and individual donors.

Kuyamba means “starting point, new beginning” in the local language Nyanja.

Kuyamba House is serving as a “rehabilitation and supportive living / half-way house” for young men (19 and up) desiring to change their life of alcohol and drug abuse. They live with a “House Manager” to whom they are accountable for their daily schedule. Each resident works in the community ½ day, then participates in life skills teaching, substance abuse education and house chores, all to prepare them for sober living in the community. The length of stay is individually based and varies from 1 to 2 years. The house is run in a “phase 1 and phase 2”. 

The residents of Kuyamba share rooms with 2 or 3 other residents, cook meals together and share most aspects of their daily lives with each other. The meals are “Zambian style” with nshima as the staple food, supplemented with nutritionally balanced vegetables, protein and fruit. 

Here are some of the GOALS of Kuyamba house: 

• To equip each person to live a sober and drug free life.
• To support each person to complete high school studies.
• To provide work experience or apprenticeship if school is completed.
• To provide life skill teaching, i.e. anger and stress management, relapse prevention, and how to deal with the effects of abuse, grief, depression etc.
• To teach basic health and dental care.
• To teach and model the 12-step program of recovery, and see each resident involved in support groups, working with a sponsor etc.
• To provide each person with spiritual growth opportunities.
• To encourage and provide sports and other activities. 

For donations, contact information and a video of Kuyamba, please visit africanshade.org 

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