How One Young Man Found Hope and Returned to Give It Back
By Annabel Mumba
Annabel Mumba is AYC’s Donor Relations Coordinator. She is a Scholarship Fund recipient, and a graduate of Mulungushi University with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications (Journalism), and also one of our Success Stories.
Co-written by Pamela O’Brien, African Education Program’s Development Director, who is mentoring Annabel.
Kelvin is proud of his work with the Young Learners Program.
Kelvin Banda is a Young Learners Teacher at Amos Youth Centre’s (AYC’s) Learning & Leadership Centre in Kafue, Zambia. He is responsible for teaching Grade 5, 7, and secondary students in Mathematics. He arrived at AYC in 2013 as a Grade 9 student, facing challenges such as low self-esteem, unstable housing, and a need for tutoring support. He was the second born of eleven siblings. Understandably, his parents could not manage school fees, and the home situation, as he puts it quietly, was not encouraging.
"Before AYC, life was difficult," he shared. "I was just going to school without hope of finishing my education because of my family's financial problems. I received a lot of negativity; people had no hope of me becoming someone in the future."
During his time as a student, Kelvin joined the Mathematics Club, the Spelling Bee Club, and the Dance Club, spaces where he loved sharing knowledge with others and where he began to find his voice. AYC has many role models and mentors who guide students as they walk through their journey at the Centre. For Kelvin, that person was Lumuno Mweemba, AYC's Co-Founder and Director of Programs.
“Madam Lulu made the biggest impact on me because of her kindness to all learners and the guidance she gave me towards my academic and personal growth.”
Kelvin enjoys passing on knowledge to his students.
Lumuno, too, remembers the moment she first met Kelvin clearly. "When I met him, he stood out to me. He was very friendly and curious. He loved being around his friends and was always willing to help them with any Math homework. During his time as a student, Lumuno facilitated the clubs and ran many of the programs at the Centre. She facilitated Kelvin's favorite, the Boys Talk Club, and gave him a platform to share his story and the struggles he faced with his peers. He describes that moment as something that has stayed with him forever. Through that experience, Kelvin learned that he was not alone. His friends, too, faced challenges despite their happy faces.
"I learned that everyone has problems despite their happy faces," he said. "And that a problem shared is halfway solved. Above all, AYC became my second home because it gave me the tools my real family could not provide."
After completing Grade 12, Kelvin did not leave. He started tutoring younger students in Mathematics, Grades 5, 7, and 8. In 2018, he enrolled for a Diploma in Secondary School Teaching, specialising in Mathematics and Computer Studies at Mufulira Professional College of Education.
His plan after graduation was straightforward: give back to AYC for a season, then pursue a government teaching position. But life had other plans for him.
He began volunteering at the Centre and was asked if he would consider becoming a Young Learners Teacher, despite having trained as a secondary school teacher. Kelvin said yes without hesitation.
What he did not expect was how much the role would teach him in return. Teaching Young Learners through play, a methodology he had never encountered in college, was a new world entirely. Through training supported by the Global Fund for Children and Play International, Kelvin learned to make learning joyful, engaging, and child-centred.
Native games are used in the Young Learners Program.
"The classes are fun for the children," he said. "And that has helped me teach better."
What sets Kelvin apart in the classroom is something that cannot be taught in any college: the memory of being the child who needed support. He reflects on his own experience as a student and on how much the classes he attended shaped the person he has become.
"My experience helps me understand that learners grasp concepts at different times," he shared. "I now support slower learners better and avoid some of the mistakes former teachers made with us."
Lumuno sees it too. "Kelvin is a mobiliser. He is very friendly, patient, and kind. He is a kid at heart, and so it is easy for the children to relate to him. He can be at their level."
There is one student in particular who reminds Kelvin of himself, a Grade 4 learner named Hope. Like Kelvin at that age, Hope loves sharing the little knowledge she has with other learners.
Every day, Kelvin carries the lessons AYC gave him into his classroom: kindness, patience, teamwork, leadership, and hope. Not as abstract values, but as lived practices. As the very air in the room. Kelvin wants the students he interacts with to learn to be courageous, kind to one another, hopeful in everything they do, and confident in themselves.
In ten years, Kelvin has watched not only himself grow, but AYC grow too. There are more programs, more learners, more staff, and more alumni returning to give back. The Nutrition Program has expanded too. And yet, at the heart of it all, something has never changed.
“The love, care, and support for learners has never changed. AYC still treats learners like family and gives hope to young people.”
Kelvin poses with the Young Learners Program team.
Over the last ten years, Kelvin has grown into the person he is today. Despite his friendly nature, which has never gone away, he has become increasingly confident in himself and in his purpose. In the next ten years, Lumuno hopes to see him stepping into greater leadership roles, something she believes he is more than capable of.
"I hope to see him in more mentorship roles, advancing in his work with Young Learners, and continuing to create safe spaces for children," she said.
For Kelvin, the journey is best summed up in his own words:
"A decade with AYC has taught me that being real, approachable, and supportive can change people's lives."