LUSAKA: Staying away from the clay court season of the tennis tour, 20-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer arrived in Zambia on Sunday to check on his foundation, which operates in the rural parts of Zambia.
Federer called on Zambian President Edgar Lungu at State House upon arrival in the southern African nation’s capital on Sunday.
The Roger Federer Foundation (RFF), which aims to provide equitable access to quality basic education to children, began its work in Zambia in partnership with People’s Action Forum (PAF) in August 2011, local newspaper Lusaka Times reports.
In 2011, the Roger Federer Foundation launched a community school initiative in rural areas of Zambia together with the local partner People’s Action Forum (PAF), a non-profit organization founded in 1994.
The aim of the initiative is to support and strengthen primary schools in rural areas.
The RFF board has approved a total budget of 1.6 million Swiss Franc for this purpose and the programme has reached 85,000 children in total so far, the newspaper reports.
The PAF´s vision is a peaceful community in which the rural as well as the urban population are able to develop equally and sustainably. In order to strengthen the rural communities the PAF´s activities focus on the five priorities education, food security, health, economic opportunities and awareness raising. PAF particularly works with children and women in rural areas in order to help them achieve self-determined living conditions.
The forum has over 2,000 members who support the organisation’s goals on a voluntary basis. In 2008 PAF was awarded the International UNESCO Literacy Award.
