STORY
Building a brighter future
Healthy Learners is building a future where schools serve as critical platforms for promoting the overall health of children. Its model offers a blueprint for how Ministries of Health and Education in the developing world can strengthen student health, reduce illness-related absenteeism, and enhance learning outcomes. The result is a healthier, better-educated generation of young people prepared to lead their communities forward.
THE HEALTHY LEARNERS STORY
Change from within
In 2013, Lonnie, one of the organization’s co-founders, met Ignicious Bulongo, then the director of the Ministry of Health’s Ng’ombe Health Facility. Sharing a mission to address the devastating impact of preventable and treatable illnesses on school-aged children, they collaborated to develop the concept of training teachers as community health workers. This idea laid the foundation for what would become Healthy Learners.
Since its founding, Healthy Learners has worked in partnership with government stakeholders, integrating its programs into existing Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education structures. The organization empowers local communities and leverages data and technology to maximize its impact on children’s health.
THE MISSION
Keeping children healthy so they can learn
Healthy Learners is committed to improving the health of children through school-based community health initiatives.
AN OVERLOOKED DEMOGRAPHIC
A quiet crisis among school-aged children in sub-Saharan Africa
Despite significant progress in global health, the past two decades have seen most interventions focus on children under five, leaving school-aged children largely overlooked. As a result, many continue to suffer from preventable and treatable conditions that hinder their physical, cognitive, and emotional development. These health issues contribute to school absenteeism, poor academic performance, and high drop-out rates—factors that diminish the long-term prospects of communities.
Healthy Learners' work in Zambia is helping to address these challenges by ensuring that children remain healthy enough to stay in school and reach their full potential.
BRINGING HEALTHCARE TO STUDENTS
Many low-income school-aged children in Zambia struggle to access available healthcare services, and most lack access to adequate health education. Research shows that up to one-third of school children in low-income areas of Lusaka regularly suffer from preventable illnesses, while 36% display signs of stunted growth.
Adolescent girls face even greater challenges, including gender-based violence, menstrual hygiene issues, and rising rates of adolescent pregnancy. Healthy Learners’ integrated school health model reaches these vulnerable groups through targeted, high-impact interventions delivered directly within schools.
CHALLENGES THE ORGANIZATION AIMS TO SOLVE
Community Participation
Healthy Learners’ programs are delivered by teachers—trusted figures who interact with students daily. This approach fosters comfort and familiarity with medical support among students, educators, parents, and local authorities. Community engagement builds a sense of ownership and is key to the long-term sustainability and success of the programs.
Parental Support
With two-thirds of Zambians living on less than $3.00 per day, many parents face economic hardship when taking time off work to bring a child to a clinic. In these situations, delaying or forgoing care often becomes the default. By bringing healthcare into schools, Healthy Learners alleviates some of this burden, allowing children to receive care without forcing parents to make impossible choices between health and income.
Targeting School-Aged Children
Pediatric care in most Zambian government health facilities is limited to children under five. Older children are treated alongside adults—an experience that can be intimidating and inappropriate for their needs. Outreach programs like vaccination and deworming campaigns often miss this age group entirely. Healthy Learners bridges this gap by ensuring school-aged children receive the care and attention they deserve.
Contact: https://www.healthylearners.org/contact
