Key Club Leaders Inspired By UNICEF Programs In Zambia
Three high-school student leaders with Key Club International, a youth-led service organization and UNICEF partner for over 30 years, recall meaningful interactions with children, caregivers, community volunteers and youth child rights advocates during a recent trip with UNICEF USA to see UNICEF programs in Zambia.
Children, caregivers, volunteers and early childhood development specialists gather with visitors from UNICEF USA staff and Key Club International outside the UNICEF-supported Kasunbanya Early Childhood Education Insaka (Hub) in Zambia.
Key Club International, the world's largest student-led service organization, supports Start Strong: Zambia, a project through which club members around the world help raise awareness and money to support UNICEF programs for young children in the southern African nation.
Three Key Club International trustees — Nicole Bunag of Indiana, Aspen Hess of Central Florida and Ethan Schmidt of Alabama — recently traveled to Zambia with UNICEF USA for a firsthand look at UNICEF's impact in the country, particularly in early education and early childhood development (ECD). They visited ECD centers, health facilities and hospitals and met with government officials and UNICEF program staff.
In this Q&A with Cristina Shapiro, UNICEF USA's Chief Strategy Officer and President of the Impact Fund for Children & UNICEF Bridge Fund, the students reflect on the experience. The conversation has been edited and condensed.
CRISTINA SHAPIRO: It was such a pleasure to travel with you in March, and to see the impact of the fundraising Key Club has done to support ECD programs in Zambia. Let's start with each of you saying a little bit about yourselves and your involvement in Key Club.
Key Club International trustees meet with young change makers supported by UNICEF Zambia, who share how they advocate for the protection of child rights in their community.
ETHAN SCHMIDT: I am based in Birmingham, Alabama, and I am a graduating senior this year. Working with Key Club for the past four years — and for the last two as an international trustee — I've been able to work pretty intimately with UNICEF as the co-chair of the Programs and Partners Committee, working on fundraising campaigns such as Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF and Start Strong: Zambia. Outside of the classroom, I am a huge language nerd, and I am also a very amateur runner, something I'm trying to build my endurance for.
To summarize Key Club, I'd say it's an international service organization that works to foster student leadership and volunteerism across the globe.
ASPEN HESS: I am based in Central Florida, and am also a graduating senior. I am very passionate about civic engagement and political science, which I intend to study in college.
NICOLE BUNAG: I am from Indiana, and I'm a graduating senior. I plan to go to Purdue University to study engineering. Fun fact about me: I am a triplet.
CRISTINA SHAPIRO: The way that you all showed up in Zambia — how you led all the conversations we had, asking incredible questions — gives me hope for the world, with you as our future leaders. So now that you have all been home for a little bit, and you've had a chance to process and reflect, tell me: what was the most meaningful part of the trip for you?
ASPEN HESS: One of the top ones was definitely our experience at the community-based ECD center, or Insaka. I didn't realize how holistic the work is that is being done at these centers. I actually got to sit down with some of the maternity care volunteers in the stimulation room, some of whom walk an hour or longer every day to get there. I observed them with the infants, making sure they were getting the stimulation they need. It was so heartwarming.
I also met a young girl named Anaya who is benefiting from UNICEF support through the foster care system. I had so many inspiring experiences every single day, but these are the moments that I truly cannot stop thinking about.
Key Club International trustee Aspen Hess helps out during a stimulation session with an infant at a UNICEF-supported early childhood development center in Zambia during a program visit with fellow trustees Ethan Schmidt (standing far left) and Nicole Bunag (standing next to Ethan) and Cristina Shapiro and Nicole Brown from UNICEF USA.
CRISTINA SHAPIRO: Yes! It's not just seeing the program in action, but getting to interact with the key staff and the volunteers who make it possible, and the incredible children and family members who are benefiting — that's what brings this all to life.
And while we were there, we were really excited to learn that the government of Zambia is planning to expand this program to more communities. What do you think the government saw in these centers that made them want to do that?
ETHAN SCHMIDT: I think it's the breadth of services that they provide. They are kind of a one-stop shop for enrichment. Mothers can come in from the surrounding communities with their children, access educational services and medical services, learn about nutrition. Then they go back to their communities, bringing all that important information with them, and share it with their peers.
CRISTINA SHAPIRO: And we learned the government plans to expand from three Insakas — the ones Key Club's support helped power — to 200, all across the country. This is a great example of a demonstration project, showing what works, and then the government stepping up to bring that impact to many more families in need.
ETHAN SCHMIDT: Yes! The scalability is great.
Young students work together at a UNICEF-supported school in Zambia.
CRISTINA SHAPIRO: Nicole, what will you take away from your experience in Zambia and apply in your role as a student leader in the U.S.?
NICOLE BUNAG: Before I was an international trustee, I served as a UNICEF champion, where I truly got to learn and understand Key Club's work with UNICEF and our Start Strong: Zambia campaign. And getting to see firsthand how families and children in Zambia are positively impacted was definitely exciting. It was incredible!
It was so cool to see adults and youth [in the places we visited in Zambia] invested in making sure child rights are protected, and their development and education prioritized. That's what I hope to do in my own school and community. International trustee.
But more than that, we got the chance to talk with other student leaders in Zambia for a couple of hours, and to see the work that they do to help their community. I think we were all intrigued by what they had to say about how they help a variety of people, from 7-year-olds to 25-year-olds, and about how they tackle different topics, from drug abuse to nutrition to gender-based violence and so much more.
These youth leaders create awareness for child rights. It was so cool to see adults and youth invested in making sure child rights are protected, and their development and education prioritized. That's what I hope to do in my own school and community.
Related: Cristina Shapiro on Bending the Curve for Children in Zambia
Investing in early childhood generates massive returns for society — up to $17 for every $1 invested in children living with disadvantages. Every year, millions of children, their parents and families benefit from UNICEF's ECD work. Learn more about UNICEF's work in early childhood development.
High-school students and Key Club International trustees Ethan Schmidt, left, Aspen Hess, center and Nicole Bunag during their UNICEF program visit to Zambia in March 2025.
Help UNICEF reach more children in need. Please donate today.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Forbes
3 days ago
- Forbes
In Chad, UNICEF Emergency Aid For Refugee Children Fleeing Sudan War
By Brice Kevin Da After more than two years of civil war in Sudan, the number of Sudanese refugees and Chadian returnees seeking safety in eastern Chad has ballooned to over 975,000, creating a deepening humanitarian crisis. UNICEF is there, providing urgently needed assistance for children and their families. More help is needed. Halimé and her two children — Asmao, 2, and Zakaria, just 7 months old — rest at the temporary refugee location site in Tiné, Chad, near the border with Sudan. Fleeing violence in El Fasher, North Darfur, they began their journey on foot. "I crossed the border with my children, but my husband was taken by armed men," Halimé said. "I have no news from him. What will happen to us here? I don't know!" © UNICEF/UNI789812/Brice Kevin Da. All rights reserved. Since the surge of violence in Sudan in late April 2025, thousands of families have crossed the border into Chad on a daily basis, traumatized and burdened by the scars of war. Most are women and children, fleeing intense fighting in El Fasher, North Darfur. Tiné, a border town, has become the main entry point for this flood of desperate souls — mothers carrying babies, exhausted and starving children, families clinging to hope amid devastation. Loaded onto carts, tricycles, donkey backs, vehicles and even on foot, thousands of children and their families continue to cross the border every day. © UNICEF/UNI789765/Da UNICEF and its partners are on the ground in both Chad and in Sudan, responding swiftly by delivering lifesaving aid: safe water, child protection, emergency supplies and psychosocial support. The scale of need is huge, and much more support is urgently needed to prevent further suffering. s temperatures soar to 109 degrees Fahrenheit, mothers and children fleeing war in Sudan await transport to a transit site in Chad. © UNICEF/UNI789826/Brice Kevin Da. All rights reserved. With no safe place to shelter upon arrival, exhausted children and families huddle in the shade of trucks as they wait for transport to the transit site. Their faces reflect despair, uncertainty and the deep trauma of what they have endured. Children fleeing conflict in Sudan take shelter underneath a truck in eastern Chad. © UNICEF/UNI789833/Brice Kevin Da. All rights reserved. Shortly after, in large groups, they are loaded onto massive trucks and transported to a transit site located about three miles away. Salma and her five children wait for transport in Tiné. "What I experienced, I wouldn't wish on anyone," she says. "Some women were raped in front of their husbands and children, others were beaten while trying to stop the killing of their husbands. Our belongings, taken or destroyed. I don't know what we did to deserve such fate." © UNICEF/UNI789819/Brice Kevin Da. All rights reserved. Halimé and her two children, 2-year-old Asmao and 7-month-old Zackaria, began their journey on foot. Hours of walking under the unforgiving sun led them to join a group traveling by cart, eventually reaching Tiné, at the Chadian border. Their belongings? Just a mat and a few pieces of cloth, the only things they could carry. Weary from their journey and trapped in desperate conditions, many children arrive with visible signs of malnutrition: hollow eyes, frail limbs and weakened bodies. With nothing to eat and nowhere safe to rest, their health deteriorates rapidly. A UNICEF staff member plays with children at the child-friendly space set up by UNICEF in Tiné, Chad, near the Sudanese border. © UNICEF/UNI789821/Brice Kevin Da. All rights reserved. At the heart of the transit site, UNICEF has set up a child-friendly space: a haven where children receive psychological support to overcome the trauma of war, while also having the chance to play and interact with their peers. In the child-friendly space at the heart of the Sudanese refugee relocation site, children can play and receive psychosocial support to help them cope with the trauma they have experienced. © UNICEF/UNI789817/Brice Kevin Da. All rights reserved. Without safe water, displaced children are at heightened risk of disease. UNICEF and its partners have set up water points, but the demand remains high, and the needs are far from being met. Now more than ever, support is needed to continue providing lifesaving water and essential services to those who need it the most. "Access to safe drinking water has brought us tremendous relief," says Nassi Younouss, a mother of two. "Now, we don't have to worry about waterborne diseases, and our children can drink and bathe without fear. It's a huge comfort for all the families here." Nassi Younouss, a Sudanese refugee, fetches water from a water point set up by UNICEF at a temporary relocation site in Tiné, eastern Chad. © UNICEF/UNI789831/Brice Kevin Da. All rights reserved. The humanitarian crisis in eastern Chad continues to unfold, with families torn apart, children left vulnerable and entire communities struggling to survive. In support of the response to the refugee crisis led by the Chadian government, UNICEF is working to provide shelter, clean water, food, protection, access to education, dignified sanitation facilities, basic health care and proper nutrition. Support from donors can make a life-changing difference. Learn more about UNICEF's global efforts to meet the urgent needs of displaced and refugee children and to protect their rights. Your contribution to UNICEF is more important than ever. Please donate. Right now, the lives of the most vulnerable children hang in the balance as conflicts and crises jeopardize the care and protection that they deserve. Dependable, uninterrupted and effective foreign aid is critical to the well-being of millions of children. Please contact your members of Congress and urge them to support ongoing U.S. investments in foreign assistance.
Forbes
5 days ago
- Forbes
What It Takes To Support Children Fleeing Violence In Eastern DRC
UNICEF is on the ground in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, working with local partners to meet the urgent humanitarian needs of children and families reeling from months of violent conflict, displacement and related horrors. Community social worker Bienfait of Masisi territory in North Kivu is one of those partners. Learn how he is making a difference, reuniting children who become separated from their families and providing other forms of support, all with UNICEF's help. Bienfait, a father of seven, has been a social worker with a UNICEF partner organization in eastern DRC since 2020, helping to reunite children separated from their families by the ongoing conflict and displacement crisis. Bienfait, whose name is the French expression meaning 'well done,'' lives alone in his home community in North Kivu province; the rest of the family fled to escape escalating violence. © UNICEF 2025/Nelson Many months of violent conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have displaced families and disrupted critical health, education and other services and systems, intensifying risks to children's safety and well-being. When fighting forces families to flee, it is all too easy for children to become separated from their parents and caregivers in the chaos. It is in times like these that the efforts of individuals like Bienfait, a community social worker in Masisi territory, North Kivu, become more critical than ever. With support from UNICEF, Bienfait has helped reunite families torn apart by violence and displacement. "As a member of the community, he knows who everybody is," says Judith, a community psychologist who works alongside Bienfait. Together, they work to identify unaccompanied and separated children, reunite them with caregivers and make sure they get the psychological care they need. Bienfait also helps organize hikes and other activities for children and young people to help relieve the stress of living in a conflict zone. Family tracing and psychosocial support services remain essential child protection interventions in the DRC — but cuts in foreign aid are putting these vital efforts at risk. This intimate glimpse into Bienfait's life and day-to-day activities highlights his strong ties to the community and the growing strain felt by many following recent reductions in international aid funding: UNICEF's emergency response in the DRC relies on ongoing collaborations with local partners — and individuals like Bienfait — to meet a range of needs. UNICEF-supported mobile health and nutrition teams are on the ground delivering lifesaving support including vaccinations. UNICEF is also providing safe water through emergency water trucking and rehabilitating water systems to mitigate heightened risks of disease outbreaks. Learn more about how UNICEF supports and protects children in the DRC Helping displaced children continue their education is another top priority. Earlier this spring, UNICEF staff helped thousands of secondary school students sit their exams so they could avoid having to repeat the year. UNICEF also supports children released from armed groups. Many are placed with foster families and connected with services that help them reintegrate into society and get back to being kids. All of these efforts face critical funding shortfalls. 'If the funding crisis isn't urgently addressed, hundreds of thousands of children in eastern DRC will miss out on screening and treatment for malnutrition, lifesaving medicines and vaccines, safe drinking water and psychosocial support," UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said in a statement before the UN Security Council on April 16, 2025. There is hope, however. "What gives me hope: the children, the social workers, the young people and the health workers of the DRC," UNICEF spokesperson James Elder said after visiting the DRC in April. 'The skilled and compassionate social workers — rooted in the community — are the backbone of UNICEF's response," Elder said. "Day by day, they accompany survivors, stitching together safety, dignity and justice ... What they need is opportunity. That's the spark. But for opportunity to light real change, it must come with peace, and with funding.' Your contribution to UNICEF is more important than ever. Please donate. Right now, the lives of the most vulnerable children hang in the balance as conflicts and crises jeopardize the care and protection that they deserve. Dependable, uninterrupted and effective foreign aid is critical to the well-being of millions of children. Please contact your members of Congress and urge them to support ongoing U.S. investments in foreign assistance.
Forbes
7 days ago
- Forbes
UNICEF Helps Dads Give Their Children The Best Possible Start In Life
On Father's Day and every day, UNICEF supports and celebrates caring dads everywhere. Thembile, a single dad, had to take on the responsibility of raising his two sons alone after their mother left the family. He struggled with disciplining his children and communicating effectively with them, until he joined a parenting support program. More than half of South Africa's children grow up in homes without a father present or a father figure playing an active role in their upbringing. UNICEF supports the South African Parenting Program Implementers Network to develop and disseminate quality parenting support resources and programs across South Africa, reaching thousands of parents and caregivers like Thembile. Being a parent is the most important job in the world. It's also a learned skill. UNICEF provides the necessary resources, support and tools fathers and mothers need to raise happy, healthy, hopeful children, from programs that encourage fathers to play with their kids from Day One to emergency assistance for families caught in unimaginable crises. Miguel Ángel Pillco Vilca, a 33-year-old minibus driver, helps his 15-month-old daughter down the slide in El Alto, Bolivia on April 23, 2025. © UNICEF/UNI788390/Laguna Growing up in Bolivia, Miguel Ángel Pilco Vilca, a 33-year-old minibus driver from El Alto, didn't have a father figure, but he's determined to be present for his 15-month-old daughter. He balances long work days with quality family time, including everyday tasks like diaper changes and supporting his wife during breastfeeding. He regularly attends the "World of Dads" program at the local health care center, where fathers share experiences and learn nurturing skills, and participated in the national forum "Dads from the Start of Life," supported by UNICEF and Bolivian ministries, promoting paternal engagement from pregnancy onward. These efforts are part of a broader UNICEF initiative encouraging fathers' early involvement in their children's development. Nearly 300 fathers in Bolivia are now part of this growing movement supporting child well-being and gender equality. Bernard, 4, his brother Balam, 9, and their father, Alphonse Batundi, head to the water point set up by UNICEF in Bushagara, located in the Nyiragongo health zone near Goma, North Kivu province, Democratic Republic of the Congo, on May 2, 2025. Parents caught in crises struggle to meet their children's needs and to provide them with a safe and healthy childhood, despite the circumstances. UNICEF works around the world to deliver basic services for families affected by violence, climate shock and natural disasters. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), more than 7.7 million people have been displaced from their homes by decades of armed conflict. "Life has been very hard here. Everything had been destroyed," says Alphonse Batundi, who moved his two sons to Goma, North Kivu province, to escape violence. With support from UNICEF, the family has access to clean water, a shower and toilets. Yet many challenges remain. Since fighting escalated in January 2025, many displacement sites in Goma have been dismantled. Batundi's boys, 4-year-old Bernard and 9-year-old Balam, miss going to school. 'I'm truly grateful for everything,' Batundi says. 'But we still need help. There's no hospital here in Bushagara. If a child falls ill, we don't know where to take them. We would really like to have access to health care and medicine.' Douglas Bashonga, father of seven, sits with his wife and three of their children outside their home in Bushusha, Idjwi health zone, South Kivu province, Democratic Republic of the Congo, on May 1, 2025. Douglas was treated for cholera at the UNICEF-supported Kihumba cholera treatment center. When Douglas Bashonga, a coffee grower in the DRC, fell ill with cholera, his wife and children rushed him to the UNICEF-supported Kihumba cholera treatment center. 'I was very ill," he says. "I could no longer work or take care of my family. What worried me most was not being able to provide for my children, rather than my own pain. 'I was very ill. I could no longer work or take care of my family. What worried me most was not being able to provide for my children, rather than my own pain.' Thanks to the free treatment he received at the center, Bashonga recovered and eventually regained his strength. 'When I returned home, I decided to protect my family,"he says. "The doctors advised me to always wash my hands with soap or ash, to boil water before drinking it, and to remain vigilant for any symptom. I implemented all these recommendations immediately ... and that reassures me the most. None of my family members or neighbors became infected. This proves that prevention works.' Related: What It Takes to Support Children Fleeing Violence in Eastern DRC Lijay Solofa, a police officer, plays with 4-year-old Nakitah and 3-year-old Lisona, in the village of Vaitele in Apia, Samoa on April 27, 2025. In Samoa, days are full for police officer Lijay Solofa, his wife, Telesia, and their six children. Solofa always makes time to play with his kids, even the youngest, 11-month-old LJ. He knows that in the first 1,000 days, babies' brains form new connections at an astounding rate: up to 1,000 every single second — a pace never repeated again. UNICEF supports early childhood development (ECD) in the Pacific by promoting good health, adequate nutrition, safety, responsive caregiving and learning opportunities, while also addressing gender-transformative norms and violence prevention. Salimata Samassi and Adama Kone at home with the youngest of their four children, 4-month-old Massita, in Odienne, northern Côte d'Ivoire on Oct. 16, 2024. Baby Massita weighed less than two pounds when she was born at home in Côte d'Ivoire. "She was so small and fragile that we thought she wouldn't make it," says her father, 40-year-old Adama Kone. The nearest hospital was 43 miles away. "I called the hospital; there was no ambulance, but they told us to come as quickly as possible and keep her very warm," Kone says. "I took my motorcycle, with my wife, who had just given birth, sitting behind me, holding the little one wrapped up. It was the longest hour of my life." Massita was treated at a UNICEF-supported hospital in Seguelan, and spent a few days in an incubator. "Afterwards, we were taught how to do kangaroo care," Kone recalls. "We stayed in the hospital during that time. Honestly, I was so scared, but we remained hopeful. We are so happy with our angel.' Celebrate the fathers in your life by making a donation to UNICEF, to help ensure every child grows up healthy, educated, protected and respected. Your contribution is more important than ever. Right now, the lives of the most vulnerable children hang in the balance as conflicts and crises jeopardize the care and protection that they deserve. Dependable, uninterrupted and effective foreign aid is critical to the well-being of millions of children. Please contact your members of Congress and urge them to support ongoing U.S. investments in foreign assistance.
