About the Itala Foundation

Itala Foundation started in 2001 when two teachers, Tony Foster and Adam Williams, took a group of students on an expedition to Zambia. It was during their visit that the group encountered a large village on the northern outskirts of Mkushi, where there were many local children who due to extreme poverty could not attend school, because education was not free.

Tony and Adam met Mr Albert Mwansa, a local man, who with two colleagues who was trying to teach around 26 children in a roofless building nearby. At that time, it was estimated that there were over a thousand children in the area who were single or double orphans due to the AIDs pandemic and other diseases. Their financial circumstances meant that it would be impossible to receive an education.

This prompted Tony and Adam to work with Mr Mwansa to try and establish a charitable community school in this area.

Following negotiations with the local Chief they secured a donation of a plot of land, just over 4,000 square metres, on which to build the community school. This land was registered under the new title of Itala Foundation and became the site of all future development, including in 2017 Cameron’s Orphanage.

The first mud and thatch classrooms had room for sixty children to be taught.

In 2017 the trustees of Itala Foundation retired, and the charity was taken over by the present trustees of Cameron’s Orphanage Project, with the aim of continuing to develop the community school and make it self-sufficient.

At this time there were 450 pupils and 12 teachers. In addition they built an orphanage and nursery school, to support the most vulnerable children.

With the election of a new government in Zambia, education became free to all year groups in early 2022.

By this time Itala Foundation School had grown to 35 staff and 1600 pupils and had a reputation for not only being charitable, but also for being a very good school.

Having worked hard to establish a working relationship with the district education board (DEBs) in Mkushi, the trustees were able to hand over stewardship of the school to the DEBs and the Parent Community School Committee. This meant the aim of achieving self-sufficiency was achieved.

The trustees now focus on running the orphanage, the nursery school and developing projects to assist the local community, the legacy that is Cameron’s Orphanage Project.