About Us

Who we are and why we exist

Care Circle Zambia is a youth-centered mental health and suicide prevention initiative dedicated to promoting emotional wellbeing, building resilience, and creating safe spaces for open conversations around mental health across communities in Zambia. Zambia has fewer than 15 trained psychiatrists for a population of more than 20 million people. More than 9 in 10 people who need mental health support receive no care at all. Depression and anxiety are now among the leading causes of disability for young people aged 15 to 35, and suicide rates continue to rise amid deep-rooted stigma and silence. Our work rests on five pillars: awareness and education, emotional support and safe spaces, youth empowerment, crisis intervention and referral, and advocacy and partnerships. Over 60% of Zambia's population is under the age of 25, yet government health budgets allocate less than 1% to mental health. Care Circle Zambia exists to close that gap — one conversation, one safe space, and one life at a time.

Our Core Values

Compassion

We care deeply for every life, especially those who feel invisible, forgotten, or too ashamed to ask for help. No one who walks through our doors — physical or digital — is treated as a number or a case file.

Hope

We believe healing is possible, even when a person cannot see a way forward. Our role is to hold that belief on their behalf until they are able to hold it for themselves.

Community

We grow stronger together, because mental health is not a private problem — it is a shared responsibility. When one person heals, the people around them heal too.

Respect

Every voice matters, regardless of age, background, or the severity of what someone is carrying. We listen before we respond, and we never dismiss what a person feels.

Awareness

Knowledge saves lives — in Zambia, stigma and silence are as dangerous as the illness itself. When a community understands mental health, it stops punishing people for it.