Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ)

The Center for Infectious Disease Research Zambia (CIDRZ) is a nonprofit organization that provides medical, financial, emotional and educational support to HIV-positive teen mothers in Lusaka, Zambia. Because many of these mothers are forced to drop out of school in order to care for their children, they often receive an incomplete education. To accommodate for this, CIDRZ has a library at each facility with textbooks for the mothers to continue their education, and books for the children to learn to read.

 

However, while volunteering at the facilities, Diya noticed that each library typically contained only 10-15 books. Upon returning to California, she hoped to enhance the educational support that these HIV-positive teens receive. On October 30, 2022, the AltruWeb team went door-to-door to sell homegrown persimmons and fundraise for CIDRZ, surpassing our original goal and raising a total of $513. The money was used to purchased 114 textbooks for the teens at the HIV support facilities in Zambia.