About us

Our Story

Chitungulu Foundation builds on the inherent strength and talents of the local community in Chitungulu by supporting locally developed, small-scale initiatives in the areas of education and income-generating projects, whilst simultaneously promoting sustainable usage of natural resources.

Our foundation was founded in 2012 by Chris Brugman (1963). Chris lived and worked in Zambia during the years 1987-1990 and 1998-2003, and feels thoroughly at home in this southern-central African country with its warm, friendly population and its wild, untamed wilderness areas. In 2007 Chris met with the residents of remote Chitungulu for the first time when she assisted the tourist lodge in nearby Luambe National Park with the launch of various socio-economic projects. After an interim stay in South Africa, where she worked as a nature guide in the Eastern Cape, Chris returned to Luambe and Chitungulu in 2011. In the following years, a sustainable development path was rolled out along with the residents of Chitungulu, based on support of locally developed initiatives to raise Chitungulu's living standards. Ultimately the aim is to build well-informed and resilient communities who actively protect their natural resources and unique wilderness areas.

Our Board

Chitungulu Foundation is an independent, Dutch-based nonprofit registered in the Netherlands as well as in Zambia, run by dedicated board members on a strictly voluntary basis. The Board meets several times per year.
Chairperson & Project Coordinator
Chris Brugman, MA
  • African Studies (Leiden Univesity)
  • Dutch Foreign Office (Development Co-operation) 1984-2003
    i.a.: scholarships officer Zambia & Malawi
  • lived and worked in Africa in: Zambia (12 years), South-Africa, Ethiopia, Tanzania,  Uganda, Angola, Namibia

Secretary
Erik Jansonius, MA
  • Cultural Anthropology (Leiden)
    specialization sub-Sahara Africa &
    intercultural communication
  • Ethnographic cineast and photographer
  • project officer & project assessor Africa Desk, Dutch Foreign Office 1992-1998
  • Program manager educational cooperation Netherlands-Netherlands Antilles 1998-2001
  • business manager various local governments 2001-2018
  • freelance process director & human and organizational development advisor (2018-)
  • Town Clerk municipality of Renswoude, Netherlands (2021-)

Treasurer
Frederik Haver Droeze, MA
  • International Economics (Erasmus University Rotterdam)
  • policy officer Dutch Foreign Office (Development Co-operation)
    1981-2014
  • i.a.: deputy Chef de Poste Lusaka, Zambia, and strategic advisor Africa Desk

The residents of Chitungulu

We work together with the residents of Chitungulu: approx. 15,000 people inhabiting a wide area stretching along the borders of Luambe National Park, in Zambia's Luangwa Valley. We listen to their stories, their ideas and ambitions, and we offer, on the basis of local initiatives, support in order to tackle the manifold challenges that form part and parcel of the residents' daily lives. Read more about the residents and their village:

Chitungulu village
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