Zambia Project: Chikumbi Community Centre
Latest updateThe school continues to develop and improve and the recent exam results were the best the school has ever achieved resulting in a greater amount of children progressing to the local secondary school. This in turn creates a problem of finding sponsors for these kids, however as a result of a recent internal cake sale, Exodus staff are now sponsoring Mercy Phiri to attend Chombela High school. Mercy's family are too poor to afford the school fees of £120 per year. Our big building project nears completion and we are hoping to open our new Village Learning Centre on our upcoming trip in May. As well as helping the school kids - and girls in particular - we are hoping to extend the adult literacy programme in the village. We have also recently built the school some new toilet blocks and another new borehole in a different village. Our main objective this year is to build a new school dormitory and playground. There are plenty of orphans in the village and some kids are walking up to 20 km a day to attend school so this will be a much needed addition to the school complex. Read Judy Howlett's account of the May 2011 departure in the Client Reports section below and for a review of the volunteer departure Andy ran in September 2010, please see our dedicated Episodes enewsletter page: Zambia Volunteer Trip For further questions, please contact our groups department or Andy McKee Update posted: 03 February 2012 Where in the world?Zambia is a land locked country in the heart of Southern Africa. The district of Chikumbi is located about 30 Kms north of Lusaka, the nation’s capital, and this is where our project is based. What we are trying to do?The Chikumbi Community Centre (CCC) is run voluntarily by Kelvin Phiri, an inspirational and determined figure who lives in the village of Kasalu. Kelvin has set up a community school in Kasalu for children up to the age of 15 who would otherwise have no opportunity of finding education. The school receives no State or NGO funding. As well as supporting the school we aim to help the village with various essential programmes such as malaria net distributions, AIDS training, an eye care out reach programme, the provision of clean bore holes and support for the educational and sporting camps that Kelvin regularly puts on for the disadvantaged kids throughout the Chikumbi region. How did we set it up?The project was set up by an Exodus tour leader, Andy Mckee, who is a regular visitor to the region. Andy has become good friends with all the volunteers at CCC and works closely with them to identify the needs of the organisation and raises money accordingly. Andy runs a small UK based charity, Baraka Community Partnerships. What did we achieve in 2011?Our achievements so far have been considerable, and in conjunction with Baraka Community Partnerships the following are some of our successes last year:
What do we want to achieve in 2012? The list of what still needs to be achieved is endless. However, we are focusing on the following:
Total amount needed: GBP9,100 What can you do to help?There are various ways you can help. f you have visited Zambia recently you can donate your unused Kwacha by sending them in to Amanda Ceraolo at Exodus office in London, (f you have been to South Africa you can also donate your unused Rand). All cash received will go directly back out to our projects. If you would like to register your interest or find out more, please contact: Groups Department Would you like to know more?You can contact Andy Mckee at andy@barakacommunity.com
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Staying in Kasalu and sharing in the lives of the villagers is an absolute priviledge and an amazing experience. Sleeping in a mud hut with a thatch roof, getting up with the sun and eating the local food are just a part of it. Of far greater importance is mixing and mingling with the people, finding out about their lives and doing what little we can to make those lives just a little bit easier.
Education is vital. Here in the UK, we pay our young people to stay at school: children in Kasalu have to pay, albeit a nominal sum, but they are desperate to go to school. This year we did some work to help build the new library, or learning centre. I made breeze blocks and did some brick laying - how cool is that! We all helped the children with lessons and with games and sports - a passion for them, especially football and netball. From tiny beginnings the school is now thriving and there is an almost tangible pride in what has been achieved.
We helped with the chickens; we went round and checked on the malaria nets which BCP had distrubuted in 2010; we built another compost heap after the success of the first one and the record tomato harvest; we laid out and whitewashed bricks to mark the school assembly area; and we encouraged the women's group in their plans for enhancing their incomes by sewing with advice and, more practically, with materials and implements.
For the future? More boreholes are needed. There is always work to do in the school, always games to play with the lovely children. Perhaps there might be a second chicken coop. And we would love to harness the sun and wind to bring electricity to the village centre.
The villagers are delightful. They laugh and smile and sing, despite what we would regard as desperately hard lives. It does not take long for the spirit of Kasalu to get into your heart so you rapidly start making plans to go back.
Judy Howlett, July 2011
