Hi to all our supporters. Hope everyone’s well and surviving these grey days of February.
Out in Zambia the academic year has started (on time this year – you might remember last year’s delayed start due to a cholera outbreak!). We have six new children in the Project, who’ve replaced the six students who completed their teacher training courses in December. We wish Grace, Stanley, Lukas, John, Febby and Rebecca all the best as they await the next teacher recruitment round.
The system of teacher recruitment in Zambia is a central one, where teachers can be sent anywhere in the country by the Government. When we recently enquired about our earlier teacher training graduates, we were astonished to find they’re spread across the whole of the country – from Chadiza in Eastern Province to Kitwe in the Copperbelt, Livingstone in southwestern Zambia to the capital, Lusaka (and various places in between).
This is Mofya (who joined the Project in 2011 after losing both her parents), graduating at the end of last year with a degree in primary teaching from UNZA (the University of Zambia). She now has a job in Ndola and we wish her well in her teaching career!
Unfortunately, there aren’t enough teachers in Zambia to cope with the number of pupils in school since school fees were abolished in 2021 (there can be up to 120 children in a class now in some schools):
We had an interesting conversation on this topic when we visited Chipata in June, with Naomi wondering if, rather than have free education (which we’d seen as transforming educational opportunities), it would be better to have a small charge for school fees which could be used to fund more schools and teachers, especially as there’s been a big rise in the population in Zambia (from 13 million in 2010 to 21 million in 2025). Food for thought!
As for the young people just joining the Project in 2025, three have joined in Grade 8 and three in Grade 10.
Loveness, a single orphan, lives with her mother who has a stall in the market.
Margret (below right), who’s also lost her father, lives with her mother who’s working in an Airtel money booth.
Of the others, Theresa and Jessy live with their mothers, Chawanzi lives with his father and Mike, a double orphan, lives with his aunt.
We had a bumper number of school leavers in December 2024, with 13 young people sitting their Grade 12 exams. We heard in January that they’d all got good results and they’ll now head on to either teacher training or skills training.
As well as rushing around buying uniforms, shoes and books for the start of term and making sure everyone is settled at school, the Committee have been busy recruiting tenants for the student accommodation they now run. And it has expanded!!
When we returned from Chipata last June, we sent money to build a flat in the garden of the house we bought in 2010 (now converted into student accommodation). This was completed by October and (we think you’ll agree) is looking very smart.
The Committee’s plan was to build a second flat on the same property (at a later date) as there’s space. What we didn’t know then was that a friend of ours would decide he’d like to donate some money to the Project to enable this second flat to be built on the plot in memory of his wife and his son. We were bowled over…
The Committee initially decided they would wait until the rainy season was over before they started to build, but the rapid rise in the price of materials prompted a rethink and they just got on with it… (see photo below). The good news is that this second flat is now also complete – and the even better news is that there’s currently a huge demand for student accommodation. Naomi has worked hard to develop contacts with local colleges and the Committee now has a contract for 30 students at the boarding houses, with more colleges coming on board.
Zambians are facing ongoing challenges following last year’s devastating drought. Power cuts are now even worse than when we were in Chipata last June, with currently only 4 hours of power each day. The food security situation has worsened and food prices in the shops have increased.
As a result, money for food has formed a large part of the Project budget for the last year and in January we sent some money to buy basic foodstuffs for everyone in the Project (to cover the period January to April). We’re keeping our fingers crossed that the rains this season continue until April (they’ve been good so far) and that this year’s harvest is much better than last year’s. This is Ruth picking up her supplies.
With the food situation in mind, Malcolm has decided to do a cycling fundraiser this year and, starting on 3rd May, he and our son Simon will cycle the C2C route (from Whitehaven to Tynemouth – there are some big hills on that route!!) over three days. We’ll send details of how to sponsor them nearer the time and all donations to keep them pedalling will be very welcome!
Huge thanks as always for your generous donations and for playing your part in giving hope to young people in a small corner of Africa.
Malcolm and Elaine
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