Today I’d like to share a photo story of how Simakakata Community School has developed since we first visited in May 2009. Thank you for your ongoing support. As you can see, it’s making a massive difference!
This was Simakakata Community School in May 2009
A borrowed farmhouse with no doors.
The classrooms were dark, the roof was rotting and regularly leaked...
…and desks were lacking.
The community came together and told me they needed a new school.
Vincent and his friends had already built over 60,000 bricks by hand, but they couldn’t afford raw materials such as cement, doors and roofing sheets.
So we asked the LearnAsOne community to help fundraise. And you responded!
You raised enough money to buy the raw materials needed to build a classroom.
Meanwhile George, the headmaster at Simakakata Community School, had asked CARE International for their support too.
We we’re absolutely delighted when George told us that CARE had agreed to fund a 3-classroom block. The community built the block themselves.
Lessons started in the new block in November 2010.
Over the Christmas holidays the foundations were dug for the fourth classroom.
Then the brick laying began.
The community continue to collect sand so more bricks can be made. It’s extremely hard work.
Good progress has been made, but construction slowed over the winter months while the community plant their crops for the year.
Meanwhile lessons continue in the farmhouse. Note how the desks have all been pushed into one area. This is due to the roof leaking during the rainy season.
What happens next?
The community will soon finish building the fourth classroom. They will then need two more classrooms and six teachers’ houses to complete the school.
If you would like to help to buy the raw materials needed – remember, the community will build the school themselves – you can create a 40 minute fundraising campaign. That’s where you spend 40 minutes fundraising in any way you like.
Why 40 minutes? Click the button below to find out and learn more about the campaign. Thank you!
In Zambia a lesson lasts for 40 minutes. Will you fundraise for 40 minutes to fund new classrooms and teachers’ houses at Simakakata Community School? You can jump, busk, run, bake and much, much more. Learn more >
