Meet Saviour. She is one of 230 children who attend Simakakata Community School. Up until late 2010 her classroom was a borrowed farmhouse. It was very dark and the roof leaked.
Now she is learning in a new classroom block. It was built entirely by the community. They are now constructing a fourth clasroom.
But some children are still being taught in the farmhouse. The community can't afford the raw materials for the final two classrooms and six teachers' houses. Please help.
When we arrived at Simakakata the community had already made over 60,000 bricks by hand. They are also happy to donate their labour for free to build the school. All they need is money to buy building materials such as cement, roofing sheets and windows.
Learn more about the community contribution and how they make the bricks they need to construct the school.
Image by Brenda Veldtman.
Sports and education go hand in hand.
The connection between football and the power of education to pull communities out of poverty may seem frivolous, but it’s at the heart of an important conference being held in South Africa today to tie-in with the last week of the World Cup.
The 1Goal campaign, co-ordinated by Global Campaign for Education, has been running all year with the specific aim of using the World Cup to raise awareness about the importance of education. Supporters include Mick Jagger, Bono, Clive Owen and just about every footballer on the planet, including Gary Lineker, Pele, Thierry Henry and more.
The objective of 1Goal is simple. It’s not a fundraising campaign, rather it’s just about getting the message across to world leaders about where to spend their money. If you want to get people out of poverty, give them an education. It’s the single most effective way of increasing wages, reducing maternal and infant mortality, improving agriculture and trade and giving people the chance to stand on their own two feet and not rely on food handouts for the rest of their lives.
The playing field at Simakakata.
It works both ways, too. Football isn’t just a tool for raising the profile of education, sports are a key part of the curriculum at Simakakata Community School in Zambia.
“Children who don’t perform well in class may be much better at sports,” says Edwin, the PE teacher, “It’s a great way of motivating them and increasing their confidence.”
Sports classes take place on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons in a field behind the school, and although they only have a few balls to play with and no kit, Edwin tries to organise football matches against other schools as often as he can.
“It’s very important for the children to be exposed to other communities through sport,” he says, “And when we don’t win, it teaches them to try harder and work together as a team to improve themselves.”
As well as keeping the children fit, Edwin explains, sports provides an outlet for later in life. As in most impoverished areas, alcoholism and drug abuse aren’t uncommon in rural Zambia.
It's not just about football, either.
Last week the children of Simakakata took part in a regional competition against 14 other schools from the Kalomo area. Headmaster George says that a farmer from his home in Good Hope lent them a truck to make the journey.
“We didn’t win anything,” he laughs, “But taking part was very exciting for the children. It gave us something to reflect upon in class.”
Our NGO partner in Zambia, Response Network, values sport as one of the most important methods of community cohesion.
“’Let`s start our own sports club’ was one of the first manuals we wrote,” says country director Håkon Spigseth, “We encourage communities to start sport clubs as it is both healthy and participants learn organisational skills. It’s also fun and for youth, a good alternative to drinking and more negative social hobbies.”
We’re currently raising funds for the final classroom block at Simakakata school, to help secure its future and make sure the children of the community have every opportunity possible. Giving a child an education is the single most important thing you can do to help. LearnAsOne is a unique charity that creates a transparent link between donors and those who need help. You can donate to LearnAsOne or get involved and help us fundraise through this site, and we’ll show you where every penny is spent.
While the new school is built, lessons continue inside the borrowed farmhouse.
Image by Brenda Veldtman.
"I want to teach the children so that in the future they can be like me, and do something different. Something that will help communities like Simakakata." Sonia Haloba Shanegubo.
Learn more about Sonia and her motivation for teaching at Simakakata.
Image by Brenda Veldtman.
Brighton is one of the best footballers at Simakakata.
Learn more about Brighton and the sporting stars of Simakakata.
Image by Brenda Veldtman.
The London Bridges Sponsored Walk: Last Saturday 22 walkers replicated Saviour's 14km walk to school and raised £1,032 for the final classroom at Simakakata. Thank you!
The classroom walls at Simakakata. If you can't afford learning materials, make them yourself.
Image by Brenda Veldtman.
Today we’re starting a new feature called “Photo of the week” so you can learn more about Simakakata, Kalomo and Zambia. If there is anything specific you wish to see please leave a comment below and we’ll take a look through the archives.
With no electricity at Simakakata, Headmaster George makes use of the only window in his office to provide the light he needs to run the school.
Learn more about George and his tireless work for the community.
Image by Brenda Veldtman.
Last week our partners at Response Network visited Simakakata to see how the new school was coming along. Here’s a piccy so you can see for yourself.
Despite the recent rainy season the classrooms are coming along well.
Yesterday Volunteer Adam caught up with Headmaster George on the phone. Here’s your update on what’s being going on at Simakakata recently and how your money is being put to use.
Work has already begun at Simakatata. Here you can see Headmaster George being interviewed on a Flip camera. We hope this will be available to share in early 2010.
“Merry Christmas from Zambia,” says George, the headmaster of Simakakata Community School, “And we wish you all the best for a prosperous 2010!”
His pupils and staff are off enjoying the Christmas holidays, but George has been cycling into work every day this week. He’d rather be spending time with his family, but there’s a lot to do.
The last few weeks have been eventful for the children of Simakakata. It started with good news: as well as receiving the funding for a new classroom thanks to your efforts in 2009, the school has also been awarded a grant by leading international aid agency CARE International to fully fund an entire classroom block. In total, money for four new classrooms began to arrive at the beginning of December, and George hasn’t waited to put it to work.
Meeting up with a CARE International representative in May 2009. At that point they didn't think they would have any spare funds to help Simakakata this year.
“We’re already up to window level on the first building,” he laughs, “We’re going very quickly, and the community is doing the vast majority of the building work. We’re hoping that we’ll have this first building completed by the end of spring.”
Although George has the money and materials at his disposal to start work on the new school building, he doesn’t have the luxury of time. Right now the 230 children enrolled at Simkakata are taught in an old farmhouse, which has no lighting, no water and, for the most part, no windows either. It’s a hugely inappropriate building, but they may not even have that for much longer.
“The lease on our current building runs out in January,” explains George, “If the children are moved out of that building they’ll have nowhere to learn from. We’re very worried and trying to organise things. We hope to work fast, but we’re asking for a grace period of three months or so, so that we can get the roof on and complete the building.”
As a result, says George, he’s decided the priority is to press on with building the second classroom block before work starts on any teachers’ housing.
“The first block can accommodate five classes teaching on a shift rota,” he explains, “But we still need two more classrooms if we are to accommodate the whole school properly.”
There is more good news, though. Thanks to the commitment shown by George, his staff and the community of Simakakata, the local council has agreed to fund a borehole at the new school site so that the pupils can finally have access to clean water.
“The borehole has been drilled by the council, but they haven’t fixed a pump yet,” says George, “So we’re still without water. The pipes are in the ground, but they’re not working yet. But we hope they soon will be.”
And what of our star pupil, ten-year-old orphan Saviour? She walks 14km a day without food or water to get to school, hoping that her education will be her escape from poverty.
Saviour is performing well at school. Notice the lack of windows in her current classroom.
“She’s is doing very well,” George tells us, “In fact, her results are much better than last year. In her last exams she came top of the class!”
The next few months will see Simakakata Community School transformed beyond recognition from the dark, dilapidated stop gap we visited in May. With new buildings and a borehole, it will be much better equipped to give Saviour and her friends the education that they deserve. There’s still more to do before its future is assured.
Help us to raise money for the fifth classroom and the vital 5 teachers’ houses by making a donation today.
Run. Walk. Jump. Bake. Set-up your fundraising page today.
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