Blog
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Simakakata update: New picture from the school.
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.
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Nerys Evans: A shock return.
Nerys on her last day at Simakakata.
I return, armed with twelve video tapes at hand but I also returned to some sad news.
With a heavy heart I heard the economic downfall was having an effect on my department and they were unable to keep me as permanent staff. Tinopolis were supportive but there was nothing they could do.
It meant returning to freelance, a common practise with media professionals, but there was no denying that my circumstance had dramatically changed in light of the Zambia project.
No equipment. No facilities. No editor.
I looked towards other production companies but their schedules were too tight, budgets too small and resources limited. I was having technical problems with my camera and computer and editing software was expensive.
I had to put the Zambia project to one side while I looked for work. I needed money to buy the appropriate equipment to proceed and I needed to earn a living.
I eventually found a contract working on a documentary feature with a company in London, though staying in south Wales. It wasn’t permanent but enough to keep me going and to buy the necessary equipment to continue.
And that’s what I did. I bought the equipment.
Now I needed time.
I found out about the Vodafone World of Difference scheme, a contract that started as my other contract came to an end. It was perfect: an opportunity to continue my work with LearnAsOne. I could now focus on the production rather than worry about my next play slip.
Today
And so, here I am, writing a blog in between working on the edit for LearnAsOne at home.
I’ve now ingested 12 hours worth of tapes and I’ve started cutting sequences for Day In the Life of Saviour, a video that gives us a glimpse of what life is like for a young child living in Simakakata.
I am still depending on the generosity of independent companies and was delighted when Plastic Buddha agreed to help me with the voice over recording.
I also have the kind assistance of professional editor Alun Morris Jones to help me out with the grammar of editing and any technical alterations that need doing.
I still have a lot to learn. I’m nervous and excited at the same time.
Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will. George Bernard Shaw
The ‘Day in the Life of Saviour’ video is now completed except for a voiceover which we hope to record in the next couple of weeks. We’ll post it on the blog as soon as it’s finished.
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Nerys Evans: Volunteering in Zambia.
Livingstone airport. Someone appears to be missing (leave your guess in the comments).
May 2009, I take flight from London to Livingstone. I meet Brenda Veldtman and Adam Oxford at Joahnnesburg airport for the first time. Brenda is a freelance photojournalist and Adam a freelance print journalist: for the following two weeks it was their responsibility to provide daily updates on the LearnAsOne blog. It was not feasible for video to do the same.
Our plane lands on a narrow strip of tarmac surrounded by the iconic red earth of Africa. The long journey and the nerves of first time self shoot seems to disappear in a moment of gratitude. Six months since my meeting with Sue, here I was, in Zambia, about to fulfil a life time ambition: to film within a community of a developing country.
We meet Steve at the Jollyboys backpackers in Livingstone; he arrived a week early in preparation of the two weeks ahead, dealing with in country logistics and politics. A quick bite to eat, a meeting of things to come, and we’re on our way to Kalomo.
The road to Kalomo.
We travel 120km north-east in a compact 4×4. A few hours travelling on a pothole covered dirt track and we enter the crossroad town of Kalomo, its architecture suggesting a colonial past.
Quickly leaving our luggage at Hotel Kalomo and make our way to Simakakata for our first meeting with the resident committee and our sister charity in Kalomo.
I cannot put into words how happy I was at that moment. This is when I met the residence for the first time and it felt good; it was as if all the jigsaw pieces fitted neatly together and I understood that one of my lifelong ambitions to film in an environment where it is needed was being fulfilled.
The first meeting with members of the Simakakata community.
Over the two weeks at Simakakata:
- I meet teachers who go three years before payment is provided, they depend on food donations given by an already starving locals and live in small brick huts with minimum resources.
- I meet girls like Saviour. Saviour lost her parents to AIDS when she was just still learning how to walk. She now walks 7km to school and 7km from school. That’s three hours in an average 30C heat with no food, no water, and no shelter. All because she wants to be able to read English and one day become a teacher.
- I meet the ‘blind’ community: a community of physically impaired families who live in exile. In some families, both parents are affected. In Zambia it is difficult to find work when physically challenged and there is no benefits system in place. Instead they are left to defend for themselves and live in poverty. The blind community is a neighbor to the Simakata school and has the only water pump that can be seen for miles. The community kindly shares its resource with the school.
- I meet a community of people who have made bricks by hand in an attempt to build a school. So far they’ve managed to make 60,000. It is their wish to build a school that caters to their needs as a community and the educational needs of their children.
For me, it was the children that made the trip so special; they were curious, honest, playful and unscathed by their circumstance. They did not grow tired of the video camera, were amazed by the ability of an iPod, and were fascinated by Adam’s computer.
It didn't take the kids long to commandeer the iPod.
I do not pity the people of Simakakata, but I do believe they deserve the benefit of a formal education that is so often taken for granted in the UK. In return, we have so much to learn from the people of Simakakata skills that cannot be taught from a text book: generosity, community and hope.
During my trip I bathed in brown water (we were fortunate to have a bath at Hotel Kalomo), ate chicken with the local residents (a privileged gift from a struggling community), danced with the local villagers (I have no idea what the song was about but it had a lot of “Zambia” in it), and ate Caterpillars with a Welsh south African.
More so, I met friends that I will never forget. It was an opportunity that I hope to experience once again.
You can read the final part of Nerys’ story here.
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Nerys Evans: In the beginning with LearnAsOne.
Nerys Evans started volunteering with LearnAsOne as a film producer on our May ‘09 trip. She is currently editing all the video she shot thanks to a grant from Vodafone World of Difference. This is her journey so far.
Nerys doing a piece to camera on her first full day in Zambia.
It all started in November 2008.
For some time I had felt an urge to put my experience into use: I had been working as a factual video Director for three years, worked in broadcast for ten, but still felt something was missing.
I wanted to produce a video that could make a difference, focusing on a forgotten or unseen world.
I went home, switched on my computer, and entered “Video, producer, volunteer, charity”. Up popped LearnAsOne.
I chose the charity for five reasons:
- Africa
- Children
- Education
- Innovation
- Transparency
It is a charity that brings a 21st Century feasibility to the ’sponsor a child / project’ initiative by using new media technology.
It is a non-corporate charity.
It is a charity that will allow the donor to see exactly how their money is being used through stories, photographs and videos produced by both professional self-funded volunteers and aid workers working within a sister in-community charitable organization.
It is a charity that believes in sustainability, self preservation and education that tailors to the needs of its people. It is not a charity that is driven by what ‘we’ think is for the better.
The long term hope for LearnAsOne is to assist local NGOs who work in countries across Africa by providing donations from people across the world. In turn, will gain an understanding of how their money is being invested through transparent, new media communication.
Nerves, Bikes and 250 miles
A brief meeting with young founder Steve Heyes in London confirmed it was a project worth pursuing. LearnAsOne were heading to Zambia in May 2009 and I had to raise £700 to make the trip.
It was the first time for me to fund-raise. I was a little apprehensive.
A month later I met with Producer Sue Jeffries of “Cyfle”, a Welsh Training Company for the Creative Media Industries in Wales. Sue simply gave me the rocket fuel I needed to proceed:
“Right” she said, “you’re going to Zambia. That’s that. So, now, how are you going to raise the money?”.
A little bike ride through Wales.
I decided to challenge myself to the Lon Las Wales cycle. It is a route that will take cyclists from the very peak of Anglesey to the lowest point of Chepstow. It covers 250 miles over three mountain ranges. I decided to do the route in five days. I was kindly given a bike by Wheelies Cycles of Swansea
I was joined by six cyclists: Andrew Davies, Cennydd Richards, Harriet Buckland, Juliet Milne, Nick Tallis, Phil Ridland, and Steve Heyes.
We stayed at minimal cost accommodation and Nick Tallis provided transport. Each rider would take it in turn to drive the kit to the next stop off.
I did not drive and did the entire 250 miles.
Together we raised a massive £1,100; £400 above the target. All thanks to the willingness of the cyclists and the generosity of sponsors.
So, especially for the cyclists, here is a very cheesy slide show and accompanying sound track of our trip:
Getting the Right Kit
With the money raised, I was on my way to Zambia, but I was missing video equipment that was potentially needed.
I had invested in a HDV Sony Z1 video camera, a camera used by most broadcasters, but I needed a tripod and a camera light. I also needed production support to determine whether or not I was able to take this equipment into the country.
I turned to my employer, independent television company Tinopolis. The Producers had already shown an interest in what I was doing: I was interviewed live in the studio of S4C flagship series Wedi 3 to talk about the Lon Las ride.
I approached Development Producer Huw Marshall and he was very supportive of the cause. I offered the company a bilingual video diary of my journey in exchange of a tripod and camera light. The exchange was agreed.
I now found myself as a self-shoot director for LearnAsOne who also had to appear in front of the camera for the Tinopolis production.
Not only was I grateful for Tinopolis’ support but also the opportunity for LearnAsOne to appear on TV for much needed publicity.
Read part two of Nerys’ story to see what she got up to in Zambia.
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End of year catch-up with Simakakata (including a brilliant surprise!)
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 January.”
No time to waste
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.”
A new borehole
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.
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“Thank you very much. We appreciate your hard work.”
The text I received from Headmaster George earlier today.
A few hours ago my phone buzzed. It was a text message from George, the Headmaster at Simakakata Community School.
“Thank you very much. We appliciate your hard work.”
Given today’s general levels of excitement at LearnAsOne and in Southern Zambia I’m sure we can all forgive his spelling. Mine is often equally as bad!
Let me rewind 24 hours
Yesterday I received a cheque from Shaun Connell following his Sky dive in late September. This brought us to within £170.24 of the fundraising target for the first classroom. I posted messages on twitter and Facebook to this effect and our supporters took over. Within 24 hours the target had been reached!
I’d like to thank Claire, Adam, Simon, Nina, Gloria, Rachel, Cathryn, Maurice, Zac, Scuff and Laura for their donations which nudged the totaliser over the target. And of course to all the rest of you who have donated your time, skills and money to make this all possible.
So what happens next?
As soon as your doantions reach us from Just Giving (7-10 days) we’ll transfer the money for the first classroom to our partner Response Network in Zambia.
In the meantime they will finalise the costs of the raw materials such as cement, doors, windows and roofing sheets. And a document of understanding will be drawn up with the community at Simakakata giving them 6 months to build the classroom once the raw materials are delivered.
We’ll also work out the best way to keep you updated during the build and, after a little celebration tonight, continue fundraising for the remaining classrooms, teacher’s houses and water that the community needs.
A message from the kids
To sign off this post I’ll hand you over to the children of Simakakata.
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£15.24 away from the first classroom!
Hole in the wall: The learning conditions in the current school are far from ideal.
I have good news. Thanks to your efforts the first classroom at Simakakata is now just £170.24 £15.24 away fully funded!
Thanks to the recent efforts of 13 students and a dog at the very first WalkAsOne, Nina Preece and her eBay exploits, the sky diving Shaun Connell, the Chearsley WI cake sale team, New Era and many others the £5,200 target is now within touching distance.
Edit: Thanks to Claire, Adam, Simon, Nina, Gloria, Rachel, Cathryn, Maurice, Zac, Scuff and Laura for their donations since I shared this post on twitter and Facebook.
Below you can see the site for the new classroom. A previous donor laid the foundations and the community have made all the bricks you see by hand.
This is where the first classroom will be built.
The money raised will pay for all the other raw materials needed to build a classroom. Timber, roofing sheets, doors, glass for windows, more cement. All things the community cannot afford themselves.
The community at Simakakata have agreed to contribute by donating both skilled and unskilled labour for free. They are ready to get started as soon as the final £170.24 has been raised the funds have been transferred to our partner in Zambia and the raw materials have been purchased. We’ll provide updates throughout the build on this blog so you can see your money action.
If you would like to make a donation you can do so via this link. Thank you.
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Simakakata Community School in 10 photos
Over the past week I’ve uploaded 10 of our favourite photos from Simakakata onto twitter. They tell the current story at the school and explain why permanent classrooms are so important to the community.
Here they are in one batch, plus a bonus photo for you all!
Photographs by our brilliant volunteer Brenda Veldtman.
The Simakakata community borrowed an old farmhouse to get the school up and running. Now the owner wants it back.
At the current school doors are seen as something of a luxury.
Desks are lacking.
But the kids are incredibly happy to have the opportunity to attend school.
They have ambition.
Love to have fun.
And are naturals in front of the camera!
The community have built 20,000 bricks by hand. There are willing to contribute skilled and unskilled labour for free. And another donor even laid some foundations for the first classroom. Then the money ran out.
The government will provide training teachers for free if teacher's houses can be funded. The school currently has one room which two volunteer teachers call home.
And one bonus shot…
A new school would give over 200 children the chance of a better future.
We now need less than £1,000 to get the first classroom off the ground. If you would like to make a donation please click here. Thank you!
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The sporting stars of Simakakata
Brighton is one of the best footballers at Simakakata.
School isn’t just about learning and lessons. Thanks to volunteer teacher Edwin Kufekisa, who teaches grade 5 during the day, Simakakata also has sports lessons, as well as a football and netball team.
Seventeen-year-old Brighton, from grade 7, is one of the stars of the soccer side.
“I play as a striker, and I’m the best in the school,” he says. “Sometimes we play against the other schools in Kalomo area, but we don’t often win.”
If ever there was a place that taking part was more important than winning or losing, though, this is it. With no public transport and several hours walk to the nearest school for pupils who’ve already trekked through the bush to get to class, away games are a rare treat which are savoured regardless of the score.
His friend, Earnest, also plays in the side. He’s been coming to Simakakata for six years, since he was 11 years old. He has two sisters and a brother who are also enrolled here.
“I prefer sport to my lessons,” he says, “But I do enjoy English. It’s very important to learn English here, there’s better work and more money for people who speak English.”
The football team practice in a large field behind the school, with goalposts made from tree branches. While the team trains, other pupils sing and dance or take part in races.
Closer to the school grounds there’s a bare patch of grass with a pole and hoop for netball classes.
Volunteer teacher Loveness teaches the girls how to play netball.
Mulemwa lives nearer to school than most, but has to help her grandmother after hours, which leaves little time to practice. She’s 11-years-old and studies in grade 5, where her favourite lesson is maths.
“I’m very good at netball, and really enjoy it,” she says, “I have five sisters, and I’m better than all of them.”
School isn’t just about classes - it’s a place for the children to mix and play and develop social skills as well as the academic basics that will help them in later life. We still need to raise £1,248 to fund the first classroom at Simakakata to help guarantee the future of the school. Please donate now or help to organise your very own WalkAsOne.
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Blogging from the bush - LearnAsOne featured in .net magazine
Great news. Volunteer Adam has written a two page feature on the Zambia trip which features in the current issue of .net magazine (available at all good newsagents).
It focuses on the shocking fact that the internet is more accessible than clean water in many parts of Zambia and how this enabled us to provide live updates from the school at Simakakata.
The article isn’t currently available online but we’ll post a link to a pdf as soon as we have one.