Education Newsletter

July – September 2006

The third quarter has been an event-filled three months with a lot of positive input from outsiders which has been very encouraging.

A number of planning meetings were held with Mulembo Village between July and September regarding the establishment of their community school - it has been very exciting to be involved with starting a community school from scratch, and we look forward to each phase to see how plans progress. A total of 6 community members came forward to volunteer their services at the school, and after interviewing the candidates, we decided on a female teacher for the nursery class, and 2 male teachers for Grades 1-4.   

An old Chinese construction camp has been chosen as the building site for the school, and rehabilitation work started three weeks ago. 1 December has been chosen as the completion date for the toilets and 1 classroom block to hold preschool / grade 1 classes. We decided that having a deadline to work towards would mobilise the community to work even harder, and hopefully get the school up and running faster.

PARENTS AT MULEMBO COMMUNITY SCHOOL BUILDING SITE

In the mean time, seeing as though the teachers were very keen to start at school, we decided to start the pre-school class at Mulaushi Research Centre until such time as to move over to the site where more children can join the class.  On 19 September, the pre-school was started at Mulaushi Research Centre for 12 children from Mulembo and Mpulumba villages and the Farmer boys. Classes are now held on Tuesdays and Fridays from 9:00 – 12:30 and it has turned out to be great fun!

WITH UNTRAINED TEACHERS AND PUPILS AT MULEMBO PRE-SCHOOL

Heather Heyes, a teacher from the United States, came to Kasanka to help work on the education project for 3 weeks. Heather got involved in activities such as helping out on the Conservation Education Tour of KGMA to carry out Chongololo Conservation Clubs / Environmental Education assessments and the Conservation Education workshop at Kapepa Community Center. Together, we decided to set up a Chongololo Club competition for schools around the park in order to select a few posters on conservation education to put up at the Interpretation Centre. Donations from visitors will be given out as prizes, and we look very forward to the outcome.

 During the month of August the Education Project toured two different areas of the Game Management Area – Chalilo to Chiundaponde, up north near the Livingstone Memorial, and south east of Kasanka National Park from Mulembo down to Yoram Mwanje. In total, we visited 15 government and community schools around the park and collected data to update the education files. We also handed out information for local Chongololo Conservation Clubs for a poster making competition for Kasanka – the closing date is 5 October so it will be very interesting to see how the posters turn out.

BEING WELCOMED TO LUSENGA COMMUNITY SCHOOL

 The Community Project held a workshop at Kapepa Community Centre for local Women’s Clubs and the Education Project was asked to present a talk on the role of women in conservation education. It was a very interesting experience, and really enjoyable   meeting the women who so modestly seem to keep everything together in the villages. The Education Project would actually like to include women’s groups in the conservation education work as they are so enthusiastic and could definitely help with spreading knowledge.
 
On 12 and 13 August Kasanka’s sponsored students were invited into the park for their annual school visit. As part of their itinerary, the students had to fill in information forms and present a play, poem or song on the topic of conservation. It turned out to be a lovely exercise and prizes were handed out at the end of the program. Students also received a home-made booklet of Kasanka and had a talk by ex sponsored student and current KTL employee, Mukosha Nkoneke. We camped out at Kabwe for the night, and the second group of students were even lucky enough to see Kasanka’s elephants! 
 
 
Towards the end of the month, the students who applied to Kasanka Trust for sponsorship were invited to Mulaushi for interviews. This proved to be a very useful thing to do, as it enabled us to assess if the students were serious about their education or not.

During the month of August, student information packs were also sent off to all the current education sponsors. Envelopes included thank you letters, student information forms, photographs and recent school results. We also handed out all the money for term 3 school

fees, and school requirements and updated the education part of the website.

On 4 September, school term 3 began with students passing by Mulembo Checkpoint to deliver thank you letters and pick up their school fees. Holiday park visits always seem to boost student morale, and it is so refreshing receiving letters just to say ‘hi.’

At the beginning of September, we chose the Zambian School for the Ecokids Program – Kafinda Upper Basic, 5kms south of the park gate and one of the better government schools in the GMA. Kafinda is a lovely school with a committed, enthusiastic Head and a school we thought would be more than capable of meeting the requirements of the Ecokids Program.

The Ecokids Initiative is based in Holland, and was introduced to us by ex Community Relations Officer, Cornelie van der Feen, who came to Zambia on holiday in August. The project affiliates Dutch government schools with schools from Third World Countries and aims at teaching children aged 8-12 about nature, the environment and sustainability on a global level. (Zambia has never been included in the program before, but after input from Cornelie, they decided to give Zambia a try. The latest news here is if the project turns out to be successful, they will select another Zambian school next year.) Links between schools last for 3 months and a total of 5 lessons are swapped.

Kafinda’s efforts so far have been extraordinary – they have far exceeded what was expected of them, and all materials have been handed in before the allocated hand in dates. (It is not guaranteed, but after the programme has been completed, we are hoping the Dutch School will do some fundraising for their Zambian counterparts.) The program here started on 7 September and very impressively, the first two lessons are already in the post!

On 7 September, the International School of Lusaka came up to Kasanka for their annual 5 day biology excursion. It is great that they continue to visit Kasanka and make use of KTL’s guides to escort them around the park.

For a few months now, Kafinda School has appealed to Kasanka for help with welding their school desks. On 12 and 13 September, we took Mr. Chimponda, Kasanka’s chief mechanic, to the school to complete the task. A total of 12 desks were welded, and we were helped by a number of inquisitive, enthusiastic students. It turned out to be a great social event, and it was great to see what happens on a typical Zambian school day. We also found 2 female grade 7 students looking for sponsorship for next year and were able to interview them and take photographs.  

For a few months now, Kafinda School has appealed to Kasanka for help with welding their school desks. On 12 and 13 September, we took Mr. Chimponda, Kasanka’s chief mechanic, to the school to complete the task. A total of 12 desks were welded, and we were helped by a number of inquisitive, enthusiastic students. It turned out to be a great social event, and it was great to see what happens on a typical Zambian school day. We also found 2 female grade 7 students looking for sponsorship for next year and were able to interview them and take photographs.  

DESK WELDING AT KAFINDA SCHOOL

 In the space of a few days, sponsorship money rolled in for 5 students for the next academic year: Higaline Munsaka secured sponsorship for the remainder of his schooling from Andrew Kelly, an Australian Book Publisher; Desmond Chisenga received sponsorship for 2007 from Prof. Kevin Murphy who was out with the Darwin Expedition; and Frank Malata, Richard Mulibo and Humphrey Kunda were all offered sponsorships for next year from their current sponsors. As a result, we have updated the education part of the website again seeing as though Humphrey and Desmond have been accounted for.

The Darwin Group continued to show enthusiasm for the education project by collecting plastic bottles and cardboard for Mulaushi pre-school and some even got stuck into doing artwork for the pre-school posters. It was really great having the students here – and Mulaushi really came alive! Before their departure we decided to put the remaining 20 Kasanka t-shits that they very kindly donated to the project up for sale at the lodge for K50,000 and use the proceeds to sponsor the2 Kafinda girls to Grade 8 next year.

DARWIN RESEARCH STUDENTS AT LUSENGA COMMUNITY SCHOOL

All in all, it has been a positive, challenging year, and things seem to be wrapping up nicely in time for the December holidays.

Leigh Chaloner, Education Co-ordinator

2 October 2006