Final Day in Zambia

Last full day in Zambia. It’s been a great trip, but I am definitely ready to come home! Today we spend the morning visiting groups around the Lusaka area. We first went to a community near downtown. This area has many small homes clustered very closely together. No running water. No electricity. No school. We visited a church building where community members have come together to operate a school in the church building. This one large room with a few wooden benches, chalkboards propped up against the wall, and about 400 children, grades 1 to 7. Each grade is located in a different corner of the room. They do have staggered start times for the younger kids so that all 400 are not in the room at once. It is incredibly loud, no books in evidence, and you wonder how the kids can learn. The kids are all well behaved, and clearly listening, but with that number of people together in one large brick and concrete room, you can imagine how loud it is.

This school has to cart water from a well some distance from the school. They have a well right outside, but it is contaminated due to people in the community building pit latrines which have now polluted the water. Many of the kids have minimal food at home, so the school has implemented a feeding program. We’re told that sometimes this is the only meal they receive each day. The teachers and Caregivers sometimes have trouble getting the kids to eat, because they feel as if they should take the food home to their younger brothers and sisters.

We wondered how well the children learn in this environment. The leaders of the school informed us that they recently took 7th grade exams. In Zambia, students must take exams at the end of 7th grade to proceed to 8th. If they do not pass, they are not accepted to the 8th grade. At this school, 25 of 28 students passed the test, and the other three were so close to the score, that the government decided to grant them admission to the 8th grade. A 100% pass rate! Then we found out that all the teachers in this school are volunteers. No one receives any pay for teaching these children! The teachers are community members that went to a small training program for two years. It was unclear whether they actually received a formal certificate, but it doesn’t matter. They care about the kids, and are obviously dedicated to their success! And the children obviously see the value in education. We met one 7th grader who is head of household. His father left the family when he found out the mother had HIV. She is now very ill, so the boy takes care of his mom and his younger sister. He still attends school each day, and then goes to a job as a gardener each afternoon. He does receive help from one of the local volunteer Caregiver’s, but can you imagine a 7th grader managing all this?
Then back to the office, and the final meetings of the day. Great visit, good suggestions, and as always, more work ahead! It’s Saturday morning now, and we’ll be leaving the hotel in about an hour. Long flight home with two long layovers in Nairobi and London. Thank you for joining on this journey. Looks like the next one may be to Mongolia! Hope you’ll join me there!