We are our Community
Makanya Pre-School
In 2013, Kanyemba Lodge commenced a program to support the operations of Makanya village’s small nursery school. Starting with just 8 children, lessons were being conducted by a volunteer teacher, with children sitting on bricks and rocks under a tree, learning to write with scraps of paper balanced on their laps, and small pieces of pencil.
The first priority for us was to get the children into a more comfortable space to learn, so Kanyemba’s carpentry team designed and build 6 bench-desks for the children to use. The shrieks of delight from the children as the desks were delivered was truly magical. Combined with the exercise books and simple school supplies purchased with funds donated by our guests, the children could now learn to read and write in a more comfortable and user-friendly working environment!
With the rains approaching, and lessons still being conducted under a tree, we set about the more challenging task of providing a sheltered classroom space for the school. A site on Kanyemba’s property was chosen, and a simple structure was built, along with ablution facilities, to provide a space for the school to operate no matter the weather. This was ready for the rainy season 2013-2014.
In 2014, we determined that a more permanent structure was required, and so we commenced the planning stages for our formal classroom – a brick structure that would be more secure, providing storage for the teaching equipment so generously provided by visiting teachers and guests. We engaged some labour to commence manufacture of concrete blocks for the foundations and walls – not a small task!
Since then, we have had several visits from pre-school and primary teachers – all of whom have expressed amazement at how advanced the children’s learning is – with nursery school children knowing how to count to 100 and a huge array of learning songs under their belt. The children are a constant source of pride for us at Kanyemba Lodge.
Another source of immense pride for us was our amazing caterer and hostess for 2014-2015 season, Stephanie Knight. Stephanie ran a half marathon in June 2015 at Victoria Falls, raising money for the pre-school building project through sponsorships. Steph raised over £1305 (over US$ 2000) during her campaign – and had a great time along the way! We’ll be forever grateful for her assistance in fundraising for the school – as will the children.
We have since constructed the new ablution block for the children and teachers to use. It may sound to many people like a ‘daily essential’ but the provision of flushing toilets and running water for hand washing is not the norm in most educational institutions here, and would be considered by most to be a luxury. We couldn’t invest this much in the future of these children’s education without also providing for the best possible ablution facilities. Until now, much of the financial outlay has been provided by the lodge, along with a number of private donations from guests. Our teacher and her assistant are now fully funded by the lodge (we have abolished the original school fees that had been paying part of their salaries), and we are now commencing a full day program, whereby the younger children come in for 3 hours in the morning, and the older children for 4 hours in the afternoon. This gives more children the chance at a great start to their schooling with a quality early childhood education.
With up to 60 children present at the school each day, our chefs and a couple of nutritionist friends have worked hard to put together a nutritious menu that allows the pupils to have access to at least one healthy meal each day. With stunted growth due to malnutrition still a huge problem in children from the ages 2-5, that single meal contributes greatly to the childs’ growth and learning ability. Our chefs are proud to be able to help out the young children just starting out in their learning journey. With a full stomach, the children are able to focus on their learning.
You are more than welcome to visit the pre-school during your stay at Kanyemba Lodge.
Mafungautsi School
Mafungautsi Primary School is situated at the confluence of the Kafue and Zambezi rivers. It provides for about 260 children in 6 classrooms, from grades 1 to 9. There are 7 teachers that are employed by the Zambain government. Pupils come from up to 8 kms away and walk to the school on a daily basis. We have been helping the school since its inception and initially assisted with finance and materials for building the classroom blocks. We also then helped with the building of the ablution blocks.
In 2017 we decided to do more by asking our guests to help us buy 50 Zedupads for the Mafungautsi pupils. Zedupads are tablet-based educational aids that help teachers and children access the Zambian school curriculum. We also provided electricity to all the classrooms in the school to ensure the Zedupads could be re-charged as well as to provide lighting for evening adult literacy classes. Through the use of Zedupads in classrooms that often have more than 55 pupils, lessons are a lot more effective. All pupils are a lot more challenged and the teachers (all of whom have undergone courses to maximize the use of the Zedupad) are finding it easier to coordinate and engage such a large number of pupils.
Before rolling out the Zedupad project we felt it right to ensure all pupils and teachers had access to clean running water. So with the help of our neighbours, Chakanaka Farms, we purchased and installed a submersible pump and a water tower and tank as well as all the reticulation and taps in order to ensure all the teachers houses, classroom blocks, and toilet blocks had close access to running water and basic hygiene. The digging and the laying of the pipes was done by the teachers themselves and the parents of the pupils. We are still helping the school with the provision of desks made in our carpentry, and have delivered over 110 desks in the last 4 years in addition to other educational equipment, often donated by our guests.
