First graduates from the Arulussa Farm Pre-School

The first class at the Arulussa Farm School has graduated: seventeen children graduated from the Estelle Trust funded pre-school in December having reached the primary school age of 7 years old. Many of the children have been enrolled in the ‘All Kids Can Learn’ primary school which is part of the orphanage that is next door to Arulussa Farm. The rest of the children will attend the government primary school at Landless Corner. Eighteen children from the Arulussa compound and 12 children from neighbouring farms will attend the Arulussa Farm school in the New Year.

In the end of term report, Joyce Kimani, the school manager wrote that ‘The level of children’s performance has improved significantly and they are able to express themselves in simple English coupled with humour and confidence which most of them lacked before. They are lovely kids.’

The pre-school graduates with their teachers and the school manager

The adult literacy class at the school now has 12 adult students, some of whom are pictured with Joyce in the accompanying photo. After some initial delays the Afya Mzuri HIV/AIDS awareness and community health programme started in December. For previous reports see posting on

Some of Arulussa’s adult literacy students

Chinonya: helping a community school gain Government funded status

The Estelle Trust has accepted a proposal to aid the educational work of the Baynards Zambia Trust (BZT). BZT is a UK charity that is run by voluntary trustees who know Zambia well. It operates in partnership with Hodi, a Zambian-run NGO: Hodi provides the local management of the projects. BZT focuses on three areas of need in the remote Mkushi District of Zambia near the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo: education for children, promotion of sustainable livelihoods through better farming methods and HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention programmes.

The interior of Chinonya School

The project supported by the Estelle Trust is the construction of a teacher’s house at Chinonya School. This is currently a community school with no government support and in a run-down state: mud and wattle construction with children sitting on bricks. A development programme has started including the provision of water supply and construction of a classroom block and teachers’ houses. These facilities will enable the school to achieve Government funded primary school status. The community is wholeheartedly engaged in the programme, making a contribution through the manufacturing of bricks, building sand and stones for the foundations.  As an initial contribution, the Estelle Trust is funding the construction of one of the teacher’s houses.

Chinonya Community School Building

Development of the ‘Kids Dance for Kids’ school near Chisamba

The Trust is following up the provision of a wind pump water supply installation at the ‘Kids Dance for Kids’ school near Chisamba with the funding of the construction of a staff house for teachers. This will enable Anja Kleeman-Wright and her colleagues in the project to recruit trained teachers for the school. The Trust is also exploring the placement of a VSO Teacher Trainer at the school. The background to the KDF school is in the posting of 6 June 2011.

More support for Kachele’s Natimwa Learning Centre

Headmistress Bernadette Komoto congratulates Emmanuel Njovo on gaining first place in Grade 1 Class at the Natimwa Learning Centre

The Trust’s close involvement with the development of the Kachele Village community and district health and educational facilities (see posting of 6 June 2011) continues. The funding of a water supply system based on solar and wind power for the village and the clinic and the building of a houses for the district nurse and for headmistress of the Natimwa Learning Centre – the village and district school – has been greatly assisted by the contributions from Chapman Freeborn Aviation (see Partners).

Bernadette's house rises around her

In 2012 the Trust will support the development of the Natimwa Learning Centre by paying for the salaries of two teachers and providing resources for the school library which is currently under construction.

The road to Kachele was builit by the villagers and is designated "all weather" but when the rains come ...

Adult literacy classes and a community health programme at Arulussa

Two new community support activities sponsored by the Estelle Trust and using the facilities of the Arulussa Farm School building and teaching staff were started or planned in June.  Adult literacy classes are now held three times a week, Monday to Wednesday from 16.30 to 17.30 hours. With the assistance of a local NGO called AfyaMzuri, a health programme has been devised for the farm workers and will commence in mid-August. The programme has been designed in consultation with the farm management, two male members of the farm’s soap making factory and the supervisor of the female workers. There were useful contributions from all parties covering such matters as health problems, domestic violence, and cultural and traditional beliefs – including witchcraft practices. The programme will begin with a community health training programme for five farm workers, who will be selected by the farm community. It is intended that these community health workers will continue to implement activities beyond the period of involvement by AfyaMzuri

Capacity building at Zambia Orphans of AIDS

The Estelle Trust has made a three year (2011-2013) commitment to work with Zambia Orphans of AIDS (ZOA) to help build its project management capacity in Zambia and fund more projects.  It likely that these projects will be mostly connected with the provision of education for orphans and vulnerable children.  The first and current stage of this cooperation is the development of the ZOA office in Lusaka and its administrative capacity to process and evaluate project proposals.  For information on Zambia Orphans of AIDS see “Partners”.

Education for orphans in Kasama

In Kasama, the  provincial capital of  the Northern Province of Zambia, there are estimated to be over 22,000 orphans of which less than 3000 are enrolled in basic and high schools. The Trust has funded the 2010/11 costs associated with the education of 85 orphans and vulnerable children (68 of whom are at secondary school or tertiary college) in Kasama,  The contribution pays for school and college fees, exam and PTA fees, books, school, uniforms etc. The project is under the auspices of the Zambia Orphans of Aids and its local partner organization, Kasama Christian Community Care.

‘Kids Dance for Kids’ – to develop a new school

A community school is being developed by Anja Kleeman-Wright and a group of local supporters on the border of their property, Nagwaza Farm near Chisamba. The farm is adjacent to a forestry reserve that has attracted a large number of squatters whose children have had no chance of attending school. The aim is to develop a school with qualified teachers and in due course to transfer it into local community ownership. 

The Trust, with Chapman Freeborn Airchartering’s support, has funded the installation of  a wind pump and water storage facility at the school.  Anja teaches ballet at the American and other fee-paying schools in Lusaka and uses the funds raised to help finance the school – hence the name of the project.  The Trust is planning to assist in the development of the school’s physical and educational facilities.

Transport for the Chipembele Wildlife Education Trust

Anne Tolan, co-founder of the Wildlife Education Trust, with children from Luangwa

The Chipembele Wildlife Education Trust has an international reputation for its work in the education of children and young people in the conservation and preservation of the environment and wildlife in Zambia’s Luangwa Valley. It also runs a Pupil Sponsorship Scheme that enables orphaned and vulnerable children to attend schools in the area. The Estelle Trust provided the funds to purchase a new Toyota Land Cruiser that was needed for transporting children as part of Chipembele’s outreach programme.

Water and buildings at Kachele Village and the Natimwa Learning Centre

Natimwa school children during a visit to Kachele by Carol Norman, group managing director of Chapman Freeborn Airchartering

The New Jerusalem ‘Kachele Village’ project was set up in 2000 by the Zambian charity, National Agenda for Social Advancement (NASAD): the village is built on 500 acres of land near Liteta and held in trust by NASAD. The aim of the project is to support and improve the lives of the families of leprosy sufferers and 45 families –about 200 people – have been re-settled in the village so far.

Kathy Harding (Mrs Kathleen Harding MBE) is the originatingand driving force behind the project: she created Kachele and lives for half the week in the village in an old caravan. A large school and health clinic has been established in Kachele Village which serves the surrounding district of 10 villages or about 2000 people. The school currently has 185 pupils at primary level (up to grade 6) with further classrooms and other facilities planned in order to expand the age range up to the secondary level.

The Estelle Trust and Chapman Freeborn have funded the two wind and solar pumps and storage tanks that provide water for the village, the school and the clinic. The Trust is also paying for the construction of houses for the head teacher/manager of the Natimwa Learning Centre and for the district nurse at the clinic.

Chipembele Wildlife Education Trust

Anna Toland and the Toyota Land Cruiser donated by the Estelle Trust with the Kawaza Conservation Club

The Estelle Trust is a supporter of the Chipembele Wildlife Education Trust – a centre for teaching Zambian children the value of wildlife. It has been developed from scratch by an English couple – Steve and Anna Tolin – in the Luangwa Valley in northern Zambia. The work of the centre and its outreach programmes is not only of considerable educational value to the children but also contributes to the conservation of the area and its animals. In 2009 the Trust paid for a new 4×4 Land Cruiser for Chipembele.

Kaliyangile Skills Training Centre

 

The Estelle Trust has been a supporter of the Kaliyangile Skills Training Centre at Chisamba since its opening in 2006. It has contributed to the costs of the construction of buildings and provision of electricity, purchase of livestock, and visits by volunteer trainers from the UK.

The Centre provides training for children and young adults – particularly orphans and vulnerable children – in agricultural and rural trades such as carpentry and tailoring. The principal sponsor of the Centre is Hands Across the World, a charity that has organized voluntary help from the UK in the construction and management of the centre and recruited donations to its running costs.

Estelle Trust School at the Arulussa Farm

Parents and children dancing at the opening ceremony

Working in partnership, the Estelle Trust and Arulussa Farm have developed a primary school from scratch at Fringilla. The Trust paid for the materials for the construction of the school building and the teachers’ houses; the land and the building labour was provided by Arulussa Farm. The Trust has undertaken to pay for all operating costs of the school for at least the first three years with the intention of expanding its capacity and age range if the project continues successfully. The school opened in May 2010 and has 41 children from 4 to 7 years old: about half are from the Arulussa Farm village and half from the local community. There are two teachers and a teachers’ assistant.