Zambia
Lodging
Flatdogs Camp
Project Luangwa
Flatdogs Camp is a founding member of Project Luangwa a charity organization which takes a co-ordinated approach to development projects in the communities of the Luangwa Valley. We support projects in several areas: Schools and Education, Business and Infrastructure, Agriculture and Local Produce, Community and Social, and Conservation and Environment. Our aim is to use the income from tourism to encourage sustainable development, promote education and increase opportunities for local people, while protecting the natural resources that all residents of the Valley depend on for their livelihoods. Our main focus is always on education, since it is the tools learned in school which give people the best chance at a prosperous future. Children are also the business leaders, conservation managers, guides and medics of the future, so we have a chance to help them understand the importance of this unique ecosystem, and ensure that it is conserved carefully for the benefit of people and wildlife.
Project 1
Mfuwe Secondary School is the only Secondary school in the area. Until recently, it had only one classroom block of its own. Its 550+ pupils are squeezed into these 3 classrooms and any classroom space that it can borrow from the Primary school next door. As well as depriving the 1400 primary school students some of their own classroom space, this situation is detrimental to the quality of education that the Secondary school offers. The end result is that much of the good work that is being done at Pre- and Primary school level is wasted because it is not followed up with good education standards at Grades 8 - 12. Through Project Luangwa, we have built 2 more blocks of 3 classrooms and the community have collected the funds for another, which will give Primary school leavers a good chance at a place in Secondary education. We are thrilled to have achieved so much and are now looking to fill these classrooms with all the materials that the teachers will require to develop these kids and give them a head-start towards a prosperous future.
Needs
Wall maps and charts, scientific calculators and geometry sets, rulers. (Please don't bring sets of text books as Zambian children must follow the designated curriculum. If you would like to help with text books [and we always need more!] please visit the Project Luangwa website where you can find out how you can donate to buy books - thanks!).
Improving the English language skills of the students is high on the agenda for Mrs Chabala, MSS's head teacher. She would like to build up a library so that kids can borrow books and improve their vocabulary, spelling and grammar. If you have a small space in one of you bags, please would you consider squeezing in a couple of reading books, preferably with an African theme such as the Just So Stories that you no longer need, appropriate for children of 10-15 years old.
Project 2
Chiyembekezo Pre-School is a very special little school, because it was set up entirely by local people for orphaned and vulnerable children. Kelvin, the founder, was concerned by the number of children he found walking the streets, fishing with their fathers and generally not attending school. With their own money, he, and a couple of other local businessmen, hired a teacher (paying her when they could) and started a school in a small house. From there, the school has grown enormously, and only when it was providing education for 50 children 5 mornings a week did Kelvin come to Flatdogs and ask for advice on how to fundraise for the effort. Flatdogs was very impressed with his commitment and initiative and happily offered to help. Through our combined fundraising efforts, we pay the teacher's salary, buy uniforms for the children and occasionally provide educational resources. Thank you to all our current sponsors for their help; the headmaster of Mfuwe Basic School (where Chiyembekezo kids progress to) says that children from this school are well-prepared, well disciplined and ready for the next step in their education. If you would like to help us continue this trend, please try to squeeze a couple of the items below into your suitcase and give them to Ed or Kelvin when you arrive at Flatdogs.
Needs
Pre-school and early primary text books, pens, pencils, colored crayons, rulers, erasers, chalk, lined exercise books and drawing paper/books, early learning types of educational games, simple early reading books suitable for up to age 7, story-time books.
