This is the driest place on earth and somewhere normally reserved for the testing of lunar buggies and the filming of space movies. Not only is it a challenge in its own right, but while willfully destroying himself he is also raising money for Build IT. To date he has raised £2345. Thank you Gus!

If anyone would like to support Gus in his mission please visit his JustGiving page at: http://www.justgiving.co.uk/Angus-Mackintosh?pid=2227291&dtpn=2&ShortUrl=Angus-Mackintosh

The first community meeting was held on 2nd December 2009.

The aim of the meeting was: 

• To get full understanding of the community’s needs following the needs assessment done by our partner organisation, Zambia Open Community Schools.
• Identify the key people in the community who would assist in mobilising community members in the provision of general unskilled labour, identification of trainees and collection of local materials.
• Discuss the roles that the various parties would carry out during the implementation of the project.
• Design the one by two classroom block of their choice.  

The community members informed BII that they had already selected a steering committee called the Parent Community School Committee. The community was satisfied with the team because they have been involved in most of the community school developmental activities the previous year. 

The Parent Community School Committee

The community agreed to prove the following roles before and during the implementation period;

• Collection of the local building materials – river and building sand. However, they requested us to assist then with transport as they do not have resources to hire. They equally requested BII to provide crushed stones. This was because they don’t have the desired quality of stones within their locality.
• Provide security for any materials delivered to the site
• Monitor the useage of the materials and equipment on site
• Protect the environment surrounding the school premises e.g. chopping the trees unless agreed.

The design workshop followed on 30th December 2009. The community members were taught what a design was. They were asked to come up with the key elements in a design e.g. light, air, space, orientation etc. Samples of the designs developed by other communities we have worked were showed to them to help them understand the importance of their contribution. This was to allow community input in the development of the designs of their own school. It indirectly creates a sense of ownership amongst them. In order to ensure that that the entire present community member contributes effectively, they were divided in smaller group. Each group was asked to draw the design of their choice with so much creativity in it.

Design workshop

The community has already started gathering river sand. So far they have collected 20 MT of the 100 tonnes requested for (physically checked by BII staff).

In addition they will require 100 MT of building sand, and 100 MT of crushed stones.

makangwe draft design 21-1-10

This project has run to schedule largely because the local community’s enthusiasm for the work meant no hold ups with the supply of raw materials. Philiman, the contractor and his team of 10 should also be congratulated on their diligence. 

Our partnership with the school has been very strong. Under the direction of Mrs Zulu, the new head-teacher, the school is performing well and delighted with the doubling of capacity that the new classrooms will bring. This is critical as many new children have been registering with the school.

Mrs Zulu has also influence the design of the class-rooms with two of the six sides dedicated to blackboards and display space. This is especially useful for multi-grade classes which are common because of the shortage of classrooms. She told our Director, Andrew Jowett, on a recent visit to the project:

“thank you for helping our school and our community, we are so happy with the new classrooms…many people are coming here and looking at the new classrooms asking what is happening to our school!” 

Good progress is endorsed by Brighton, our Building Programme Supervisor in his latest report

“The quality of the roof structure done by Wiseman and his team is good and Mr. Phiri has done a good job on the superstructure. With good coordination of the contractors coupled with a well implemented program, the works should be completed by the end of January 2010”. 

This project is supported by the COINS Foundation and other UK grant making foundations. Thank-you.

The building is now around 60% complete and building work is on target to be finished by the end of March. After that electricity and classroom equipment will be installed. 

Build IT’s Building Programme Manager, Brighton Kalonga, made a site inspection visit on 14 January, and reports: 

“Apart from the delays resulting from continuous rain, there are no serious concerns and the project is going well. I have been impressed with the hard work of the trainees, they are really doing a fine job and I think the finished building will be something we are all proud of”

female trainees making tiles

Makangwe is a community about 26kms south of Lusaka. Although it is a rural, subsistence farming based community, those lucky enough to have jobs will be working in Lusaka.

The school exists at present but is woefully inadequate for the number of children it serves. There are currently 274 pupils enrolled and yet the school has just 1 2-classroom block for teaching grades 1-7.

 It is a community school, which means it is outside of the government system. This is because, despite a Government commitment to free primary education, there are not enough facilities for all children to attend government schools. In addition many cannot afford to, as despite the education being free the “hidden costs” of uniforms, additional tutoring and materials costs put government education out of the reach of many. 

Like many Zambian communities, Makangwe’s response has been to set up a local “community school” – funded and run by the community themselves. Some, like Makangwe, are lucky enough to be supported by organisations such as ZOCS (Zambian Open Community Schools) a local NGO which supports Community schools with teacher training, school materials and income generation projects.

The Makangwe School council

The school is community run and has a strong committee driving it forward. It has a hammer-mill which generates some income by grinding maize for people, and is hoping to start a kitchen garden and piggery in the next few years as a further step on the road to self sufficiency

 With the help of a very generous UK donor, we will:

Build 1 x 2-classroom block
Build 1 teachers houses (the government has given a commitment to install a teachers if these are built)

During the build process we will train up to 15 unskilled workers from the local community in basic building schools.  

The scheduled plan of work is: 

• Nov 09–Feb 10 community consultation on design, final designs, bill of quantities & costings  
• Oct 09–March 10 collection of raw materials by community (around 900 metric tonnes of aggregate sand & rock)  
• March 2010 – selection of trainees 
• April 2010 (subject to rains ending) work starts

Month 1 – basic training (2 hours per day in classroom, rest of day on site)
Months 2, 3, 4 – on the job training as the building progresses
Month 5 – trainees assessed at Lusaka Trades Testing Centre
Months 5-8 building completed using selected trainees as hired labour

 If everything goes according to plan the building will be completed by November, ready for the new school year in Jan 2011. 

12 of the 16 trainees have been subsequently hired by Build IT to complete the building.

The Good Earth Trust is a UK based organisation which has a vision is of a world in which low-income people can access technology that improves their wellbeing and livelihoods whilst preserving and enhancing their environment.
They currently focus on promoting the use of stabilized soil block technology,  that can help people improve their housing whilst greatly reducing the impact on their environment.

Dr Andrew Sentence
City Economist and Memnber of the Monetary and Policy Committee of the Bank of England

The Hon Lucy Changwe, MP

Bryan Adams
Musician and photographer
Self portrait courtesy of Bryan Adams