Charities Update

Special Unit for Hearing Impaired in Mpika, Zambia.
> > Fr Muba and 3 staff from the school welcomed us on the outskirts of town and then took us to the school.

> > The headmaster of the 1400 pupil school to which the unit is attached welcomed us and explained that the school operates a "shift system" to accommodate all the pupils. The first thing that caught our attention was a list on his notice board detailing the number of orphans and disadvantaged children. From memory I think around a quarter of the school came into the orphan category.

> > There were 42 children aged 8 to 14 in the unit. They were taught totally separately from the other children although they could mix outside in the grounds. None of the children had a hearing aid and all teaching and communication was by signing. All the staff in the Unit, including the Head Master, had learnt to communicate through this medium. We just wondered how the c hildren survived during the holidays etc. in an aural environment. Apparently the general referral method was through the churches in the region. How we wished we could employ an ENT consultant and audiologist to properly assess these children's needs.
> > The children in the unit come from considerable distances and board at the school for 13 weeks at a time. Unlike the other children in the school, who only attend school for about 3 hours a day on the shift system, the children in the unit have lessons until 5pm each school day.
> > Out of school hours and at weekends 1 house mother is responsible for all 42 children. The children sleep in 2 dormitories, a girls and a boys. Possessions are few and accommodation is very basic. The housemother cooked on an open fire in a shed.
> > We took along some exercise books, pencils, colours, chalk etc etc. We also gave footballs, skipping ropes and frisbies for all the children. As far as we could see these would be their only play things.
> > The staff had decided that they would like to use any money we could donate to rebuild their kitchen. In the state it was in - see photo- in the rainy season cooking was virtually impossible and also they had nowhere to store their wood so it kept getting stolen. On everyone's behalf we made a donation of 8 million kwatcha which equates to about £1000 and then went into the town with Fr Muba and the Headteacher to commence the purchase of the wood, roofing sheets and cement which would be needed.
> > Water was also a huge issue. The school had a bore hole but the pump was broken and trapped at the bottom of the well. This meant that in the dry season when the town water became unavailable the children had to go out into town to collect water from other sources. Apparently they were waiting for a quote to repair the bore hole.
> > We came away wishing we could do so much more, such as provide more staff to look after and occupy the children outside school hours and a new bore hole to provide water. The school was so welcoming towards us and are obviously doing a a fantastic job within the circumstances and finance available.
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> Chipembele South Luangwe Zambia
> This was a totally different experience. Set up several years ago by Steve and Anna, retired police officers from the UK, Chipembele educates local children in aspects of conservation and educates the children who visit on a global scale, with the introduction of both local and overseas flora and fauna in an educational, well thought out and resourced setting.

> Steve and Anna are also involved in anti poaching work and also with local schools.
> On behalf of everyone we donated some of the items Anna had requested.
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> Franschhoek, Rundu and Lake Malawi

> In addition to the above we donated to three unlisted charities. We had so many kindly donated children's clothes we couldn't carry them all and so gave some to the children's home and local schools in Franschhoek and Paarl. The second was an organisation operated from a camp site in Rundu, Namibia which is working with local schools. Here we handed over exercise books, pencils and children's clothing. The third was a local primary school on the edge of Lake Malawi. We arrived to find the Head Master cutting pencils in half and then sharpening pencils which would be sufficient for just one class. The children were expected to come to school with their own exercise book and pencils but the majority were too poor to do this. How we wished we could have found a shop to buy such basic supplies but the nearest town was Lilongue, a day and half drive away. The class sizes were unreal - 108 six year old children to one teacher and not enough tables and chairs to accommodate them all. The register was a total of boys and girls present for the day written on the board. Again we found a man collating the numbers of orphans in each 'shift'. We gave them all the exercise books, pencils, crayons, rubbers, sharpeners, teaching resources etc. that we had left and every last kwacha (Zambian currency) that we had.

In addition to this we have been handing out pens and pencils in the villages as we have gone along, everywhere we went in Zambia and Malawi the cry was "give me pencil".
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> Our next charity visit is not scheduled for a few weeks and we will update in due course.

Flies in Malawi!

OFSTED over, we departed South Luangwe and headed off into Malawi. After a night in Lilongue we stocked up on necessities and headed off to the lake. As ever we did not make the distance we needed to and so had to camp at the only place we could find - a totally derelict camp site in a howling gale. The gale force winds from the lake were so strong that they lifted the duvet off Mandy and Pete's bed in the truck. The next day we continued up the coast until we stumbled on Makhuzi Lodge. Could have been a Caribbean beach but for the LAKE FLIES! We had heard about these from a television programme but had hoped not to encounter. However the entire four days at this idyllic lodge did mean we had flurries of flies throughout our time. So much so we could literally see clouds of them on the lake coming towards the shore. The locals thought this was great as they spent their time collecting the flies to eat! Whilst here we visited the local village and school. Although we expected conditions in the school to be basic it was really sad to see that they were worse than anyone's expectation. The headmaster proudly showed us around his school including the computer room and library. The computer room had six donated computers but no electricity. The library was in a new building paid for by a Swedish charity, had tables and stools and lots of books, many of which were totally irrelevant, whilst in the classrooms, the numbers exceeded 100 in some classes and only those children whose parents could afford it had an exercise book and a pencil. The majority had nothing. The head master was cutting pencils in half and sharpening them to enable at least one class to have pencils. We have encountered much poverty in Zambia and Malawi but we have been welcomed wherever we have been. They are beautiful countries but quite heartbreaking to travel through and created anguish amongst all of us. We gave all the books and pencils we were carrying but wished we could have bought more had there been a shop with supplies within a few hours drive. In case you are wondering why we are not publishing photographs, Internet access has been very limited but we will try to get some onto the blog shortly.

Great news OFSTED is coming!

Having spent 4 days and too many KM's off road on difficult terrains we suddenly arrived at a tarmac road to great delight and bemusement at the strange lack of noise we headed into Mafue. We spent our first night back in civilisation surrounded by overlanders and a rather confident elephant who made itself a welcome pain preventing us setting up the camp as it grazed in our spot, necessitating a quick (and most welcome) cold beer!
After a rather noisy morning wake up call by the overlanders we decided to move to the campsite next door which was a complete contrast with acres of space, helpful staff and a well organised and comfortable lodge alongside the river! What is more the kids were totally made up with the raised platform swimming pool overlooking the river full of hippos and crocs! To add to this our camp had tree houses where Thomas and after the first night Nia slept safely above the roaming hippos and elephants that disturbed every nights sleep.
Trips into the park included sightings of the BIG beasts at close quarters and plenty of rough roads. We even after some intense tracking managed to find a small pride of lions resting after a morning buffalo kill!
It was soon after we settled in that Sarah recieved a text message from Hooke announcing that the School and Nursery were to be inspected by OFSTED in 2 days time! Thank goodness for phone/computer communications; since it was impossible to get Sarah to an airport to be back before the inspectors left, she had many conversations and late nights checking documentation before the whole process was over! Sadly we are unable to reveal any results but needless to say both Sarah and I were most grateful to the staff for all their long hours of hard work and the results justify all their efforts!
In amongst all of this we also made our visit to the Chipenbele charity. We drove out 45 minutes into the bush along dirt roads and were met by Steve who showed us around the centre and spent a long time explaining their ethos and what they wanted to achieve when they initially set up the centre. It was wonderfully well organised and thought out in the most wonderful location. We used the opportunity to Skype the UK whilst the OFSTED inspectors were there and allow the children to listen to listen to Steve at first hand. It was really extraordinary to see and hear the children in school when we were so far away from home!
The next challenge was to make it out of Zambia and into Malawi!

Across North Luamba to Mafue

We reluctantly left the Hot Springs, filled up with diesel from plastic cans at the side of the road and set off with some trepidation for North Luamba park We had agonised for ages whether to risk this route as it included a descent down a steep escarpment and a pontoon river crossing. It all started fine we got into the park and were told that the road had just been graded, we got down the escarpment OK passing through dense forest with a few low branches to be sawn off. Progress was slow brut we eventually reached Buffalo Camp, a collection of grass huts on the side of the river.

Next morning Chris, Thomas and myself went on a Game Walk which was quite tame until we stumbled on a lioness and 2 cubs eating last nights kill.We then set off for the pontoon. Another slow drive got us there to find that the truck had to ford the river and the pontoon woul not take the Landie and the trailer at the same time. The landy got across OK after getting stuck in deep sand, then the traile was manhandled onto the pontoon and crossed OK. Next was the truck at this stage Thomas Florence and myself were spectators on the other side of the river. The truck set off across the soft sand and promptly got stuck, bitr of digging got it going again and then it stuck again. At this point 3 of the locals set off to wade across the river about 10 metres from a group of about 10 hippos. However both they and the truck eventually crossed safely. We spent the night in a camp at the side of the river surrounded by elephants and hippos.


Another long days drive averaging about 20k an hour got us to Luamba National Park. The camp we stayed in boasted the largest concentration of hippos in Africa, about 300 just in front of the campsite, needless to say it was not a peaceful night.

Our 4th day of off road driving proved to be the most difficult. This time the landy and trailer got stuck twice but both times were towed out by the truck. The previous 3 days had been through mainly dense bush with no villages but now we were out of the park and we passed more and more villages. Some of the villages were so poor it was unbelievable. The children were in rags and under nourished and the village would have nothing but straw huts, sometimes a borehole but often nothing but river water to drink. There seemed to be very few possessions such as bicycles or motorbikes. As we got near Mafue the villages became larger and more affluent presumably because they had access to the town to sell their produce.

Shiwanandu House

We have made it to Africa House and are camping at the hot springs. We spent the morning at the Deaf School in Mpika. They were very grateful for everyone's contributions and having walked around the site they definitely needed some help. The money raised will be going towards building a kitchen to feed the children but they are also in desperate need of repairs to their bore hole. At the Moment they have to rely on the municipal supply which is switched off most off the time. Everyone there was really welcoming and the children very happy. The charity in Chipenbele is our next stop. We hope to reach there in the next couple of days.

Buying sweets

The children buying sweets outside the kings palace in Mongu

Senaga to Mongu

After a night in Senanga we set off for Mongu enroute to Kafue wildlife reserve. However it was not ot be. After 30k the truck broke down with a leaky water pump. Mandy and I went back to Senanga to try to arrange a tow but it was not to be. So we left Sarah and Chris to look after the truck and went on to Mongu. In Mongu Mandy accosted a well dressed Zambian who turned out to be driver to the king of the Western Region (Barotseland), more of the king later. We were introduced to Moses a brilliant mechanic who first found us a hotel to stay in and then took me on a trip around town to fix the pump. However being Sunday we didn't have much luck. Eventually I set off to rescue Sarah and Chris, we limped the truck to a nearby village and left it in the tender care of the villagers. Next day we embarked on another useless search for spares but eventually managed to order one from Northern Zambia. We then had a few days to wait which in Mongu could have been a tad boring. However there was a big funeral on and the vice president was in town. Whilst having lunch in the garden of our hotel he and his entourage turned up so we had our lunch in the middle of his. We didnt meet him but did meet the Zambian embassador to Nigeria.
Next day, still waiting, we dicided to go and see the kings palace out on the Zambezi flood plain.After 20 minutes on another half built road we arrived at the palace and I parked the Landy outside the gates. Within seconds we were told to move it immediately, we had parked on their equivalent of a parade ground I think. We then had an audience with the kings representatives and were told to return to town and go to his other palace to get permission to enter this palace. We duly did this and then followed a bit of misunderstanding as the next set of  kings representatives thought we wanted an audience with the king, however we couldnt think of what we wanted to say to him. I was then taken off as the eldest in the party to meet more of the kings reps. who then grilled me about who we were what we were doing etc. The outcome was that they wanted me to go back to town to get a letter of introduction fron the Permanent Secretary to the Provincial Governement. At this point we gave up!

Next day the pump arrived, it was the wrong one, but Moses spent all day getting it modified and we eventually set off back to the truck. Amazingly the pump fitted however the truck was stuck in thick sand and we took another hour to dig it out. It is amazing the amount of sand 20 small children can move with their bare hands when promised a few kwatches. We evenyually got back to Mongu safely and had a few beers with Moses and his wife to celbrate.