Thanks to generous support from our corporate partner BGL Group, construction work is well underway at Naluyanda Community School.

The project will help 311 young, vulnerable children in this peri-urban area north of Lusaka. With only one classroom and some old converted offices, the school was already struggling to cope and the number of pupils is growing rapidly.

Work has started on the three-classroom block which will include an office for the Head Teacher and a strong room to keep exam papers secure.

The local community has been actively involved helping to clear and prepare the site, as well as producing around 12,000 Stabilised Soil Blocks required for the construction of both the classrooms and the new latrine block.

Getting water onto the site was vital; for both the community and for the construction process.

A broken water pump meant that the community had been drawing water from a pump one kilometre away. We have installed a new hand pump re-instating easier access to safe, clean water.

We have recruited 23 young, unemployed people (17 men and 6 women) from the local area to help with the project. They are learning new skills that will open up new opportunities for them to find work and earn a living.

All our training programmes begin with Life Skills helping to improve confidence, communication skills and teamwork to equip our trainees for the world of work.

The trainees then go through theoretical and practical learning using our bespoke curriculum. The trainees at Naluyanda helped to mark out the classroom block, before starting work on excavating the foundations and preparing the concrete footings.

Wooden shuttering form-work was constructed ready for the large concrete slab to be poured forming the base of the classrooms. Work then started on the superstructure; the part of a building above its foundations.

The walls are now going up with trainees learning about the installation of door and window frames.

We’ll keep you updated as work progresses at Naluyanda.