Chitukuko is a rural community located about 20km west of Lusaka. It was established in 2015 when 500 families were forced to re-locate by the new owners of the farmland they were squatting on for many years. Chilanga council allocated the families small plots in a barren area known as Malcolm. Establishing a new community is a tough challenge, but Build It is playing a key role in this process.
What we did with your support:
In 2016 we built a three classroom block with a strong room and an office. The strong room allows children to take their exams at the school, rather than having to walk miles to other schools. We also built a teacher’s house, a latrine block to improve sanitation and planted a school garden that is supplying fruit to the school. We have installed a well providing clean water and solar power to give light in the classrooms so they can be used by the community in the evenings.
The Ministry of Education sent three trained teachers to teach at the school meaning the children now receive a better standard of education. Chitukoko’s new school is the focal point around which this ‘new’ community can grow and develop. The classrooms give the community a place to hold meetings, church services and social clubs, as well as the occasional wedding.
15 men and 10 women were recruited from Chitukuko community and taught basic construction skills through our Training into Work Programme. They learned new skills while constructing the new buildings for their local community, and 20 successfully passed the Bricklaying Level III trades test – a nationally recognised certificate.
Looking Ahead:
Build It continues to support Chitukuko community. We are training the new Parent Community Support Committee (which is similar to a PTA) and lobbying the Ministry of Education to provide more teachers. In addition, we are supplying much needed books, desks and sports equipment.
Chitukuko community School – Phase Two:
The new school opened with 3 teachers and 230 pupils in 2016 and has successfully grown with 7 teachers and 468 pupils registered which is a huge step forward.
However this dramatic increase in pupil number means that further building work is now urgently required to cope with the local growth and to ensure the school attracts quality teachers to provide the best education to the children at the school.
With your support we want to:
- Build two small teachers’ houses, to encourage more qualified teachers to move to this rural community
- Construct an additional latrine block. As the pupil numbers have doubled, the original toilet block is no longer enough and we want to separate male and female facilities by building an additional latrine block for female pupils and teachers
