Machaya Community School, 2018
Previously:
This overcrowded community school for vulnerable children and orphans was evicted from its premises at Dudzai village, 10 miles north of Lusaka. The school had been using a rented building owned by a family living abroad, but had recently been given notice to vacate the property.
Thankfully, the community managed to secure a new plot in Machaya, a nearby village but they needed help to build a new school.
What we did with your support:
- Built a new three classroom block with office and a strong room: The new school will allow over 320 pupils who were evicted from Dudzai school to continue with their education. The strong rooms means that the school can be registered as an exam centre, so the children can take their exams at their school rather than having to walk to other schools in the area.
- Built school latrines: Building a latrine block is a priority at all our school projects. This helps to reduce the spread of illness, plus improving privacy and sanitation encourages more girls to stay in school through puberty.
- Installed a new borehole and hand-pump: This means access to clean and safe water for the wider community.
- Trained young, local unemployed men and women in construction skills: At the project at Machaya School we trained 19 young, unemployed individuals. They now have new skills to help build themselves a bright future.
Samuael Chola was one of the trainees who has helped to build the school. Samuael has been delighted with the training: “I want to say thanks to Build It International – I have learnt a lot of skills and really appreciate it!”
Looking ahead:
The buildings were inspected and handed over to the school to enable the children to continue with their education.
The school goes from strength to strength. One year on and attendance at the school had risen to over 450 children across eight classes, from pre-school to Grade 7.
The community is motivated to continue developing the school. Work has started on a new latrine block for the teachers, and the community is looking into options available to build another classroom to increase capacity.
