A busy summer lies ahead for Build It in Zambia as we continue our community projects at Bissell and Katole Community Schools.

With Parliament entering its recess, Wimbledon ending in one too many up-close shots of Marin Cilic’s feet and attempted barbeques being scuppered by seemingly unrelenting summer ‘showers’; the British holidays are undoubtedly in full flow. Yet here at Build It there is little let up as our community projects continue to be developed.

At Bissell Community School on the outskirts of Lusaka, we are constructing a new three classroom block because the school is extremely oversubscribed. In the process, we will be training 23 young men and women, who have already completed a fortnight’s worth of basic training. This expands upon completion of a new kitchen with rocket stoves in 2016 and our aim is that these projects will positively impact the lives of 18,114 people living nearby.

Meanwhile, in the isolated and impoverished community of Katole (38 kilometres from Lusaka), two volunteers currently teach over 100 children in a collapsed classroom without a roof. The community is made up of 800 households who struggle to make a living from subsistence farming. Here, we are training 20 new builders and constructing a new two classroom block, teacher’s house and latrine block, with safe water and solar lighting. These trainees have been recruited and the local community is ready to go!