May 2024NewsletterA Challenging Start to a Busy Year 2024 began with some big challenges. A sporadic rainy season has led to large areas of drought and for many hunger will be a reality in South Luangwa this year. In addition a cholera outbreak at the start of the year, followed by a virulent surge in conjunctivitis, has led to a very disrupted school calendar, heavily impacting the children and communities we serve. Despite that we have made huge progress this year in terms of:
Not to mention our continued work in Youth Clubs, Sponsorship, Early Years Literacy and our Artisan Project! Thanks as always for all of the incredible support. Without you we could not do a fraction of what we do. Developing For the Future Our Foundation Programme for Young Achievers has kicked off for 2024, with two classes running this year instead of one. In addition we have made huge progress on our Centre for Learning and Sport, developing an unbelievable community resource, and an exciting new place for additional learning Our Foundation Programme seeks to improve our student's confidence, skills in ICT, English and critical thinking, as well as life skills such as budgeting and organisational planning. This year we are expanding to two classes of 12 students each, and are already seeing their early progress. In addition, we have seen the need to offer improved sports facilities for young people and local communities. Sport is a key element in promoting good health, providing strong role models and offering a positive outlet that reduces teenage pregnancies and early marriages. Combining these two aims we have continued work on our new campus for learning and sport. The "JK" site (named for the local Chief, John Kakumbi), will provide not only a space for our students and the summer school initiative (at present all taught out of one classroom space, also shared with our Youth Clubs and sponsorship), but it will also allow us to expand into a post-graduate scheme to help link sponsored students to local employers, as well as the potential for an online University programme. In addition we will be offering a community facility for the surrounding area, giving children and adults alike, a healthy outlet through sport. How Can You Help? If you would like to be a part of this incredible project and help us to offer a never before seen resource in South Luangwa, then please visit our Justgiving donation page here, and see below on options to volunteer! Also please check out our video from Foundation student Maureen about the benefits of sponsorship -> Expanding Digital Learning Our Digilearn project has again doubled in size this year, now supporting over 600 kids by teaching all of their lessons through a combination of digital learning through tablets, group discussions and teacher interaction. For under resourced, under privileged, rural kids, this type of learning is truly groundbreaking. We've seen a huge increase in class sizes over the past few years, with our pilot class totalling 96 children! To put that into context, that would have been 96 kids, in one class, being taught by one (potentially unpaid volunteer) teacher with traditional chalk board methods. Digilearn helps to not only provide new interactive resources, it also spreads the teaching load, reducing class sizes and providing crucial IT skills for today's ever more digital world. With the support of the Patel and Nelde families, and organisations such as Travel Elevates, Spider Livingstone Foundation and Chiawa Trust, we have been able to increase our impact using Mwabu's innovative teaching platform. Grade 7 results from Chiwawatala this year showed a 31% improved pass rate on the National Exam for students after 2 years on the Digilearn project. In addition we were also pleased to complete the construction of the new Digital Learning Centre at Chiwawatala school. The classroom is built from an innovative design of mud bricks and recycled materials, and provides learner with a fantastic new learning space. We offer kids a chance to learn in class in a more interactive way, while supporting teachers with resources and helping to lower pupil to teacher ratios Keeping Girls in School Lack of access to menstrual hygiene products should never be a barrier to a girls education. However, as a direct result of this disadvantaged girls can miss up to one week of school per month, further widening the gender learning gap. We have been indebted to the many donors who have allowed us to deliver 2,960 pads to 592 girls this year, saving up to 23,680 days of lost school. Conserving Trees and Communities Our Eco-Stove project has seen amazing expansion this year, having built 1,830 more stoves this year than the same time last year! In addition we have planted 794 trees already this year and plan to at least double this number as the year progresses. This expansion has been the result of building on our 3 years of experience and trying new techniques and ideas. We are indebted to our Developmental Advisor, Dawie Maree, who has been overseeing the capacity building of a larger ground team, as well as the promotion of our previous sponsored student, Simon Mwanza, to the position of team supervisor. This project is also about ensuring long term, meaningful change in daily practices. This month we are revisiting many of our previous stoves and checking on how they are being used, as well as on the progress of trees we planted two years ago. Many of these trees are well above head height and offering shade and twigs for fuel already. Despite some turmoil in the carbon credit market that funds this programme, we are thrilled at the incredible progress we have seen, and the huge benefits the project is bringing to local communities. Thank you to C-Quest Capital and Expert Africa who have been so supportive to the programme. Volunteer in South Luangwa We have been thrilled to work with some amazing visitors and volunteers, who have had an amazing impact supporting local education initiatives and at the same time taken back home memorable experiences and truly precious moments. Ways to Volunteer If you are looking for something longer term (3-6 months) then we are keen to welcome volunteers with experience in teaching (primary/secondary/University), information technology, business skills, life coaching, career development and finance. This would be part of our Foundation Programme and would offer a unique opportunity to help school leavers better prepare for the next stages in their lives. We all know that travel broadens perspectives, and for students who lack the means to travel, meeting people from all over the world with different expertise is a truly invaluable resource. If you're unsure if your skill set matches what we're looking for, but still have an interest in volunteering and supporting disadvantaged kids, then please still reach out! Africa Hope Fund Trips For a shorter stay in the valley, you may want to consider joining Africa Hope Fund's 2 week trip in July/August and volunteer by either reading to kids in the libraries, or teaching specific skills to our Foundation students or local artisans. In partnership with Africa Hope Fund we can provide a tailored syllabus to help you bring your knowledge and expertise to rural students who really need it. For more information please click here. Hope to see you in the valley one day soon! Our volunteers, visitors and donors have all helped our students this year to learn more about engaging with people from around the world - leaving an unforgettable impression on both! South Luangwa - Connecting Tourism, Community and Conservation Not only is South Luangwa famed for its natural beauty and wildlife, the people and communities of Mfuwe are the true heart of what makes this place so spectacular. It is so great to welcome visitors back to the valley, particularly as the challenges of the past few years are still fresh in the mind. The return of tourists continues to not only provide a critical boost to the local economy, it also means that much needed school donations are once again getting through to us. We have been able to donate chalk, pens, pencils, maths supplies, sports equipment, menstrual hygiene pads, reading glasses and electronic items to so many schools and communities, as a result of the incredible generosity of our guests. Thank you so much for all that you do. Visitors to our Craft Shop and Café also provide vital revenue to the Project, with 100% of the proceeds going back into our programmes. In addition the local craftspeople that we support by providing a platform for their goods, have finally been able to make a living from their art once more. We'd especially like to mention Pack for a Purpose, who do so much to organise supplies being brought out to schools, communities and children in need. In addition Expert Africa have been incredibly generous in their support, donating $10 to our Eco-Stove Project, after every review they receive from a visitor. As the new season begins, it is so good to see everyone again, and we hope that this will continue into next year and beyond! How Can you Help? For those who would like to get involved, there are a number of initiatives we are currently raising funds for. These include:
If you would like to donate even a small amount for any of the above projects then please follow the link here, or email info@projectluangwa.org. Thank you so much for your support! In addition, to those visiting the valley, please check out Pack for a Purpose's website, as any donations are so gratefully received. Thank you to everyone who continues to support us, your generosity is having such a positive effect on the lives of disadvantaged children and communities. For those in California, we would invite you to participate in the amazing "Safari on the River" experience! Join Africa Hope Fund for a Safari on the River at the Sacramento Zoo, an extraordinary event committed to advancing their conservation and education initiatives in Zambia. This year's occasion holds added significance as we pay tribute to our CEO, Carol Van Bruggen, in celebration of her birthday! May 18th, 2024 5:00-9:00pm Sacramento Zoo 3930 W Land Park Dr, Sacramento, CA 95822 Thank you! We continue to be humbled by the incredible support from all of our donors. It is so wonderful to welcome everyone back to the valley, and we are truly indebted to everyone who has donated or provided school supplies for disadvantaged children during their trip. We're also incredibly grateful to the organisations that have supported us for so long and the new individuals and donors who have supported us this year. In addition, the commitment of our lodges to support local communities has continued to be outstanding. Without the critical relationship between tourism-community-conservation, then South Luangwa would fail to exist as we know it, and we are so grateful to all our members, Flatdogs Camp, Robin Pope Safaris, Kafunta Safaris, Shenton Safaris, Green Safaris Shawa River Camp, and Chichele Safaris Puku Ridge. As always we can't thank all of our child sponsors enough, for allowing disadvantaged children the opportunity of an education. If you'd like to know more details about this, then please take a look at our website. We're also incredibly thankful to the Patel Family for driving our incredible DigiLearn project, and to Africa Hope Fund for allowing us to implement our reading programme. In addition the generosity of the Pirie, Mills and Nelde families, as well as the For Women Foundation, has been unbelievable in allowing for expansion of both the Foundation Programme, Gender Youth Clubs and DigiLearn. With your help and generosity we can continue to support education and gender equality across a broad spectrum of projects, giving some of the most vulnerable in our society the opportunity for a better life. If you would like to know more about our activities then please click here or look below for a link to our annual reports. A special thank you to Livingstone Foundation, Chiawa Trust, Lyons Trust, and the Patel, Nelde, Holmes and Mills Families for their high level support of our projects and students. Was great to see many of you in the valley this month and hope to see more of you soon! As always, we are also so grateful to everyone who has chosen to sponsor a student or donate to one of our programmes. You are the reason we are able to continue our work in South Luangwa and help to empower the people living here. The good you do cannot be overstated. Thank you If you would like to get involved, or continue to support Project Luangwa and all of our programs, please click one of the links below. Visit our website for more info www.projectluangwa.org Project Luangwa is proudly supported by local Member Lodges: |