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Project Luangwa
Proposal for Kawaza Basic School Renovation 2014
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About Project Luangwa
Name of Organisation: Project Luangwa Trust
Year of Establishment: 2010
Legal Status: Founding Member
Lodges:
Zambia:Trust (Zambia), CI1027 with Ministry of Lands and Deeds
UK: Charity Commission № 1119335,
USA: Non-Profit Organisation with 501(c) 3 status in Seattle, Washington.
Robin Pope Safaris, Flatdogs Camp, Shenton Safaris, Kafunta Safaris and Croc Valley Camp.
Project Luangwa (PL) is a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) formed at the end of 2009 soon after the
stock market crashes and the ensuing global recession caused a decline in tourism in the Luangwa Valley.
Local safari operators were forced to reduce their staff and this placed many ‘lodge funded and managed’
community projects at risk. Some operators had their own small school support programmes in place
which operated in isolation and required considerable effort and manpower to manage.
A number of safari operators and lodge owners got together to discuss how they could best raise money
to support the local community and promote conservation, whilst at the same time be kept free to focus on
their day to day businesses. It was agreed between them that they would start charging clients a small levy
on top of their bed rates and this became the Luangwa Community and Conservation Fund (LCCF) with
the proceeds split equally between community projects and conservation. Whilst there was a very clear
candidate in Mfuwe for receipt of the conservation funds there was no similar organisation that was focused
on education and community development.
This prompted five safari operators to get together and form Project Luangwa, a charity with the sole
purpose of managing all their community projects through the use of dedicated staff and using the LCCF
funds for administration. From this simple idea Project Luangwa has grown into an NGO supporting many
more schools over a wider area with the aim of improving educational standards in the Mambwe District in
the Eastern Province of Zambia.
Government, Community and other NGO Involvement
Project Luangwa has an excellent working relationship with the Ministry of Education and receives their
full support. Both the District Education Board Secretary (DEBS), who is responsible for overseeing all
education provision in the Mambwe District and the Chair of the Head Teachers’ Association are members
of the Board. PL regularly enters into signed MoUs with the Ministry of Education for joint projects and firmly
believes that aid should not be given without the full commitment and involvement of the local community.
Project Luangwa works in partnership with USAid in an advisory role to USAid SPLASH and has an MoU
to jointly work on issues surrounding Menstrual Hygiene Management. We are a member of the D-WASHE
(District Water Sanitation Health Education) committee assisting with the identification of new borehole
sites and their installation. PL is a preferred partner for the UK National Police Aid Convoy.
Construction Management
All building projects are managed by Project Luangwa staff and, in particular, by David Hopson. David is
an experienced and qualified engineer who has previously managed large scale infrastructure projects (in
excess of £100m) for the UK Ministry of Defence. Project finance is recorded in detail using Quickbooks
and detailed finance reports can be made available during the build as well as upon completion.
Environmental and Labour Policies
All our projects employ local labour for both skilled and unskilled elements and whenever possible
we ensure that our supply contracts are with local companies and businesses. We adhere to a strict
environmental policy and this may be viewed on our website at http://www.projectluangwa.org/Environment.
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Where We Work
Project Luangwa operates in the Luangwa Valley in the Eastern Province of
Zambia. The valley itself is the tail end of the Great Rift Valley; rich in wildlife but
harsh and unforgiving for the people in the local communities. The South Luangwa
National Park lies within the valley and forms the western border to the area where
we work. To the east is a range of hills and, sandwiched between are 2500 sq. km. of bush
land dotted with small villages of mud brick houses with grass thatched roofs and some
very remote schools.
Whilst the Luangwa River forms a natural border to the park it does not
necessarily restrict the animals. Elephant, lion and other wildlife regularly
cross the river and cause human wildlife
conflict in the area.
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The Challenges Facing Local People
People living in the Luangwa Valley face many
challenges. There is no industry, no natural
resources and almost no livestock due the presence
of tsetse flies. Most people survive by subsistence
farming but even this is difficult when an elephant
can destroy a whole year’s supply of maize in
a single night. The lucky few may find work at a
safari lodge but for the majority there is no hope of
employment.
HIV/AIDS and all its secondary diseases, malaria
and, to some extent, malnutrition, are all present.
People are often killed by the local wildlife. The
number of orphans is high; for example at one small
community school of 347 pupils, 210 are orphans.
When there is no classroom available pupils sit outside
under a tarpaulin. At this school, unless they wanted to sit
on the ground, pupils had to bring their chairs each day.
As in many rural areas of Zambia there are too few
teachers and not enough school places due to a
shortage of classrooms. Many classes have over
a hundred kids sitting on the floor as there are not
enough desks. In 2013 the number of pupils in the
grade 7 class at Mfuwe Basic School reached 134. Often there is just one text book . . . and that is for
the teacher.
Built in 1964 this classroom block at Nsefu Basic School
urgently needs replacing
An overcrowded classroom of 86 pupils at Chiutika
Scope of our work
Our work is focused on supporting schools,
increasing the standards of education and
encouraging communities to find sustainable ways to
support themselves. To this end we try and evaluate
all possible causes for poor educational standards
and children being unable to attend school and
implement plans to overcome those problems.
Over 100 pupils squash into this classroom every day
This includes: building new school infrastructure
and refurbishing the old; sponsoring school pupils
and tertiary students; encouraging girls and helping
with their problems; providing funds for additional
teachers; buying text books; providing new desks;
installing bore holes for fresh water and ensuring the
existing bore holes are maintained. We also arrange
When there are no desks there’s no alternative but to sit
school twinning and encourage volunteers to help
on the floor - Mnkhanya Community School in early 2013
out in our programmes.
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Completed Projects
The total spend by Project Luangwa on education
and community projects in 2012 was US$400,000
and in 2013 it reached US$484,000. Since 2011
Project Luangwa has:
•completed 3 1x3 classroom blocks, 3 dormitory
buildings and an ablution block; sunk a bore hole
and installed an electric pump to provide water
throughout the school – all at Mfuwe Secondary
School; total spend approximately US$500,000
•constructed a 1 x 3 classroom block at Mnkhanya
Community School; 2011:The first 1x3 classroom block at Mfuwe Secondary
School to be built by Project Luangwa, inside & out
•completed a small community school
(classrooms, borehole, toilets);
•filled libraries at 2 schools with books;
•provided funding enabling the completion of
a 1 x 4 classroom and admin block at Matula
Secondary School;
•provided 6 wheelchairs to disabled children
enabling them to attend school;
•provided text books to the value of US$22,400 to
6 government and community schools;
•constructed the largest school library in the
Eastern Province;
Over 95% of the funds raised by Project Luangwa
are spent within Zambia. We take pride in utilising
local skills wherever possible.
Current and on-going projects
At Mfuwe Day Secondary School we are:
•nearing completion of a fully equipped Science
Laboratory block with 2 classrooms;
•currently working on major refurbishment of an
old girls’ dormitory;
•starting construction on a third dormitory for girls
in May;
•nearing completion of a modern ablution block
providing flush toilets, showers, washing facilities
and laundry cleaning sinks for girls;
One of the new boys’ dormitories at Mfuwe Secondary
just prior to completion in 2012
•nearing completion of two blocks of female
menstrual hygiene toilets. These are the first
of their kind in Zambia and allow girls to attend
school throughout the month by addressing their
menstrual hygiene problems;
•sourcing and cataloguing books for the new
library. This is the largest library in the Eastern
Province with space for around 42,000 books.
We are about one third of the way to filling the
shelves and have installed a computer with
barcode software for a cataloguing and lending
system;
•working with the school on a ‘Keep Mfuwe School
Clean’ and building maintenance programme.
2013 - working in the new library at Mfuwe Secondary
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At other local primary and community schools we
are:
•relocating Kapita Community School due to
subsidence. This involves constructing a 1 x 4
classroom block and a teacher’s house funded by
Livingstone Partners group.
•constructing a 1 x 3 classroom block and one pair
of semi-detached teachers’ houses at Katapila
Community School.
•running a successful Girls’ Club at Mfuwe
Secondary and 2014 sees the start of this pilot
project being extended to 20 other schools over
the next 5 years. Girls’ clubs help address some
of the problems faced by girls in Africa.
•currently paying an allowance to 9 teachers and
3 school caretakers working in local schools. We provide sponsorship for over 120 school
pupils each year (134 in 2014) and for 7 tertiary
students at colleges and universities.
New girls’ dormitory at Mfuwe Secondary, inside and out
•annually taking 25 school pupils on a 5 day safari
to learn about conservation in a programme
called ‘Kids in the Wild’.
•expanding our drama based project addressing
the issues of girls and education. In 2012 we
commissioned a local drama group to produce
a play dealing with issues of female abuse
and successfully toured it at local schools
and villages. 2014 will see us visiting the
more remote schools and villages as well as
encouraging the girls to write their own plays and
express themselves through drama.
New 1x3 classroom block Mnkhanya Community School
•encouraging reading and a love of books with
reading schemes in local primary and community
schools.
•supplying Kapita and Katapila Community
Schools with very exciting and completely
new learning packages. With overcrowded
classrooms and too few or out of date text
books teachers become demoralised. One
solution is iSchool, a system using tablets, called
ZeduPads, containing the whole
of the Zambian primary
curriculum. For teachers
there are lesson plans
encouraging interactive
learning and, for the
community, information
on conservation farming,
heath and more. We
will be installing solar
power at each of these
schools for charging the
ZeduPads.
A donation of text books makes for happy pupils at
Katapila Community School
Pre-school for orphans and vulnerable children
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The Kawaza Basic School
Renovation Programme and Background
Project Luangwa has several projects planned for 2014 and beyond. We have already sourced funding for
some projects but for others, we are still in need of donors. The following explains some of the background of Kawaza Basic School, the current problems that it is
facing and what we are trying to do to help.
We are not proposing that any single donor funds all the following projects but that Project Luangwa and
the donors work together as a group to complete each stage in turn and help to ensure a continued future
for this school.
History of the School
In 1932 The University Mission to Africa established a small school in a remote rural area of the Luangwa
Valley. In 1964 it was taken over by the Government of the newly independent Zambia but, over the
following years, the classrooms became extremely dilapidated.
When it was threatened with closure Jo Pope, from Robin Pope Safaris, stepped in to help and in 1988
started the Kawaza School Fund (now Project Luangwa). At first just a borehole and pump were installed
but Jo continued to raise money and make small improvements and this led to the repair of existing
buildings and the provision of more classrooms.
The school currently teaches over 500 pupils every year. Their excellent pass rate for the National Exams
is amongst the highest in the area.
However since construction the buildings and infrastructure have slowly deteriorated. This has been due
to lack of money to for general maintenance and problems caused by the original poor quality construction
materials coupled with the harsh environment. For several years the area has faced extended periods of
drought followed by heavy rains and this has taken an inevitable toll on the buildings. All of the buildings
have significant problems that need to be urgently addressed if the school is to hope to have any future.
The Current Situation
Due to a combination of factors the buildings are now in need of major refurbishment work to bring them
back to a safe, watertight standard that will last for a further 20 years or more. Most of the buildings
are displaying significant signs of cracking in the walls and the majority of window frames have broken
and distorted. The door frames need to be placed and the doors have suffered from weather and insect
damage. The floors have and begun to crack and become unstable. The roofs also leak to varying degrees
and need to be either repaired or replaced.
Sadly the Zambian Government has not provided the school with any money to carry out these repairs. The
community are extremely concerned about the threat to their children’s education and very willing to help in
any way they can, however they are unable to raise funds themselves. The school serves an area of poor
subsistence farmers whose crops are often damaged by the local wildlife; it is not unusual for an elephant
to destroy a years supply of food overnight. The following photos show the current state of the classrooms.
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The Renovation Programme
In order to correct the underlying problems with these buildings and return the classroom to a good
condition extensive work is required.
All internal and exterior plaster and any damaged window and door frames will first be removed as will the
top layer of flooring. This will take the building back to a bare skeleton and allow us to inspect the structural
brickwork and main floor slab. From there we manufacture windows and door frames using a local artisan
and fit them in all classrooms. New doors will be fitted and the entire building re-plastered inside and out.
Finally a new floor is laid and the building repainted in a durable high quality gloss paint internally and a
rough cast outside.
There are 3 main classroom blocks at the school and these will need to be refurbished one at a time. In
order to minimise disturbance the work would start immediately a term finishes enabling most of the more
disruptive and noisy work to take place during the school holidays. However, as the work on each building
is estimated to take at least 3 months work some disruption is inevitable. The oldest building is over 50 years old and has a wooden roof structure rather than the steel trusses we
now use in new builds. The wooden beams have been damaged by termites and last year the classroom
lost part of its roof a storm. As this was as the National Grade 9 exams were about to take place we were
forced to do a temporary fix. We would now look to replace the wooden beams with steel spider trusses
which will make the roof more secure and remove the possibility of further insect damage.
Whenever we undertake a school project we involve the community, parents, the school staff and the
PTA. We hold open meetings where funding, costs, community contribution and future maintenance are
discussed and encourage everyone to take an active part in the project.
At our last Kawaza meeting held on 7th October the community decided on a maintenance program, how
they would all be involved and which would be the first
building to be refurbished.
Refurbishment Cost
The cost per building will vary due to the age and
problems that they each face but is estimated to be
between $20,000 and $30,000.
The first building to be repaired will cost $23,000 and
we currently have $9,000 towards this with a further
pledged $5000 (to be confirmed).
We require $9,000 to in order to start the
refurbishment of the first building.
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Example of Previous Refurbishments
The refurbishment of the Kawaza School buildings will not be the first such work undertaken by the Project
Luangwa building team. In 2014 we completed the refurbishment of a 1x3 classroom block at Uyoba
Community School. This building is of a similar size and had similar problems to those at Kawaza. This
work was funded by Rotary International.
Below are photographs showing the building in its original state, its refurbishment and completed
classrooms.
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The building above illustrates the usual standard of work produced by the Project Luangwa building team
in a new building. This class room block was completed at the end of 2013 for Mnkhanya Community
School. Its design is very similar to the Kawaza buildings and should gives an idea of how we expect the
Kawaza structures to look after refurbishment.
Why choose to work with Project Luangwa ?
During the 4 years Project Luangwa has been supporting schools in the Luangwa Valley we have formed
successful partnerships with donors, Trusts and companies seeking to help schools and communities in
Zambia through their Corporate Social Responsibility policy programmes. Project Luangwa is proud of its ethical policy and attention to detail. We believe that it is important to fully
follow through on each and every project and that the community feels it has ownership and involvement
We require that the infrastructure we build is of a high standard, fit for purpose and durable and that
sustainable maintenance policies are put in place. Our environmental policy includes researching and using
alternative materials instead of using the local burnt brick which uses a large number of hardwood trees
to fire. We purchase or make our building materials locally or on site. Wherever possible we employ local
labour and run an apprenticeship scheme to train labourers to become skilled craftsmen.
As a small NGO (by world standards) we are adaptable and can offer progress and financial reporting in
line with the donor’s needs. Full and transparent financial records are kept for all projects and we are happy
to send these to you at any time. We can offer a great deal of support and reporting, in particular high
quality images, to make the most of any positive publicity you seek.
We are proud to say that Project Luangwa was awarded ‘Highly Commended’ in the Best Charitable
Organisation category of the 2014 Safari Awards and has been nominated for an award for 2015.
Project Luangwa is registered with the UK Charities Commission (reg. no. 1119335), in the USA as a
Not-for-Profit 501(c)3, and in Zambia as a Charitable Trust.
www.projectluangwa.org
PO Box 27
Mfuwe, Zambia
Tel: Landline +260 974 250 193
Cell:+260 (0) 974250152 / 3
Email: info@projectluangwa.org
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