Latest News

Winter News from
Malimba Community School &
Conservation South Luangwa

Dear Make Me Smile Supporters

We hope this newsletter finds you in good spirits and, if you are in the UK, coping with the winter chills! In Zambia, it’s rainy season too, this picture shows Jojo Harris, braving the floods, in Mfuwe, where she lived and worked for a number of years.

We sadly lost Jojo too soon, she died in 2008, today (18th Feb) would have been her 47th birthday. It was Jojo’s passion for helping others that inspired us to start the charity as a legacy that would continue to spread goodness in the world. Whilst in Zambia, Jo organised a concert, managing to attract top Zambian artists to perform for the local community, raising awareness of HIV/AIDs. This is just one example of Jo’s tenacity to create change and spread her compassion for both humans and animals.

After her death we chose to support two organisations in Mfuwe that represented what Jojo cared about. They both continue making a difference all these years later, which we know Jojo would have wanted to do had she still been with us. Malimba Community school supports the education of local children and Conservation South Luangwa works with local communities to help them live in greater harmony with wildlife and reduce the terrible harm poaching can inflict. We’ve included a photo of the plaque that marks the resting place of Jojo’s ashes, at Elephant Crossing where she looks out over the beautiful Luangwa River.

First an update from Ezeliya, Headmistress at Malimba School…….

MALIMBA COMMUNITY SCHOOL

Greetings from Malimba staff and pupils!

We realize it’s a high time we gave our generous donors and supporters an update on the exciting developments at Malimba Community School whilst we have been slow to write this newsletter please do not worry the delay was due to the fact that we were waiting for the Grade seven Final results it was announced late by the Minister of Education.

ACADEMIC PERFOMANCE

Malimba Community school participated in all National assessments of 2024 we managed to do well in some assessments but some were not well done.

Logo 2000 we came position 4
Grade seven Final results we came position 6 with 91.3% overal pass.

The reasons for not performing well at grade seven final results last year was due to absenteeism. We recorded a high number of absentees the reason was due to hunger hit by a severe drought for two seasons in our country the pledge we are giving them at break time is not enough probably we can extend giving them launch to keep them for long period of time in school. Our top performing pupil in 2024 was Regina Shanyinde who scored 740 marks!

LIBRARY

The library itself was built thanks to donations from Make Me Smile and a recent donation from The Africa Hope fund has enabled us to restock with some new books. The school is not yet electrified so we humbly hope to have additional funds to support the installation of electrification of the whole school and the purchase of devices.
This will enable us to prepare children to operate in the modern digital world and to improve the efficacy of teaching methods.

PROJECTS

Currently we have an early childhood education centre which is under construction we need help in different types of toys and play park materials. (new building pictured above)

The first classroom constructed by Adrian and Christine Carr was renovated by Makolekole team. It was in a deplorable state but now learners are happy using it, we also managed to paint the whole school and fixed all the broken windows.

Our hope is to construct a 1×3 classroom block but this is dependant on further funding.

STAFFING

Currently we have six established teachers and have yet been able to recruit new volunteer teachers. It is important for us to have enough man power to support the 10 classes we now support. We will continue to seek further teaching staff but recruitment will depend on additional funds to pay the volunteer teacher allowances.

RETIREMENT!

I am also announcing my retirement from active service in October of 2025. I would like to thank you all for the support rendered to me while performing the duties of Headteacher at Malimba Community School. I hope the same support will be continued to whoever will take over my position. I am not able to say who is going to come as the duties of appointing a Head is the duty of the District Education Board Secretary (DEBS).

I will be settling on my land but will still be available for consultation and information you may need for Malimba Community School. I wish to take this opportunity to thank Jacqui who has been our mediator between our sponsors and thanks also to Make Me Smile, Drew Robertson, Brooke, Africa Hope Fund, Tribal Textiles, Adrian and Christina Carr, Pam Carr and all the visitors who came to our school in 2024.

Ezeliya

Donate to Malimba School

CONSERVATION SOUTH LUANGWA

Winner: South Luangwa Rapid Response Unit for Human-Wildlife Conflict (RRU-HWC)

We are thrilled to announce that our Rapid Response Unit for Human-Wildlife Conflict (RRU) was awarded as the Best Ranger team by the African Conservation Awards. Adding to this achievement, our very own K9 Unit was awarded 2nd Runner-Up in the same category. This honour celebrates their outstanding efforts in South Luangwa National Park, Zambia.

This collaborative initiative between CSL and the Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW) has made remarkable strides in fostering coexistence between communities and wildlife. Through proactive education, innovative solutions, and swift conflict resolution, the RRU has reached over 4,000 people, achieving a 44% improvement in predator-proof livestock enclosures and significantly reducing livestock predation.

The unit has also addressed critical challenges like elephant crop raids and predator attacks by employing non-lethal deterrents and rapid responses, earning the trust and respect of local communities. Despite limited resources, they’ve empowered local wildlife committees, inspired community-driven initiatives, and built strong partnerships with government agencies and NGOs.

1st Runner-Up: Tango 1 Mobile APU Team, Tana Delta, Kenya

2nd Runner-Up: South Luangwa K9 Unit, Zambia

Congratulations to these exceptional teams for their contributions to conservation and for making a significant difference in protecting wildlife and supporting communities.

A HUGE CHALLENGE AS A RESULT OF CHANGES IN UNITED STATES

As you will already be aware, last month the new United States Presidential Administration issued an Executive Order that paused all US foreign assistance for 90 days. The order mandates a reassessment of programmatic efficiencies as part of a broader policy direction to reduce foreign aid. Unfortunately, this momentum affects many conservation organizations including NGOs like CSL, who have a long history and successful partnership with United States Federal Agencies. Together these partnerships have supported vital work in biodiversity conservation, human wildlife conflict mitigation and support to people living with wildlife.

Losing this funding would have a devastating impact across the ecosystem, particularly at a time when we are seeing human-wildlife conflict and demands on wildlife increase across the landscape.

While we sincerely hope that our US government funding is reinstated and aligns with US international priorities, we are concerned about keeping our core activities running for the next 3 months – a critical time for wet season poaching and for human elephant conflict. We are therefore taking proactive steps in these next months to try and raise as many donations as possible of any size so that our vital work is not interrupted.

Two of CSL’s largest federal funding streams in the United States have now been paused for 90 days, issuing a stop-work order, and halting all foreign assistance programs during this review period. This is despite having signed contracts and obligated funds. Overnight, this policy shift has put our work at serious risk at least for the next 3 months and potentially longer, depending on the outcome. We now face the potential cancellation of two major US Government grants, approximately 30% of our annual budget. These funds are critical to cover core operational costs, essential programmes that safeguard South Luangwa’s wildlife and support the communities living alongside the National Park.