| Dear Make Me Smile Supporters
It’s time for some more news from our projects in Zambia
Firstly an update from Malimba School. Like nearly every other part of the world, our friends in Zambia have been severely affected by Covid. Initially there were very few cases in Zambia, but nevertheless the Government thought it wise to follow the rest of the world and introduce a lockdown.
This was not quite so extensive as it was in Europe but Malimba School has been closed. The teachers and volunteer staff did their best to keep things afloat but children rarely have the right conditions to study at home. In June the school was allowed to open but only for examinations. Children have to wear face coverings and Tribal Textiles have kindly been making and supplying these for the school and local communities.
The school is now waiting for further government instructions to determine when they can begin classes again. Of course, the school still has to pay bills and carry out maintenance work on the class rooms and other facilities. Because funds have been so tight the school made the difficult decision to reduce the teachers allowances for the foreseeable future. As the children are not attending school, they are not benefitting from the school meals putting increased pressure on their families to find extra food. We hope the children can return to their classes soon but safety measures will have to be taken and of course this all needs money.
Ackim, Malimba’s current headmaster is going to be repositioned to another school in the area and we are waiting to hear who will be taking over his role, as soon as we have details we will share this with you.
Tribal Textiles continues to administer payments for the school and audit all transactions from the funds we send. As we reported in our newsletter in February the school has been doing well with good academic results but by reducing teachers allowances we are concerned whether we will be able to retain the current team.
Our other partner, Conservation South Luangwa is doing vital work to save our precious wildlife and support local communities during these very challenging times. The Team are taking part in the Wildlife Ranger Challenge on the 3rd October. You can join the CSL rangers virtually on a 5, 10 or 21km run (or walk) with over 1000 other rangers and for every donation they receive The Scheinberg Relief Fund will match the donation, providing a further 25% to Conservation South Luangwa and 75% to the Ranger Fund protecting the most threatened areas on Africa. Register here for the event or go to the CSL website.
We appreciate there are so many in need during these challenging times but no matter the size of your donation it will go directly to those who need it. Make Me Smile make it easy to donate via our website.
We will send another newsletter as soon as we have more news.
In the meantime stay safe and take care.
With greetings from
Jacqui and the rest of the Team at Make Me Smile |
