Staff Training Highlights - By Dan Whitcombe

At the start of every school year we set some time aside to get together with the staff of the schools we’re partnered with, before the busyness of the new school year begins. Over the last couple of weeks we've spent two days in each of the schools reflecting with the staff on the successes of last year, giving thanks to God and then looking forward into the coming year.

When we recorded the staff’s recollections on all that they’d seen happen in 2014, the lists were lengthy and certainly worth celebrating. Here’s what the staff at one of our schools came up with before we ran out of room on on piece of paper;

2014 highlights at Kawama Community School:

·      Wall fence nearly completed

·      A very successful clothing sale that paid for a bore hole to be sunk

·      Borehole sunk

·      Burglar bars installed meaning we have secure classrooms to store resources

·      Feeding programme budget increased

.      Toilets completed

·      Classrooms painted

·      Reading corners made

·      Children healthier

·      T-shirts for staff

·      Kitchen built

·      Noticeboards put up and learning aids displayed

·      Kawama Kraft increased sales in UK therefore more work for sewing team

·      Sewing room got a facelift

·      More resources/learning aids in classrooms

·      Sanitary resources provided

·      Grade 7’s improved to a 77% pass rate

·      Babies born among the staff

·      Won netball tournament

·      Teacher training workshops

·      Government resources given out and increased government support

·      2 large Teams (50+ people) from the UK hosted.


2014 was a really busy and productive year – there is much to give thanks for!

After reflecting on 2014 and thanking God, we then set our sights on 2015 and took time praying about what our priorities for this coming year should be.

As we looked to 2015 we really felt like the need to focus on putting God first in our personal lives and being signposts to Jesus for the children and the community around us.  In addition to this we continue to work towards improving standards of education, creating safe and inspiring learning spaces and looking after educational, physical, emotional and spiritual needs of the children.

Before closing the first day we spent some time taking part in some team building exercises with the staff – ephasising that we need to work together to be effective over the coming year. It was a great opportunity to develop communication skills, have fun collaborating with one another and to give justification for having hoarded cereal boxes for the last 6 months.

The second day had an education focus and was purely for the teaching staff. Again we reflected on 2014, the workshops we’d had and the training the teachers had received. The teachers set professional targets for the term to help focus their development and we conducted some additional training on reading and writing; priorities for 2015.

Some days working in Zambia can feel slow and like developments are a long time in coming, during those times we feel the need to focus on the thought of our long term commitment to be here. So days like these days of reflection have been a timely reminder that, with God’s resourcing, a lot of hard work and collaboration, we are seeing lives changed, and communities transformed, for the better.