Waste to Toys Workshop

Did you know that almost 80% of a person’s brain potential

is developed by the age of 4?

This was the main message for the ‘Waste to Toys’ workshop which, as the names suggests, was all about making resources from waste or junk materials.

Singakwenza: a South African company, travelled up to Zambia to spend the

day with us and show us how easy it is to make school resources that are free, educational and sustainable. 

As well as the three Beyond Ourselves schools, ten other local community schools were invited to join us. It was a very empowering morning and we all ended the day with our heads full of new ideas and feeling motivated to get creative.

Every person was given a pair of scissors and a black marker pen and told that these would be the only ‘tools’ we needed.

The number washing line in this picture has been made from packaged cardboard and the pictures taken from free supermarket leaflets.

So clever, simple and free!

Each activity was designed with specific Early Childhood Development goals in mind. So we progressed from making rocket balls – that tested our gross motor skills to writing our initials on the top of fruit packaging with used matchsticks -that helped with our fine motor skills.

Poking holes with a matchstick developed the muscles young

children need for holding a pencil.

With each activity and new creation the emphasis was on developing the skills that children would need for reading, writing and maths later on. 

We couldn’t make everything in one morning and so spent some time looking at resources already prepared such as this ‘shoe tying activity’

Overall the day was a huge success.  Singkwenza shared with our teachers the skills and ideas needed to make their own toys and school resources.  The teachers went back to their schools with easily-replicated sustainable resources and ideas for making many more.

However the best part was the knowledge and understanding of the importance of play for a child’s early development. Play provides rich learning opportunities and leads to children’s success and self-esteem.

During our training we did little writing but learnt a great deal through the making, discussing, playing and problem solving with our peers.

Check out the video on the Singkwenza website to see their training in action.

http://www.singakwenza.co.za

‘Mocktails & Nibbles Evening with Beyond Ourselves’

The Restore Women’s team felt the need this year to reach out to other women, beyond our worlds and lives. And how fitting to have been reminded of Beyond Ourselves!

Beyond Ourselves and Restore Community Church have had a long standing and supportive relationship for quite a number of years now. So what better group of women to reach out to, than women who already had a link to our church, some who have come from our church and others whom some of the members of our church have even had the privilege of meeting in Zambia.

So we emailed Melissa and Jodie and received an amazing response. Melissa was in the process of starting sex education in the schools linked to Beyond Ourselves. She started sending us weekly/monthly prayer requests that we could post on our ‘Restore Women’s Facebook page. She updated us on their progress of designing re-useable sanitary pads and even sent us pictures of the girls receiving their packs and choosing new pants!

We were planning a style evening as one of the women’s events for the year where Jodie would have had a 5 minute slot to come and share a bit about their work with the women and girls in Zambia. Our speaker for the evening could however not make it, which created the opportunity for us to dedicate the evening solely to Jodie and Beyond Ourselves!

The evening was named ‘Mocktails and Nibbles Evening with Beyond Ourselves’.  The event was held at a church member’s house, which allowed for a lovely intimate and cosy atmosphere. Women could enjoy some alcohol free cocktails with creative names such as ‘Whitcombe Wonder Mojito’, ‘Pearse-ing Heart Daiquiri’, ‘Janna Juice Sham-Payne’ and ‘Kawama Colada’ and some lovely handmade nibbles. Jodie shared a bit about their work and showed us a video clip of one of the headmistresses explaining the value of the sanitary packs for the girls. Jodie then showed us the sanitary packs, what it contained and how it works. I must say, you could feel the excitement and awe in the room; the women were amazed at the thoughtfulness, creativity and skill that went into designing and making these re-usable sanitary pads. Some even wanted to order some for themselves! But what struck us the most was the dignity these packs provided to the girls and how easy it is to take every day/monthly necessities for granted.

 

The women also had the privilege of writing cards to the teachers and staff of Beyond Ourselves in Zambia, thanking them for what they do and writing scripture verses and blessings as means of encouragement to each individual.

I left that evening feeling thankful for those in Zambia doing life changing work and grateful for the luxuries we have. I also felt in awe of women who survive and live their lives without all these luxuries and inspired to do more and give more. These women are warriors and conquerors, achieving much with little in their hands. How inspiring and motivational! What a privilege to have a glimpse into their lives and to be able to give, even if just through encouragement, some of what we have. 

May this only be the start of a beautiful, inspiring, generous and flourishing relationship between the Women of Restore and the Women of Zambia and Beyond Ourselves.

The Copperbelt

A question we’ve been asked many times since the beginning of Beyond Ourselves is “Why Zambia?". The quick answer is because of relationship – it’s hard to partner with people you don’t know!

But there is so much more to the answer. We often find that because Zambia is a peaceful country and doesn’t get much media attention back in the UK or Canada, that many people are unaware of the current state of the country, and it’s history.

So our UK volunteer, Maren (originally from Norway), is sharing some of her findings with you to help give answers to the “Why Zambia” question…

Today, Zambia has one of the highest rates of poverty in Africa. About 68% of Zambians live below the recognised national poverty line. But it hasn’t always been this way.

For many years, the Copperbelt (where Beyond Ourselves is based) was one of Zambia’s most important areas. When the copper mining emerged it set off a burst of industrial development that changed the country - Zambia became the definition of a modernising Africa.

The urbanisation of the Zambian Copperbelt area was seen as great development and a way to better economics and general wellbeing in the society. The rapid increase in export, more work for local people (in the copper mines), modernisation and Eurocentric development (because of the import/trade deals with Europeans) was at first a blessing for the community, but it didn’t continue.

When the international economic downfall of the oil industry happened in the mid 1970s, it changed all market values and the terms of trade for copper exporters declined sharply. Because of the sudden change and lack of opportunities for export and income from copper mining, this led to increased unemployment as the miners were now without work, meaning less or no income for several families in the community.

For those of you who like numbers, here’s what they say:

• The number of people living in urban poverty within the Zambian community increased from 4% in 1975 to just under 50% in 1994 according to the World Bank. Meaning that after urbanisation the number of people living in poverty was more than 12 times higher than before the modernising and urbanising process began (and ended).

• A study also showed a rise in food costs and food budget for each family between 1980-1988 of more than a staggering 650%. In 1980 an unskilled worker would spend 64% of his monthly income on food supplies, and by 1988 this number rose to 88%. Imagine that – after buying your family’s monthly essential food supply, you would be left with only 20% of your wage? And you still have other essential expenses that need to be met, such as bills, clothing, health (both expected and unexpected) etc.?

The reality was that unemployed people were left in even worse situations than before the urbanising, and families had to even sometimes skip meals to be able to survive.

Unfortunately, economics was not the only challenge. Health issues such as AIDS, malaria, malnutrition and so on increased as a result of poverty. There was a lack of education and information about hygiene and health coupled with not enough money to pay for health checks, doctor visits and medicine.

Which are some of the factors why today the Copperbelt, once a leading African community towards economic growth and modernisation, is now an economically challenged community with some of the highest rates of poverty.

They once were so close to reaching their dreams, so close to being able to live a life out of poverty, and so close to being a leading community. But when you are so close and then fall, it can help to have a hand up, to dust yourself off and dream again...