Beyond Ourselves Golf Day

Last Friday we held our 6th annual Golf Day and party at Bush Hill Park Golf Club. With 20 teams playing in the day and over 170 evening guests, it was yet again an amazingly well supported day! Thank you to everyone who came.

The golfers had varying success but at least the sun was shining and the Pimms tent was open! Congratulations to our winning team; Irene Dickinson, Sue Collins, Pauline Platt and Janet Andrews who came in with 93 points. Well done ladies!

It wasn’t all about the golf, the Pimms, the food and the amazing band – Jazzbomb!

For those of you who know us well, you know that we are journeying with our partner schools in Zambia towards self-sustainability, both educationally and financially. Educationally, we are currently focusing on the teachers’ professional development and raising the levels of teaching and learning in the schools. Financially, we are developing social enterprises around each school community to provide skills training, employment and finance that can help sustain the school in the future.
The auction in the evening was not only highly entertaining (thanks Ben!) but also raised £14,000, which will go a long way to helping meet the continued everyday need of the schools as well as push in to new social enterprises within the communities.

Thank you again to everyone who came and supported us, and to those who helped make the day happen!
Thank you!

Gertrude's Story

I think every organisation has at least one person who works behind the scenes to make it all happen. They often don’t get the limelight, but tirelessly work day in day out to make sure the wheels keep turning and everything is running smoothly.

Janna School has one such person.

Her name is Gertrude.

In 1995 Gertrude sadly became a widow with 4 children to care for. Life was not easy.

Before she started work at Janna 7 years ago she had no employment, so when she was asked by Festus to help at the school she jumped at the chance, even though at that time the ‘pay’ was just a donation from the church.

When I asked her why she wanted to work at Janna School, she simply answered she has a heart for the children here in the community, and she knows what a struggle it can be for families to provide education for their children.

When Gertrude thinks back to the changes at Janna and in her own life over the past 7 years she is full of smiles and stories.

Gertrude has loved seeing the development of Janna and how “so many good things have happened since she started”. From the classroom blocks being built and creating good learning environments to seeing the children going from having no food to eating every day!

As for her personally, she says she now has food on the table because of Janna, she’s made home improvements and most importantly since receiving a salary she doesn’t have to worry now. She knows the last Friday of every month she’ll get paid.

I asked her what she did with that very first pay she received, she said “I gave some money to the church and then I went shopping!”.

Gertrude’s 4 children are all doing well:
Her 1st born – is working near to Janna School, making blocks
Her 2nd born – got married in 2013 and has given Gertrude her first Grandchild
Her 3rd born - is at college in Lusaka, training to be a Lab Technician (because of her job, Gertrude is able to help support him)
Her 4th born – finished Grade 12 in 2013 and will turn 21 this year!

Gertrude’s job is full and varied. When I asked her what she did, she answered “so many works!”. Her job title is ‘School Administrator’ but she is so much more than that.

On the admin side, she updates the number of children in each class, noting who has transferred (a regular occurrence in Zambia) and who has reported. She checks the number of books for each subject, for each Grade, seeing if any are missing and if there needs to be any more ordered. She handles all the enquiries and new admissions to Janna School, meeting with parents and dealing with all the paperwork. Alongside all the day to day admin, she also creates the regular reports required by the Ministry of Education about Janna School.

And because Gertrude knows all the families and children so well (she’s always our first port of call when we have any questions about a child!) she acts as liaison in to the wider community, helping us to identify needs and distribute much needed care like food parcels.

Gertrude’s heart for the community is clear and when asked about her dreams for Janna she says she would love to see the school expanded in the years to come to older Grades too. She also sees the need for businesses to be created so that every family in the area can have employment like she does and no longer have to worry about the roof over their head or the food on their table.

Not Just A Bunch of Do-Gooders!

We have been involved with Beyond Ourselves as a church for about 8 years now and I was asked to write about why churches should get involved with the work that they do. There are many answers (none of them short!) to the question but I’ll give it a go and hope you last until the end of the blog!

Firstly, BO has been there and done it (they probably also have the T-shirt –there’s definitely a pen because I have one!) Over a period of years they have worked with, alongside and for the people of Zambia to make a difference in the lives of children and their families. Yes, there have been mistakes made and learnt from and Beyond Ourselves has developed and changed to be the organisation it is today. However, primarily, BO is about relationships-with the church leaders in Zambia, the staff, the children, their families and also with schools , churches and individuals in the UK.

The charity is not just a bunch of do-gooders who are inflicting their well-meaning charity on ‘poor Zambians’, they are a group of people who want to empower Zambians by working with them to set up schools so that children can get an education and a better start in life.  

Some of the things we as a church have been involved in are building, painting, medical clinics, registering children for child sponsorship, holiday clubs, playing, praying, preaching  and running Sunday school in the churches, HIV education…are you still reading?

It’s never really about what we as a church get out of it, but I honestly believe we receive more than we can give. I challenge anyone to spend time at one of the schools with the welcoming Zambian people and not have their life seriously transformed! Challenge to live more simply, to be grateful for what we have, to have a heart of generosity, to live a life where faith in God is at the heart of everything. To live only briefly among gorgeous children who have so little materially but will share what little they have with you is a life changing experience.

So, if you’re a part of a church that has a heart to see people empowered to transform their own community, take a second look at Beyond Ourselves-there are some fantastic people you can meet and journey with…

By Chris King from Restore Community Church

A Week of Heartbreak...

The last week or so has been full of sadness and heartbreak.

It is with great sadness we share the news that a little girl at one of our partner schools has passed away. She got sick and deteriorated quickly and passed away in hospital. Our prayers go to the family as they say goodbye to their beautiful daughter. She was only nine years old.

We also share in the heartbreak of one of our teacher’s. Her baby girl was born just a couple of weeks premature but she struggled to live longer than a few weeks.

Devastating.

The nearness of death is still such an everyday reality for the families in the communities we work with in Zambia.

So, through the tears our resolve is strengthened to see lives changed and communities transformed. Such a quick and easy phrase to say and yet a long and difficult journey to take.

I don’t often openly ask for help, but will you join us? We can’t do it alone.

It might cost you. Sometimes in tears, sometimes in money. But I believe one day, together, we will see the change.

The more children we have sponsored at the schools, the more it enables us to release money in to wider community transformation – in to opportunities to see families lifted out of poverty, so that death is not so near.

So, please, consider sponsoring a child.

I promise it will make a difference.