Building Great Relationships In Zambia!

For me, one of the most exciting things that is happening with Beyond Ourselves at the moment, is the relationships we've been building with other individuals and organisations, here in Zambia, with a similar heart to our own, to see individuals empowered and communities transformed.

These connections have increased our capacity to see the things on our hearts happening within our partner schools and communities.

A couple of weeks ago we had Marci come in to all our schools from Christian World Outreach. Marci has been in Zambia for approaching 14 years and has been working in the area of Sexual Health and HIV/AIDS for most of that time. After meeting with the directors of each school, Marci held some introductory sessions with different grade groups and will be following this up with additional time in the older grades within each school. The area of Sexual Health is a bit of a mine field here and so we really value having Marci’s wealth of experience leading us through this within our school communities, with the full backing of the directors and church leaders from each school.
Last week, we ran two Grade 7 days at a local shelter and ponds, one day for the boys from all three school and one day for the girls. The students learnt more about their identity in Jesus, their value and the value of others and God’s love for them. Kahimbi, a friend of Melissa’s, come up from Lusaka to help lead sessions for the girls’ day and a trio of guys from a local organisation called Isubilo lead the boys’ day. These were really fun but focused days and were massively appreciated by both the pupils and the staff that attended. It was the first year we’ve done this and it’s definitely something we’ll put together again.

Marci leading a Sexual Health session with Pastor Cephas translating

Chris and Sylvester performing a Prodigal son sketch at the Grade 7 boy's day

This week, we had Oscar Mwila, from Operation Mobilisation, following up on some business training that he’s been doing with a group formally involved in a sewing project that was based in Kawama School. Unfortunately, the project was no longer viable, and Kawama Krafts was closed but the members of the group have been keen to develop their business acumen and have paid to take part in a short business course run by Oscar. Once their plans have been refined, they will receive a small loan from Beyond Ourselves to get their business started. Oscar is committed to the group and will continue to monitor and support them over the next 18 months. Something that I am so so thankful for, as I love seeing them being trained up and empowered, but don’t have the time or the expertise that the relationship with Oscar brings.

Oscar Mwila leading a business course at Kawama

I love that we’re partnering with other organisations here. I love that it increases our capacity to see things done. I love that it often means that something is done to a better level, by people who bring more experience in a specialised area. But most of all, I love coming alongside others walking the same journey as us, eager to see God move in this place and bringing heaven to Earth.

By team member Dan. 

Teacher Training

Teachers in our schools are amazing people who model the value of learning every day in their classrooms. They are also brilliant role models for the children in their attitude towards their own development as a learner. For many of our teachers, their own education has been disrupted and so, even though they have much valuable experience of teaching, they do not yet have the coveted ‘Diploma’ which they aspire to. This means that in addition to teaching, looking after a home and children, many of our teachers are also studying for exams.

In Zambia, ‘O’ levels are taken at the end of Grade 12. In recent years, it has become increasingly necessary to have 5 ‘O’ levels including English and Maths in order to start any other type of training, such as Teacher Training. This has not always been the case, which means that many teachers who are now in a position to be able to start their training as a teacher, are having to sit exams again before they can do so. Often when we ask teachers what they will be doing in their holidays, the answer is studying or attending college. It is great to see that our teachers have the strength of character to continue with their own education in order to achieve their dreams.

Teachers are also very enthusiastic about improving their own teaching. There is a new curriculum being introduced in Zambia at the moment, which means that training is even more important. As well as running training sessions ourselves, we are increasingly working with the head teachers to help them to run their own training. This helps both by developing their own skills but also the confidence in training staff, which can be a challenge at times. Occasionally head teachers will ask us to run a training session because “ they will listen to you more than me”. This makes me feel really sad, as it shouldn’t be the case that we have more authority than the head teachers. This is one of the reasons that we have been working closely with the head teachers this year to help them develop their own leadership skills. Just as many of the teachers have learned on the job, the head teachers have to do the same as there is no leadership training as their would be in many other countries. We firmly believe in empowering people, and one of the ways in which we can do this is to develop the skills of the leaders of our schools. 

Dignity

Today is International Women’s Day.

Today we celebrate the achievements of women, reflect on what women contribute to society and advocate for equality.

When I think about the average Zambian woman, I marvel at her innate strength...

She is up before the sunrises tending to her home and family - sweeping, cooking, looking after her children (and often a few nieces and nephews as well). She gets her children to school and goes to work. This often requires a long walk or a couple uncomfortable minibus rides. Many women take their youngest child to work with them so these long walks include their babies or toddlers on their backs, bags in hand, something else on their head.

The day is spent working at the market, cleaning someone’s home, or working on the fields. Often times the woman is the provider in the family. Sadly so many fathers are absent here. Immediate families are so broken and extended family so strong. Everyone helps each other out with the women so often holding those networks together. Even when fathers are around, so many are unemployed and drink too much and just don’t seem to have the work ethic women have. Most women run their households with very little support from their husbands.

After work the long journey home commences, child on the back, bag in hand, market goods on her head. At home she tends to her home and family again - hand washing the families clothes, cooking, looking after her children. By the time supper is ready it is late. The family eat and she washes the dishes and everyone goes to bed.

From a young age girls here start their informal training on running a household. Young girls have their younger siblings strapped to their backs. They help their mothers with all the household chores, they learn how to cook. They too are strong, just like their mothers and aunties.

In the midst of this daily cycle there is a deeply imbedded cultural belief the men are superior to women. It’s hard to understand that in a culture where women contribute so much, that they have so little value. It is heartbreaking to hear how women are not only demeaned on a daily basis but that so often they are also experience physical or sexual abuse.

It’s our hope and are prayer that we can help give dignity to the women we work with and to the girls in the schools. In this difficult place, we know we have a loving God who cries, as we do, over the inequalities and hardships women and girls face.

I recently did some training with The Dignity Campaign (http://www.dignity.org.za/). I was struck by the need to work with women and girls and the importance of advocating for dignity amongst females.

This week we are starting this process by doing some sexual health education in the schools we work with. We want to start teaching and opening discussion about some of these issues. Next week we are doing a Dignity Day with the grade 7 girls from the schools we work with. We’ll be looking at finding our identity, purpose and belonging in Jesus.

The road will be long but there is hope. We see it in the eyes of the children we work with. There future can be brighter than their current situations. We can live in a world where we honour and respect each other, celebrating all achievements and contributions regardless of gender and advocating for dignity for all.

Nkandu Joyce Chungu

Catherine Chilekwa

Diana Chisenga

Zambia's Loadshedding Situation

October to March is generally classed as the “Green” or wet season here in the Copperbelt Region and it is roughly the same all over Zambia and looking out into our garden here in Ndola you would imagine it is very wet. The grass is green and lush, many plants flowering in vivid colours and the areas that are not cultivated are looking very overgrown with the undergrowth now reaching way above the height of people. This is in stark contrast to just a few months ago before Christmas when the ground still looked brown and parched, most trees were still leafless and virtually nothing was growing. It sounds perfect but all is not well. The average rainfall for the wet season in the Copperbelt is around 1400mm and so far this year we have had less than half at  around 660mm. (to put it in context, London gets an average of 594mm over the year) In other parts of Zambia and the neighbouring countries of Zimbabwe and Botswana it is much much worse with very little rainfall this year and many of these countries declaring a “National drought” This is all being put down as part of the El Nino effect on world weather but that does not help here in Zambia. Most of the population of Zambia rely on growing crops, some to sell and some to rely on to get them through the year. Maize is a staple food and this year it is going to be in short supply. The rains this season started late and are already coming to an end although we are still getting some torrential storms that wash away roads and produce very short term flooding adjacent to the small water courses. A month ago these storms were happening for an hour or so at least every other day, now it is perhaps once a week.

The rainfall also has a major effect of Zambia’s economy. Many of you will have heard of the “loadshedding” that all areas of Zambia are suffering. This is when no electricity is supplied to you for a period each day. Zambia relies almost totally on Hydro Electric Power and has huge power plants at both Kariba and Kafue. Both of these reservoirs are extremely low and with the lack of rainfall there is very little hope of them filling up this year now so the loadshedding will continue on. 

Roads washed away by torrential downpours

The lack of power may be a nuisance to us in a private home where usually we are without power from either 5.00am until 13.00 or from 13.00 until 21.00. (please note these are so called published times but are often several hours extra on top of these) Imagine you are a small business such as John Moyo’s metal fabrication business from Ndeke Compound in Ndola. John made the fantastic new security gates at Janna School.

The new gates at Janna

As he explained, most of his work relies on power so he can cut, grind, weld and make or alter a whole range of works Although the loadshedding is scheduled to be most nights where his workshop is, in reality the power is down many times during the day so that means he cannot get on and therefore earn money. John has 7 children in his family and they all rely on his diminishing income. He commented that not only is his money going down but with the huge inflation going on including rent of his workshop rising, his actual income is way down on last year. He is diversifying a little and has started repairing and selling bicycle spares to try and get more money.

John Moyo

Now John’s may only be a very small business but even the bigger companies are suffering. It is not unknown for shops including the largest supermarkets to close when there is no power. In Kawama, another compound that Beyond Ourselves is connected with the small market there has several small computer and other “shops” that need electricity as well as many “stalls” or Ntembas (very small shops) that sell what the person grows. When the power is off they cannot operate or the lack of rainfall means you grow a lot less and have little to sell, so they close and make no money. For the majority of the people in the compounds they have no fall back or reserves as they live on day to day earnings. Now spread that across the whole country then you can see that Zambia itself, cannot be getting in the amount of taxes and other revenue it needs. Compound that with the closure of many of the mines and drastically reduced income from exports of minerals it becomes very hard to see how The Country can deal with many of these problems in the short term, especially when the rains are failing over many parts of Africa. With elections coming up in August, it must also be a very worrying time for the Government here.

It is the local population that will suffer the most with falling income, rising prices and an almost certain shortage of staple foods over the coming months.