How has the partnership changed lives in Zambia?

How has life changed for the children since Beyond Ourselves partnered with the schools in Zambia? Well... 

Before the partnership with Beyond Ourselves, each school was doing what they could to provide an education for the children in their communities. They often relied on volunteer teachers as there was not enough money for salaries. There were no classrooms so the children would all learn in the same room. This meant that each Grade was in a different part of the SAME room – imagine the noise! 

There was also no provision for food for the children, so often they were hungry as many of them were not receiving a meal at home either. The lack of food and basic medical care also meant that a lot of the children were frequently unwell. It is amazing now to see that the children are so much stronger and healthier and how this impacts their learning and life.

Zambia - An insight into a beautiful culture

Usually, when people in the UK think about what life must be like in Zambia they tend to focus on the obvious differences; the warmer climate(!), the languages, the food, some of the traditions and aspects of the Zambian life.

One of my favourite things is when teams come with us over to Zambia and experience the culture for the first time - the sights, smells and sounds can give them sensory overload at first… The sound of many voices singing together in an incredible harmony, the wide smile of an old lady welcoming you to her community, the orange dust on your feet, the cheeky grin of a small child, the texture of Nshima in your mouth as you eat it for the first time, a game of football out in the hot sun and the list goes on…

And yet, even with all these differences I’m struck time and time again by our common loves and surprising similarities. The climate, language and food might be different from ours but we really are more similar than we are different.

Meet the Beyond Ourselves team!

It’s been a while since we wrote a blog but here’s to a brand new ‘regular blog’ era! In fact it’s been so long that we thought it best to start with introductions and a quick “Who’s Who?” at Beyond Ourselves…

Our team in the UK:

Jodie
Jodie has the privilege of overseeing Beyond Ourselves. She took over the initial connection with Zambia from her brother, Ben, back in 2009. Jodie spends most of her time dreaming of ways to make a difference in the communities they are connected to and inspiring others to get involved to make it happen. And if she has to stare at spreadsheets for too long she goes a little crazy!

Karen
Karen was there right at the very beginning of the Zambia connection, so when Beyond Ourselves was born in 2009 it was natural that Karen would be a part of the team. Officially, Karen is in charge of the day-to-day finances, fundraising and events. Unofficially, she provides much needed entertainment and laughter to the team, not to mention the odd song or two…

Rebecca
Rebecca is the new kid on the block, having joined the team earlier this year. She has fit right in and is doing a great job working on our spreadsheets and database system and taking on the Child Sponsorship admin. Jodie and Karen are both very thankful that Rebecca has joined the office team.

Our team in Zambia:

Melissa
Melissa has been an integral part of the Beyond Ourselves team since 2009. She and Dan moved to Zambia in September 2013 to be our hearts, hands and feet over there. Melissa has overseen the Child Sponsorship Programme since it began, as well as be in charge of our creative design and publicity over the years, not to mention a hundred other things she does. She is probably one of the best people to be on team with ever!

Dan
Dan is married to Melissa and has spent the past decade or so being a Primary School teacher in the UK. Since moving to Zambia his official title has become ‘Education Development Advisor’ which means he’s generally doing an incredible job with our partner schools and staff improving the quality of teaching and learning!

Jacob (almost two years old) and Benjamin (just two weeks old!)
Melissa and Dan’s awesome sons! 

Our friends and partners in Zambia:

Enocent and Jennipher
Enocent is a wonderful man and a great friend, and the original contact for us in Zambia. He oversees the Pentecostal Holiness Church in in Zambia. Janna, Greater Joy and Kawama are a part of this church. He is married to Jennipher and we are thrilled to be partnering with them.

Festus and Mercy
Festus has been a friend of ours for over five years now. Janna School in Ndola was the first school Beyond Ourselves partnered with and where we built the first block of classrooms back in 2008. Festus is married to Mercy, the Head Teacher of Janna School.

Ospeck and Angelina
We have known Ospeck since our first visit to Zambia. Ospeck and his wife Angelina are the Directors of Greater Joy School in Kitwe. They have been great partners and we shared their excitement last year when their classroom block was completed, a much needed bore hole was drilled, and Angelina came to visit the UK!

Caphas and Annie
Caphas is the Pastor and Director at Kawama Church and School in Kitwe. After we first met in 2010, things at Kawama have developed quickly and Caphas has taken it all in his stride. He is married to Annie. Oh and he has a great smile!

Alternative Gifts!

There are some definite highlights to this job and one of them is getting to visit Zambia and see everybody we are working with out there and all the amazing things that are happening at the schools we partner with!

On our recent trip we got to be part of a really special day - the day when Greater Joy School gave out their alternative gifts to people in the community. The gifts included mosquito nets, food parcels, braziers & charcoal, flip flops, blankets and bicycles!

The atmosphere in the church was one of celebration as everyone cheered as others went up to collect their gifts; gifts that were going to make a big difference to these widows and families in the community.

If you have been so generous to buy a gift over the past year, thank you so much, please know that you made this day happen and put the smiles on these faces...

(And thank you for making my job so fantastic!)

Beyond the Bike gets heavy!

Stuart is almost out of Africa but before he left the continent there was time for one last challenge, namely having Ben Collins, founder of Beyond Ourselves and MD of Stephen James Group, on the back of Thandie! Read Stuart's blog to find out how it went! 

Running Man!

We are continually amazed at the lengths some people go to raise money for Beyond Ourselves. And one man is going to go exactly 26.2 miles!


Peter Baker, Head Teacher at Mount Grace School in Potters Bar, will be running the London Marathon on April 22nd to raise money for both Beyond Ourselves and the Mount Grace School PTFA. 


If, like me, there's no way you would ever run a marathon but you'd like to support and encourage Peter as he does, then please go to http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com


On top of that effort, to get in to the stride of things and to get the pupils running too, Mount Grace School organised a fundraising Marathon Relay on February 26th from Tottenham Marshes to Hartham Common, Hertford. 


As one of our link schools here in the UK we are so thankful for all of their support of Beyond Ourselves and in particular Greater Joy School in Zambia.


The Marathon Relay involved various students running a mile (or more!) alongside Peter as he did a training run for the Marathon. 

Well done everyone - and keep running Peter! 

What's been happening this month...?

We have been working hard with the staff at Beautiful Gate School to develop their Feeding Programme. The school now have new staff and system in place which means that the children are getting a good meal everyday.

One of the great things that we get to do is distribute the Alternative Gifts that you purchase through the Beyond Ourselves website. This month all the classroom gifts that had been purchased over Christmas 2011 were bought locally and delivered to Greater Joy School. It’s just so great to see the joy on the Students' faces as they are given these gifts. THANK YOU if you were a part of this!

One of the hardest things to contend with at the schools is the lack of resources, for a lot of the parents and guardians of these children even 3,000 Kwacha (40 Pence) for a term's exercise books is not achievable in terms of disposable income so for these students to receive exercise books and a pen was just so brilliant to watch, a bit of a tear jerker moment if I’m honest.