Construction Preparation

We have now been in Zambia for 6 weeks and we are slowly making progress on all the dormitory plans. Our NGO application is still being processed, but it should be finished by the time we return to Lusaka on August 1st. We have gotten price lists for all the building supplies and even had a shop offer to deliver everything to our plot of land for free, which was very kind. We met with several different bricklayers in Mkushi trying to find a good deal for our buildings. At first they requested 12,0000 kwacha per building which is roughly $2,0000 dollars and far more than it should cost for the labor of 2 men when we still provide all supplies and equipment for them. A similar sized building was constructed last year for only 5,000 kwacha. After much negotiation, we finally found 2 bricklayers that agreed to 7,500 kwacha. It is a little higher than it should be, but still well within the budget and we agreed to higher both. Now each crew can work on one of the two buildings simultaneously to ensure we finish everything before rainy season begins in November. As soon as we return in the beginning of August we can purchase the supplies and quickly begin construction now that everything is ready to go. For our personal living situation, we found a nice house across from the plot that we can rent for only $100 a month. The house is pretty big and even hooked up to electricity. There is no running water, but the owner pumps water into a large tank on the property so it is freely available and very close. We requested that they also provide a bed, so hopefully they will follow through with that. The owner is a teacher and he just built the house in order to rent it and provide supplemental income for his family so he is very eager to have tenets that are willing to stay for 6 months. I'm sure this will be a nice upgrade from the tent that we are currently living in. Although, the only complaint about our nice 2-room tent has been the cold as we are currently in cold-season and living in the coldest part of the country. While in Mkushi we were able to visit our students and spend some time talking with their teachers. We are very impressed with our students and I would like to quickly highlight the accomplishments of one student, Esther. Esther began grade 9 in Chalata last year and performed so well that she was invited to transfer to the best public high school in the district, Mkushi High School. We were able to visit her there, where the headmaster said she is working very hard at her studies and transitioning well to the new environment. The boarding environment there is much improved over Chalata and we are confident that she has sufficient adult supervision and support from school staff. I am sure she will continue to be a great success in her new school! Overall we are so excited to begin construction next month and we look forward to spending even more time with these intelligent and hard-working students!

Week 1

Aaron and I arrived safely in Zambia on Tuesday May 13th along with all of our luggage. We immediately began the task of officially registering our NGO under the new NGO act. It only took a few trips to different government offices to figure out how exactly to go about this (of course none of this information is available online so it’s always a matter of trial and error until you find the right ministry or department). As it turns out, the Ministry of Community Development hosts the NGO registrar’s office and is located only a few blocks from the hostel where we are staying. If you have been wondering how to register an NGO in Zambia, here is the process: 1. Go to the NGO Registrar and request the application forms- this requires a fee just to receive the blank forms. A name request for the NGO can be submitted prior to paying the fee to reserve your name, if it is still available. 2. To pay the fee, money must be deposited in the correct government account at a nearby bank- while this is inconvenient, it is encouraging to know that they do not take cash as cash is more likely to allow corruption. 3. Return to the NGO registrar with a confirmation that the fee has been deposited and you will receive a legitimate receipt and 3 copies of the application (you are required to submit 3 original copies of everything as nothing is done electronically and they apparently cannot afford to photocopy anything within their own office.) 4. Fill out the application form- it is quite simple and not too long. 5. Provide background checks and information on all directors (minimum of 3). This includes 3 certified (like notarized) copies of national ID cards or passports and fingerprinting for background checks which must be completed at the Police headquarters. 6. Obtain letters of recommendations from the relevant government ministries which you plan to work with. This was the most difficult for us as the ministries in Lusaka do not know us and were not very willing to meet with us or help us. One would think an inept government agency would try to support NGOs that do part of their job for them, but that is not always the case. We finally received letters from the Ministry of Education in Mkushi District and from the Community Development officer who is based in Chalata- hopefully this will suffice. 7. Submit Application and wait! We have finally reached step 7 and look forward to submitting the entire application tomorrow (today is a government holiday of some sort so all offices are closed.) Of course we are unsure of what will happen after that. Maybe they will request more papers or ask us to jump through additional hoops. Otherwise it will just be a matter or waiting for everything to be processed and who knows how long that will take. We hope to hear back soon as this registration must be completed before we can be issued work permits. Currently, our temporary tourist visas are only good for 3 months so that is our personal deadline. In other news: we were able to meet with one of our students named Kelvin while in Lusaka and this meeting brought so much joy and hope to us. Kelvin was one of our first students to receive a scholarship for Chalata Secondary School where he was to begin Grade 10 in 2013. Kelvin is a hardworking student, but he suffers from juvenile diabetes which required many trips to the clinic in Chalata for medication and blood tests. Half-way through the school-year he became very sick and developed swelling around his heart in addition to his typical struggles with diabetes. He had to travel to the hospital in Mkushi frequently and missed a lot of classes. When we last saw him a year ago, he was very thin and weak. His aunt decided to send him to Lusaka to live with an elder sister as he would have better access to good medical care. By December, Kelvin had recovered significantly and he was able to begin school again in January. As he missed almost half the school-year in 2013, he is repeating grade 10 now, but doing great! He has a good living situation with his sister and they are very close to both his new school and a hospital where he can get insulin injections. He is also able to get Coke zero, one of his favorite treats, here in the capital (we remembered to bring him one on our visit as well). Kelvin is very thankful to his sponsors for the opportunity to go to school and he is encouraged to know that there is someone out there who truly believes in him and wants to see him succeed. We were so encouraged by our meeting with Kelvin and we are excited to see him continuing school after so many challenges and setbacks! This was a great reminder of why we are doing what we are doing.

Preparing for Zambia

As many of you know, we have just finished a fundraising campaign for a student center in Chalata, Zambia. This will include boys' and girls' dormitories, a study area, kitchen, latrines/showers, and a separate building for a house-mother. Thanks to all of our generous donors, we have received more than $15,000 for this study center! Next week Aaron and I will head to Zambia to start the preparations for this building project. We are so excited because this will provide our students with a safe home, adult supervision, and better care. We also look forward to seeing all the students again and encouraging them to keep up the hard work! We will post periodic updates about the building project and our kids on this blog as well as on facebook and twitter so that everyone else can follow along and see how their donations are making a difference in these kids lives!