African Community Project

The challenges being faced on the nursery are a lack of resources to Construct simple housing structures for the Field technicians to live in. These structures would allow easier accessibility to the Field Technicians enabling them to carry out their tasks effectively. The current method of watering the tree beds is manual and tiresome. Thus there is need for a water pump to draw the water from the wells as well as a water bowser to store the water.2 wheel barows, 5 garden forks and 3 watering cans are required to improve the efficiency of the activities at the tree nursery. Zimconserve has a vision of fencing the 2 acres land and to construct a green house to shelter the plants in the near future. Zimconserve is going to host the National Tree Planting day on the first week of December at Jonasi Secondary School. Zimconserve intends to donate tree seedlings to 29 villages of Seke District and to educate school children’s and villagers about these sustainable trees during this event. l am going to send you some photos on this current project. We appreciate the Leucaena seeds, your precious booklet and the support that you have gave us. Thank you endlessly for being far too kind to us. Yours in Conservation, Gabriel Mutongi

 This blackboard that is pitted, faded, and cracked just eats up the rare chalk at the school and one cannot see what is written on the blackboard from the back of the room. There are 5 boards in the school that need replacing now! Only $100.00 will replace each board.

After many requests from the staff at Ng’andu school we paid a visit to the school. Dallas
our Facilitator and I set out walking across country to visit the school which is 8 kilometres east of Mukuni. On our way we saw evidence of much forest degradation especially for exotic hardwoods like Ebony and teak for carving. The school is located beside the village  of Ng’andu on a hill overlooking the vast area of small fields and scrub forest. The school although funded by the Zambian government showed signs of years of neglect. The school
has been on this site since 1939. There are 552 students at the school and 101 of them are vulnerable. They are taught in 5 classrooms with morning and afternoon classes. The staff consists of 9 teachers who live beside the school in staff housing of  some are just grass
huts. As we had approached the school we passed 2 abandoned boreholes and the third one; still proudly displaying a sign that said it was given by the Japanese people lay idle. We found out from the teachers that this too no longer produced water. After introductions I gave a talk to the teachers on the environment and the conditions they suffered through; caused greatly from the continual cutting of trees for new fields, firewood and the production of charcoal. And what they could do as their part to slow this process down.

We then went on a walk around the school and saw first hand  the condition of the school. The school is badly ran down but worse of all was
the condition of the 5 blackboards and the fact they had no chalk. (The next  day I brought 10 boxes of chalk to Mukuni and one of the teachers rode his bike  in and got the chalk.) Because they have little water to spare it was agreed that  they would start small just growing trees around the school. Dallas our  facilitator will go and teach them how to start a small tree nursery at the  school and one in the nearby village. They will start with Flamboyant and other  shade trees. Later on they can grow other species for firewood, carving and  fruit trees. Again as I looked around the bleak landscape and the many goats continually  eating anything they found. I knew this would be a challenge to keep the goats  away from the trees but what is new!

Anyone wanting to help can buy a blackboard at 100.00  dollars for the material and ACP will build and install. You can donate right  here on this website.

Chita, our Out Reach Coordinator, and the Community Committee standing on the bottom half of a new double latrine at Makumba  Community School maybe we can find funding for a second one. More cement is on its way!

Well time sure flies when you are having fun. It is almost 3 weeks and I have shifted from Lusaka to Livingstone. My time in Lusaka was very busy pushing the project forward at Government level. So now I am in Livingstone working at the 2 projects we have here. Our new one at a community close to Zimba is starting to take shape. The community is working on new latrines at the school and preparing 3 tree nursery sites at the 3 boreholes. Their health clinic has been abandoned because of no funding so we will help get it back on track. I will make the 3 new blackboards here in Livingstone and transport them to Makumba Community School. Along with those 3 I will make more to be given to a school located outside of Mukuni Village. We are starting a tree nursery at this school.
Out in Mukuni we have finished the final site plan and the bricklayers will start work soon on a latrine/bathhouse and a caretaker’s house. The tree nursery will also be planted with the Moringa needed in the Orchard.
I think I will take a day off and go white water rafting on the Zambezi on Sunday.