Societal attitudes towards the Elderly

This got me thinking about the way we treat the elderly in the UK compared to the way the elders are treated in Sub Saharan Africa. UK society is quick to condemn the old to nursing homes and certainly does not value the wisdom of those with age and experience. This is such a contrast to the attitude of families and communities in Africa where the elders are respected and revered for their wisdom. Which society should be described as ‘developed?’

Thembinkosi Band Night

On Friday 16th April we are hosting another of our famous Band Nights at the Woolton Village Club in Liverpool. It promises to be a night of live music, games and great banter! All funds will go directly to our charity. The Trustees of Woolton Village Club have again kindly donated their facilities to us and all of our musicians are playing in support of our charity.


Confirmed artists thus far:
Lexi Senior
Adam Martin
Martin Fyles and Sam Dawson
Michelle Nuckley
Mannaquin

Our You Tube Channel features music from Lexi, Michelle and Mannaquin from our last Band Night at the Club.

Latest News - April 2010

The Thembinkosi Foundation is looking for volunteers to help us move forward our project to Build a School in Zambia. We are looking for a minimum of three people to take over as Trustees of our charity. This will then allow our current Trustees (Adrian and Betty) to make a move to Southern Africa in order to manage the next phase in the building of our school! Will is also stepping down as a Trustee as he is moving to the West Indies where he will oversee our Carribean fundraising venture.

As a Trustee you would be responsible for monitoring the work of our charity - particularly with regard to how we spend the funds that are raised. The role of Trustee is pivotal for any charity but it is not necessarily a time consuming post. Please drop me a line if you are interested or would want more details of what's involved.

As always we are looking for as many people as possible to assist us in our fundraising ventures! Now the Spring is here in the Northern Hemisphere it's an ideal time to embark on Sponsored Events. Please consider running/cycling/walking or the alike on behalf of our charity. We lack the institutionalised organisation of larger charities and thus are dependent upon YOU to help us achieve our goal!

On Friday 16th April we are having another of our famous Band Nights. We are heading back to Woolton Village Club in Liverpool. It promises to be another fantastic evening and Will has put together a fantastic line up on the bill. Check out our Thembinkosi Fundraiser 'event' for more details or contact Will, Betty or Adrian for more information.

Betty and I will be making the move to the region where our school is to be built in the near future. We have decided that the only way to make our dream a reality is to be on the ground. We will continue to support ourselves financially by taking work in the region and thus ensure that all monies raised by our fundraising ventures go directly to the project. We have no paid fundraisers or administrators and thus we can guaratee that all funds rasied go to help to provide education for some of the world's most vulnerable children.

Our model for a Green School that helps empower the poor

We feel that our model for education as something new to offer in that in incorporates the best practice from similar projects whilst having a thoroughly unique angle.

We have researched extensively into the provision of Green Schools across the globe and have discovered that despite the fact the in our opinion 'green is the new gold' and has enormous potential for sustainable economic development there are very few purpose built 'green' schools anywhere in either the 'developed' or 'developing world.' We are convinced that our model is one that can be replicated throughout Africa and can lead to the empower of communities that are currently marginalised. We would argue that there are opportunities for Africa to lead the way globally in terms of green living and that this can be a key to development.

CAFOD - the truth about where your money goes

I recently came across this article about CAFOD (the Catholic Agency For Overseas Development). It was posted as a reply to an article in the Telegraph.

'CAFOD spends £49m a year, of which £6m on political campaigns in the UK. I would like to see charities required by law to devote their resources to charitable works, not politics. Of the £49m a year it spends, £13m is on salaries and pensions for its UK staff. Those
salaries average more than £35K a year. While not a fortune from a middle-class perspective, this is an average, and one that is well above the average salary in the UK as a whole, raising questions over whether the charity is being run in the interests of its employees.
Donors may not realise that much of the money they donate is going on salaries and pensions, and only once those are covered will anything at all be left over for charitable works. CAFOD spends £1.5m a year on professional consultancy fees. The director of CAFOD pays himself £76,892 a year, plus a further £7,689 in pension contributions for himself. Once again, there are plenty of people on six-figure salaries in the UK who might view that salary as unremarkable, but this is meant to be the “voluntary sector”. In fact, the CAFOD director’s salary is an increase from £71258 in 2008. You might ask why such a large salary increase is justified in the voluntary sector in a year with little inflation. I expect the current disaster in Haiti will
produce further salary increases for the CAFOD director this year. CAFOD admits it spends £6m a year on politics and £6m a year on fundraising, and is happy to quote in its annual accounts a figure showing the balance of £37m is devoted to its “international campaigns”, but simply maths shows that the salaries of many of its UK staff are being rolled into that, and that the real frontline spending figure is much lower. Actually once £7m in “operating costs” and £2m in “support costs” are deducted, only £28m of CAFOD’s annual income of £49m is given in grants under its international programme. Charitable donors may be surprised that this is so low as a proportion of the whole. While £13m of this £28m is devoted to disaster relief grants
and £6.7m to sustainable livelihoods, people may be surprised that some of the grants are for yet more political work in foreign countries. £1.7m of the grants was for “economic advocacy” and £1.4m was for “human rights” and £1.2m was for “conflict resolution”. While
CAFOD does do charitable works, the real frontline work of the organisation in genuine charitable and non-political fields amounts to about half of the organisation’s expenditure…

I regard most of the charitable sector in the UK as a vast scam. It may be legal what they do, but in my eyes these charities are run in the interests of their UK employees, and in fact could be seen, morally, if not legally, as embezzling charitable donations to spend on themselves. There needs to be legal maximum that charity workers can spend on themselves, and that needs to be below the national average wage. Eg: a max of £20K a year with no pension contributions or “expenses”, whether for the directors or anyone else. There needs to be much more pro bono work for charities and much less creaming off donations into personal bank accounts. By reducing salaries to £20K a year and deleting political campaigning in the UK and political work in the third world, CAFOD would save £17m, producing a 70% increase in the funds available for real frontline work on disaster relief and sustainable livelihoods. Now why do I think that’s NOT going to happen…'

None of this surprises me given the institutionalised nature of the large UK charities.

November Updates and Fundraising News

Thank you to all of you who atended our Band Night @ Woolton Village Club last Friday. The night was a resounding success and we raised over £1100!!! Every penny of the money raised wiill go directly towards our project to build and sustain a school in Zambia!!!

This Friday (6th November) we're doing it all over again!! This time we're putting on a Bands Night @ Shenanigans Irish Pub in central Liverpool. It's £5 on the door and is on from 8pm till late! It promises to me a great night of beer, banter, music and dancing. It would be great to see you there!

Thanks again to all our members. It is inspiring to know that over 1800 people have taken the time to support our cause. We are deeply humbled and with your help and support we know that we can make real differneces in the lives of some of the poorest people in the world. Unllike most large institutionalised charities we do not employ any fundraisers or administrators and as such we guarantee that 100% of the money we raise goes directly to where it is needed. Furthermore, we also meet all of the costs associated with the running of the charity from our own resources. This again ensures that not one penny donated to our cause is misused or wasted.

Please continue to support us in whatever way you can. Inviite all your friends to join the cause, post on our message boards (it's nice to know we're loved!?!) or if possible help us to fundraise. Perhaps you could arrange or participate in a sponsored event on our behalf? You might be able to involve work colleagues or fellow students? Every little bit helps!

Do not hesitate to contact Will, Betty or I for more information about how you can help us.

Thanks again for all your support.

World Teachers' Day - Zambian teachers face real challenges

This article is from The Post, Zambia. It outlines the difficulties facing teachers in Zambia. The Thembinkosi Foundation, through its range of outreach projects in Kazungula and Livingstone will seek to empower Zambian teachers through the provision of In Service Training and Professional Development for local teachers. We will work in partnership with schools and administrators in order to ensure that we can help to break the cycle of poverty through education.

'Every year on October 5, the world commemorates World Teachers Day. It cannot be denied that teachers have contributed heavily to the development of the world by ensuring that qualified manpower is nurtured from a tender age through the provision of basic elementary education which is the basic of all individuals in order to attain higher professional qualifications.
Most of the childhood years are spent at school. It is for this reason that teachers are considered to be parents of the pupils they teach. Years spent at school are part of memories for many people, be it sad or happy.
In Zambia, the welfare of teachers lags behind in comparison to other countries. It is not surprising to hear some highly educated people in government declare that teachers are unproductive hence no need to pay them well. Nonetheless, the productivity of teachers is seen in the highly qualified manpower which is the basis of any strong economy in the world. In line with this year’s theme “Build the Future, Invest in Education”. For any meaningful development to take place in a country there is need to have qualified personnel and this is only possible if teachers are involved at all levels of education.
In recent years, teachers in Zambia have continued to upgrade themselves academically. Just after independence, the country had very few qualified teachers; this led to employing of school leavers to teach in some schools. This went on until the late 1990s. To date the teaching profession in Zambia boast of having the highest number of highly qualified personnel. A few years ago Diploma holders were deployed to teach in high schools but things have changed and we now have many degree holders in most high schools.
Additionally, government has played a very pivotal role by upgrading some teachers’ college of education into universities. This will increase the number of highly qualified teachers. Furthermore, the introduction of distance education programmes at universities and other colleges have opened opportunities for many teachers to upgrade their qualifications. Nevertheless, the government is doing little in helping the teachers acquire higher qualifications due to constraints in financing the education of already serving teachers. Most teachers are sacrificing their low incomes to supplement their education. I believe government needs to come on board and offer sponsorship to many teachers.
In celebrating World Teachers Day, it is important that the various challenges affecting teachers are enlightened in order to fully appreciate the role our teachers have continued to play in our country under difficult circumstances.
In Urban areas, the greatest challenge is housing. After independence most schools had enough houses which were built with assistance from the World Bank. However, the increase in population in our country has resulted into most schools being upgraded to accommodate more pupils, this has also meant that more teachers have been employed. However, the upgrading of most schools has not marched with the increasing demand of houses by teachers. This has forced many teachers to live in substandard houses. A long time ago, shanty compounds in Zambia were considered to be dens for mischievous citizens but today these same illegal compounds are home to teachers and other professionals.
Currently, housing allowances provided by the government is inadequate as compared to the rental charges and it is not paid on time. Most landlords in Zambia today demand to be paid in advance but the government has failed to do so as can be seen by the huge amounts owed to teachers in housing allowances dating from 2003. It is important that the government speeds up the process of building houses in schools or empower teachers with mortgages to build or buy houses. Teacher unions can also supplement government efforts by empowering teachers with accommodation.
In rural areas, teachers have continued to face various challenges which have contributed to the high rate of rural urban drift of teachers. After 45 years of independence, our country still has grass-thatched schools as houses for teachers in rural areas. It is imaginable for a highly qualified professionals to live in a mud house in this century. Additionally, most rural schools lack basic necessities such as clean water, transport and communication network, electricity and health services. Surprisingly, most rural teachers in Zambia have been deprived of rural hardship allowances since last year. The government is doing very little in attracting more teachers to serve in rural areas. It is vital that rural retention incentives are given to teachers in rural areas such as vehicle loans, solar systems and an attractive rural hardship allowance. Most rural schools have continued to record poor results due to shortage of manpower. A critical analysis on the distribution of labour force in the ministry of education will show that most urban schools are over staffed while rural areas are extremely understaffed. It is not surprising in rural areas to find a single teacher teaching the entire school. This is overworking a teacher and compromising the quality of education.
The professional conduct of teachers has greatly improved in our country though there is need for the teaching service commission to be decentralised. Currently, the teaching service commission in Lusaka is responsible for promoting, demoting, retiring and confirming teachers; this has led into delays to address matters affecting teachers. Furthermore, the poor work culture in human resource department at district level has also contributed to delays.It is common knowledge by all teachers that you cant have a problem solved at the offices without making many follow ups.This is retrogressive and those in authority need to bring change.
Teacher unions have lamentably failed to live up to the expectations of their members. It is no secret that these unions have the largest membership hence being financially sound but there are the weakest in the country. It is not surprising that the power struggles in unions have led to breakups and formation of many irrelevant unions. Teacher unions will never achieve anything tangible for their members as long as disunity continues. Additionally, all unions need to improve in transparency and accountability.
The teaching fraternity has continued to face various challenges in our country though we have recorded success in our education system. It is the sacrifice of these noble men and women who are striving to help the government achieve the millennium development goals under very difficult conditions of service. It is therefore necessary to all of us who value education to embrace the sacrifice and wish all teachers a happy World Teachers Day. For sure to build the future we need to invest in education now and this is only possible if teachers remain committed and motivated to continue doing the nation proud, Happy World Teachers Day.'

Widnes World Coverage of the Tour de Zambezi

The Thembinkosi Foundation has again featured in the media. Our Tour de Zambezi sponsored cycle ride through Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia was covered by the Widnes World.

Human Development Report 2009 - Country Fact Sheets - Zambia

Zambia is a peaceful and stable country and thus the scope for development is apparent. Unfortunately Zambia is one of the poorest countries in the world with one of the lowest life expectencies for her people. Education will play a vital part in breaking the poverty cycle and bringing a brighter future to the Zambian people.

Human Development Report 2009 - Country Fact Sheets - Zambia

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Statistics | Human Development Reports (HDR) | United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

Zambia ranks 164 out of 182 countries on the Human Development Report. Most of those countries that rank worse than Zambia are even war torn or suffering from a legacy of conflict. Zambia on the other hand is a stable and peaceful democracy with enormous scope for development.

Statistics Human Development Reports (HDR) United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

Adrian's Tour de Zambezi

On the 15th August 2009, I, Adrian Scarlett with several Zambian family members, embarked on a 300 mile sponsored cycle ride across four countries in Southern Africa. We set out from Livingstone in Zambia and then spent the three days cycling through Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia before returning to Zambia and cycling back to Livingstone. The trip involved six days of cycling.

The Liverpool Echo featured us, and the charity we founded, the Thembinkosi Foundation, on 3rd July 2009, after I was assaulted whilst training for the Tour de Zambezi. As a result of my injuries my training was interrupted for a month but my strength of character and willingness to succeed in the face of adversity saw me recommence my training regime and ensure that the sponsored cycle ride was done.

I did not cycle alone. I was joined in completing his trip by his brother in law, Fungai Madondo and DJ, a cousin of my beautiful wife Betty. Two of our 15 year old nephews, Nawa and Kaone, also cycled a fair proportion of the challenge and our son, Bongani also joined in the fun. Bongani was a real star cycling up to 15 miles on two of the days in the intense heat!

The cycle ride began at the site of the Victoria Falls. We, the intrepid cyclists, began the Tour de Zambezi by crossing over the Zambezi River and entering into Zimbabwe. Once at Victoria Falls town we were met by two armed Game Wardens who remained with us as we cycled through a Game Park that is heavily populated with elephants, giraffes, zebra and lions! The first day was arduous. The terrain was undulating and the heat of the African sun sapped our energy. The scenery was breathtaking however and after six hours we reached the Kazungula border crossing and entered into Botswana. Our whole party, which also consisted of my wife Betty Scarlett, her sister Constance, brother Jabulani and Auntie Irene, then camped overnight in Kasane.

The following morning saw us venture into the Chobe National Park and cycle to Ngoma and the Namibian border. In normal circumstance cycling is not permitted in Chobe due to the fact that it is densely populated with game. However, the Botswana Wildlife officials granted us a dispensation and allowed us to cycle through the park. Rather worryingly they were unable to provide us with Game Wardens to protect us from the wild animals. As a result only three of us cycled through Chobe. Those of the party under 16 had to ride in the support vehicles. The Chobe leg was in many ways the most exciting especially when we encountered a herd of elephants on the road. Fortunately the elephants were busy going about their business and left us alone!

The third day saw us cycle through Namibia from Ngoma to Katima Mulilo. Thankfully the terrain was flat and there were no wild animals to be avoided. The day was brightened by the reception we received as we passed through many small villages on route. Children cheered us on and some local cyclists joined us for parts of our journey. Once in Katima Mulilo we spent a rest day at a very relaxing camp site!

The next three days of cycling saw us gradually cycle the 150 miles through Zambia back to Livingstone. Again our journey was brightened by the children in the villages. The last day proved to be the most difficult. Fatigue had taken its toll and once again we encountered many hills. We stuck it out though and dug deep into our energy reserves. When cycling through Kazungula district we stopped for drinks in a small village and spent some time chatting and dancing with some of the locals. Eventually on the afternoon of 21st August we arrived back in Livingstone. The final 10 miles were a joy as we approached the Falls to complete our circuit.

The Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation met us for the final stages of our journey and that night we were featured on the early evening national news. They even interviewed me!

One of the great features of our sponsored ride was the fact that one of the bikes that we took it in turns to ride was made from bamboo. The bamboo is grown and harvested in Zambia and the bikes are assembled by local employees. Zambikes, who lent us the bamboo bike, as well as two other bikes, shares a commitment to sustainable development with the organisation we were cycling on behalf of, the Thembinkosi Foundation.

All the cyclists and supporters who took part in the Tour de Zambezi wore tee shirts sporting the Rotary International logo. One of the most memorable moments during the Tour de Zambezi was when we stopped in Kazungula and spent time with some of the local people who will benefit from the building of a school in their district and from a range of outreach programmes that will see water, sanitation, electricity and better health care for many in the district.

Please support us by supporting us financially in any way you can!

Acc Name: Thembinkosi Foundation
Bank: Barclay bank
Acc # 63226387
Sort Code: 205094

Registered Charity Number: 1128661

Fundrasing Update

We are really busy at the Thembinkosi Foundation. Will, Betty and I are now back at work and Karen is looking after two babies. It makes it difficult for us to devote our time to fundraising on behalf of our charity. However, we have mustered up unprecedented energy levels and we are working tirelessly to raise the money we need to build our school in Zambia.

My recent sponsored cycle through Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia and Zambia has raised about £1500 at this stage but some monies are still outstanding. We're hoping to secure over £2500 by the time all the money is in. Our next big fundraiser is Dave Postletwaite running the Dublin Marathon on the 26th October. Dave can be sponsored at http://www.justgiving.com/DAVEY-POSTLETHWAITE/ Please be generous!

We are also in the planning stages of organising a Zambian Night for the end of October, three Sportsman's Dinners, the first of which will feature the former Everton and Manchester City manager, Howard Kendall, several Band Nights and a Black Tie evening. More details of these events will follow.

Liverpool Echo.co.uk - News - Liverpool Local News - Liverpool yobs in car push cyclist off his bike

Liverpool Echo.co.uk - News - Liverpool Local News - Liverpool yobs in car push cyclist off his bike

While training for my sponsored Tour de Zambezi cycle ride in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia I was assaulted by two men in a car. I was very lucky to escape with cuts and bruises!

Outreach projects focused on orphans and vulnerable children

In Zambia, like many other African countries, there is a long established tradition of the extended family looking after children who have been orphaned. In the vast majority of cases children who have lost both parents are then raised by their uncles and aunts or their grandparents. It is often said that there is no such thing as an orphan in Africa! To a large extent this old adage still rings true today despite the scourge of HIV and Aids, poverty and disease. Despite this many well meaning charities and NGO’s are setting up a plethora of orphanages across the African continent. This of course ensures that in some cases children who may be otherwise abandoned are cared for and looked after. However, unfortunately it may also lead to some families who otherwise may have taken responsibility for the children of their deceased relatives handing them over to the newly established orphanages. As part of our outreach programme we did consider establishing an orphanage as part of the ZIGS project but after conducting research in Zambia and seeking the opinions of local communities we concluded that this concept may not be as positives as it seems at face value. We have thus developed an outreach model that is designed to help the families of those children who have been orphaned.

It is an unfortunate truth that many of the children placed into orphanages by their extended families are victims of poverty. In most cases if finances permitted then the family would take care of the child(ren). In the light of this fact we aim to economically empower families to ensure that orphaned children do not become an economic millstone. As part of our outreach programmes the children from the wider community, whether in full time education or not, will be invited to attend our agricultural outreach scheme. As part of the scheme the children will be taught how to farm efficiently based upon the principles of environmental sustainability and organic farming. It is hoped that the skills that the children will learn and develop will be utilised on their own families land and thus ensure a greater level of self sufficiency. Moreover the children will grow their own crops whilst learning at ZIGS and will be allowed to take food and seeds home with them on a regular basis; after all it will be their hard work that has led to the crops growing! The beauty of this scheme is that the children will learn, develop skills and hopefully enjoy themselves whilst their families benefit in the short term from the food/seeds the children bring home and moreover in the long term due to the skills that the children will acquire and be able to apply on the homestead. We hope that when families recognise the value of the scheme they will want to be more involved and thus sign up for the adult education programmes….

My recent trip to Zambia

I recently spent two weeks in Zambia over the Easter holidays. The trip was incredibly fruitful and it is certainly true to say that we are a step nearer to fulfilling our dream.

Whilst in Zambia I was priviledged to visit the Kasisi Agricultural College. The agricultural college is part of a wider facility run by the Jesuits which includes a girls secondary school and an orphanage. It truly inspirational place. The agricultural college focuses its attention on organic farming and sustainable development and is a model of what we want to achieve at our school. The main difference being that the college focuses on adult education whereas we will focus upon the education of the young. (although our outreach projects will enable aspects of adult education.) The great news is that the people at Kasisi are willing to provide us with the necessary training and support to ensure that we can emulate their work on the banks of the Zambezi.

I am returning to Zambia in July and I will be spending the entire summer holiday working on developing our school. We are still confident that we can be ready to open in September 2010 but in order to do so we need to step up our fundraising efforts! There are a few 'fires in the oven' at the moment so hopefully ove the coming months we can boost our coffers and then commence building. We will of course be building the school with local materials that are freely available in the locality of the school which will of course minimise the cost of the project. That's the beauty of sustainable development - it makes economic sense as well as environmental sense!

Finally a big thank you to Laura and friends who are climbing Ben Nevis next month in order to rasie funds for the Thembinkosi Foundation and our project to build and sustain a school in Zambia. You can sponsor them in their efforts by visiting our Just Giving page http://www.justgiving.com/thembi... Once again thanks for all your support. It is hugely appreciated!

The effective utilisation of water

Our proximity to the river will also ensure that we have a source of water. The Zambezi is a fresh water river and thus drinking water is readily available. Unfortunately at this time many villagers on the shores of the river have to run the gauntlet of crocodiles and hippopotamus’ in order to collect water. It is our aim at ZIGS to provide drinking water for our neighbours as well as our own community. We envisage the use of a combination of sand dams and sub surface dams both of which can be built using local labour and materials and thus prove to be cost effective. These dams are especially cost effective as once constructed they require very little maintenance and produce a high yield of water.

Furthermore, we will also seek to harvest and store rain water on our campus. Given our proximity to the Zambezi this is a necessity but as part of our model of sustainability we wish to demonstrate that peoples do not have to be dependent on bore holes and/or wells for their water as more than enough rain water falls within Zambia, and across Africa, on an annual basis for peoples to be able to harvest and store water during the rainy season, for use in the dry season. In order to demonstrate the principles of water harvesting in order to be a model for other communities we will roof some of our building with treated corrugated iron sheets. This will allow for a run of f of water that can be channelled into underground covered tanks for use across the year. Most water in this part of the world is lost to evaporation so hence the need for covered tanks. Again this is a relatively low cost method of collecting water as low cost materials are used in the construction of the storage tanks and catchment surfaces.

For more details on water harvesting and storage visit the wateraid website.

For more specific and detailed information on Water Harvesting.

Of course waste disposal will also be a priority at ZIGS. We will seek to recycle water and to utilise grey water in line with the ‘Earthship’ model that is popular within the ‘green community.’ Furthermore, we will seek to use modern eco friendly waste disposal technology in order to preserve our model of sustainability.

All of our buildings at ZIGS will be built from local materials and by local tradesmen. We will ensure that materials that have to be transported by road to our site are keep to an absolute minimum. The area is awash with timber (we will of course plant ten trees for every one we use in building) and stones cover the landscape. Naturally enough these will be the core materials with which we build! Of course we will have to go outside of the community for some materials such as glass but we will seek to minimise the distance that raw materials have to travel in order to reach our site.

Learning outside of the classroom

As much of the building and development of the ZIGS campus will continue after our opening our students will travel of the journey of sustainable development with the teachers and staff of the school. When new classrooms are built, to house our growing numbers of students, we will ensure that the student body are part of the process. All students at ZIGS will gain a depth of knowledge and understanding of sustainable development and conservation from their every day experiences as well as from text books or websites! Learning at ZIGS will certainly not be confined to the classroom…

Sustainable development and renewable energies

Another core feature of ZIGS is our commitment to sustainable development and to living at one with the natural world. From the outset we have planned the building of ZIGS to embrace these principles. The site on which the school is to be built is on the banks of the Zambezi. It is our aim to utilise the water from the river to generate hydro electric power. This method of generating electricity is totally sustainable, clean and renewable. As well as providing power for our own campus we expect to produce a surplus of power which will be partly used to provide local communities with electricity! The use of renewable energy is not only eminently sensible from an environmental perspective it is also economically sustainable and will ensure that ZIGS has no bills for electricity!

A very detailed and technical description of small scale hydroelectricity available by following the link!

Not only will we use hydroelectric power but we will also use solar energy. Solar panels will be used to provide power in the more remote outposts of our campus. Like hydroelectric power solar energy is renewable and green.

Staff Development at ZIGS

As part of our commitment to our agricultural and environmental studies programme every teacher and member of staff at ZIGS will undergo a training programme within their first few weeks at ZIGS to ensure that this aspect of our work is central to our school. We have already established links with the Kasisi Agriculture College, near to Lusaka, and they have promised to train our staff in order to make them au fait with the principles of organic farming, permaculture agriculture and sustainable development. I was privileged to spend a day at the Kasisi Agricultural College and the work they do is awe inspiring. The prospect of working with them is exciting in itself!

Agricultural and Environmental Projects

Organic Farming and eco friendly agricultural projects will be pivotal to our school. Not only will agricultural and environmental studies be part of the curriculum for all students at ZIGS but we will also work with neighbouring schools, villages and communities to ensure that our work has an impact beyond the perimeters of our institution.

All children at ZIGS, from Nursery to Sixth Form will have the opportunity to study agriculture and environmental studies. The will be a core part of our curriculum that will permeate across traditional subject areas. Every class at ZIGS will be assigned a piece of land and challenged to farm. Students will be taught about different methodologies of agriculture in the classroom and have the opportunity to experiment on their own land. The only condition will be that the land is farmed in an organic and eco friendly manner. No fertilisers, GMO seeds or machinery will be permitted. As part of the schools aim to be entirely self sufficient and sustainable students will be challenged to grow, harvest and prepare meals for the whole community on a regular basis.