Help Complete Zambezi Sawmills Community School

Since our last report, we have raised another £1,218 in online donations! The Barn Dance/Hoedown that we held on February 15^th was extremely successful! We had a fantastic turnout and our guest of honor was the Deputy Head Teacher from Zambezi Sawmills Community School. The guests enjoyed the hog roast and danced the night away to all the best country western songs. By the end of the evening we had raised another £500. 

We have also been working with other partners to help improve the conditions at Zambezi Sawmills. The organization Moving Twice has a mobile App campaign in Germany; so far they have raised £1870 for the school and they will continue to fundraise for the rest of the year. We also recently acquired a large donation of new glass for all the windows in the school, which was given by individuals participating in the Put Foot Rally. These windows will be installed once we complete the security wall around the school.

Speaking of the wall, we are having the groundbreaking ceremony at the school next week! Although we are starting the build, we are still in the process of fundraising, both on the ground and online. However, we have signed the contract with the construction company to commence building the security wall on May 21^st. Following this, they will lay the foundation for the new classroom. We will post another brief report with some pictures from the groundbreaking after it occurs.  

The teachers and students at Zambezi Sawmills are extremely excited and thankful for the generosity of our donors. When speaking to the Head Teacher of the school, Mr. Mubita, he said, “We really appreciate everything that is being done for our school. It’s going to make a big difference for the children and is going to help them develop and have more educational opportunities.” One of the grade six students, Memory, also said, “I am really excited about the new classroom and wall fence. I want to thank everyone for helping our school!” As you can see, your kindness has really made a difference to the lives of those at Zambezi Sawmills!

Thanks to our generous donors, we have raised £3,033 in online donations and another £215 from on the ground fundraising efforts since the start of the Global Giving Gateway Challenge.

Over the Christmas holiday we had a Carols by Candlelight event for everyone in the Livingstone community.  Our volunteers taught Christmas carols to a choir of girls from Zambezi Sawmills Community School and the girls performed at the event.  At the event we had photos with Santa, cookie decorating and face painting.  We also had a raffle and sold baked goods and Christmas cards made by volunteers and the children from Zambezi Sawmills. The event was a big success and helped us to raise more money and bring more attention to our cause.

This upcoming weekend we are having another fundraiser for the school.  On February 15^th we are hosting a Barn Dance and Hog Roast, complete with a DJ and line dancing lessons.  So far we’ve had a great response through ticket sales, and since all proceeds go directly to the school we’re hoping to generate an even greater amount of funds.

In regards to commencing the build, we’re hoping to break ground for the classroom in late March or early April. Recently we met with both the contractor and the new head teacher of Zambezi Sawmills to discuss the details of the classroom.  The substructure for the classroom will be built first, and this will cost Kr 33,345, which is £3,665 and $6,062 (based on the current exchange rate).  We are only £417 away from hitting this target so we are very excited!

We want to thank all of our supporters and donors for helping us come closer to achieving our goal of building a new classroom for the children at Zambezi Sawmills!