“I live in Chilanga, a very poor community on the outskirts of Lusaka in Zambia.  I am a Military Policeman, but in my spare time I volunteer as a carpenter for my local school. 

 

Chilanga has no government school, so we set one up ourselves.  We have 91 children and 6 teachers. 

 

The children are mostly orphans and vulnerable because they lack the basic needs of food, shelter and clothing.  Many have lost parents to AIDS and malaria.  We also have 70% unemployment in our community.

 

The school applied to TWAM for carpentry tools and sewing machines.  With the carpentry tools, I have made all the furniture for the school and I extra furniture to sell.  The money I raise helps keep the school going and give the teachers just a little to live on.  The teachers use the sewing machines to make uniforms for the children and clothes to sell to support themselves and the school.  The money they raise also provides the children with a meal every day. 

 

Then local people came to us and asked if we would teach them carpentry and tailoring, so we now do this in the evenings. 

 

We support the whole school, the children, teachers and community from the carpentry tools and 3 sewing machines we received from TWAM.  Without them, there would be no school.”

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Below: The road where the school is based

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