Zambia Immersion Project
We are off to Zambia again this Summer to continue our work with the Zambian Immersion Project.We have a number of fundraisers coming up over the next couple of months, It would be great if you could support them in anyway that you can.
You can keep up to date with our events on Facebook here
Zambia 2016
The Fund-raising
The group of students together with their parents and friends undertook some phenomenal fund-raising events over the course of a year and a half. In total €60,000 was raised. Events like:
Dalkey Table Quiz Killiney Quiz Dalkey Church Collection
Musical Tuck ShopM&S bag packing BlackrockCharity Dinner
Ticket & Medical Equipment sponsorship
Monkstown Church Cake Sale/Collection Jack’s Granny Parachute Jump
Many of the students worked over the summer and gave a portion of their income to the project as well as donations from businesses and friends.
As ever, the Mums and Dads of CBC Monkstown packed their sons bags to bursting, with all sorts. This year we could give every one of the 354 children in Kondwa and Pakechele a brand new outfit provided by the care and diligence of the Mums who packed the bags to bursting. Pens, pencils, a heart rate monitor, Medical equipment, clothes for all 50 care workers and 30 teachers, sleeping bags, mosquito nets, shoes, football strips and 100 football boots and socks for children, paint rollers and brushes, sweets, bubbles, bouncy balls, skipping ropes and sanitary products are only some of the items.
Ms Johnston’s church packed and made 60 gift packs for all the care workers and teachers.
We carried all these items and more to our friends in Zambia and could also undertake some great projects while there to help the communities who have so little.
The group of students together with their parents and friends undertook some phenomenal fund-raising events over the course of a year and a half. In total €60,000 was raised. Events like:
Dalkey Table Quiz Killiney Quiz Dalkey Church Collection
Musical Tuck ShopM&S bag packing BlackrockCharity Dinner
Ticket & Medical Equipment sponsorship
Monkstown Church Cake Sale/Collection Jack’s Granny Parachute Jump
Many of the students worked over the summer and gave a portion of their income to the project as well as donations from businesses and friends.
As ever, the Mums and Dads of CBC Monkstown packed their sons bags to bursting, with all sorts. This year we could give every one of the 354 children in Kondwa and Pakechele a brand new outfit provided by the care and diligence of the Mums who packed the bags to bursting. Pens, pencils, a heart rate monitor, Medical equipment, clothes for all 50 care workers and 30 teachers, sleeping bags, mosquito nets, shoes, football strips and 100 football boots and socks for children, paint rollers and brushes, sweets, bubbles, bouncy balls, skipping ropes and sanitary products are only some of the items.
Ms Johnston’s church packed and made 60 gift packs for all the care workers and teachers.
We carried all these items and more to our friends in Zambia and could also undertake some great projects while there to help the communities who have so little.
In Zambia
CBC Monkstown works with the Franciscan Sisters in N’Gombe Compound, Lusaka. This is a shanty town with approx. 80,000 people living in an illegal area with very few amenities or proper roads or infrastructure. The projects include:
Home Based Care an umbrella organisation identifying people with HIV/AIDS and supporting families with voluntary care and financial help for those with nothing.
Kondwa Centre a feeding preschool centre identifying small vulnerable orphans / families in need of care and food.
Pakechele –Primary school which continues to support children and families with food and education
ZOC’S Primary/Senior school which supports older children in the wider community to attain examination status in education.
SEKO House Orphanage for the care of vulnerable orphaned girls.
Mother Theresa Hospice Support and medical care for babies, children and adults with terminal diseases like HIV/AIDS, TB etc.
Our group of students and leaders worked in each of the centres helping to feed the children, working in the classroom assisting teachers, organising items brought and this year we undertook some specific projects and allocated funds to specific programmes :
Painting ZOC’S we painted the outside of the school, the staffroom and the computer room, which we had set up last time.
Zoo visit The group took 200 small children from Kondwa and Pakechele centres to the zoo outside the city. A great day to see ostriches, porcupines and Lions for the children who don’t get to leave the shanty town, and they had lots of fun in the playground.
Cinema Trip The group organised and took 280 older children to the pictures to see Disneys Inside Out! The first trip to the pictures for many with popcorn all over the place!
Clothes allocation The mums of CBC packed outfits for 360 children and the boys distributed the lovely outfits to the children of Kondwa & Pakechele. Tons of baby clothes and blankets and medicines were distributed to the baby clinic which helps Mothers and babies with HIV.
We carried 100 Football boots and socks for the students and teachers at ZOC’s, as many have played us in their bare feet for years. We should have given them the boots after our annual football match as they beat us 3-2 in a cracking match!
Home Based Care Gifts and clothes were also brought for the 50 volunteers of Home Based Care and $3000 was given to the centre to feed those in need or for hospital visits and programmes of support for people in need.
Teachers/Volunteer bonuses The group decided to allocate some of the funds to the 11 staff of ZOC’S who had not been paid for 3 months and earn $75 a month. The 50 Home based care volunteers were also given a bonus each, as they themselves often can’t make ends meet.
ZOC’s Food Students at Zoc’s school often only have the food supplied by the school in a day. It consists of a porridge with soya mix. The World Food Programme ceased providing this supplement in 2013 so the group funded 2 months of the porridge for the staff and 550 students each day at a cost of $1200. The boys noted we couldnt feed CBC boys for 2 days with that!!!!
Mother Theresa Hospice – $1000 donation to the Sisters for the running of the Hospice
CBC Teacher donations Many teachers at CBC send funds to the projects each time we go and this time we gave 1000 from them to support vulnerable children at Kondwa & Pakechele and $1000 to the provision of Deaf Education at Pakechele. The success of this project is seen with a class of 10 deaf children being educated there.
Mock Exams- Results at ZOC’s over the previous year have been fantastic but many senior students (50 students) are unable to afford a chance to do a mock because they can’t afford it. The Boys of CBC felt strongly that they should support the class in attaining a higher level in their education and funded the mocks for this class themselves ($100 in total)
Fund allocation As always the group decides on the division of remaining funds for each of the projects. It was decided this time to divide the money as follows:
Home Based Care – $8000 for programmes relating to HIV, food & Medical provisions, orphan support.
ZOC’s – $8000 Staff salaries and Food provision for the entire school.
Kondwa & Pakechele – $4000 support for vulnerable orphans & Deaf Teacher Programme
The group of CBC boys were exceptional in giving of themselves during the two weeks in Zambia. They threw themselves into everything and made firm connections with the people of N’Gombe compound. May I thank all the leaders for their commitment to the project and ensuring its success.
While all we do is but a drop in the ocean…… the ripples spread and travel far.
Ms. H. O’Connor/ Zambian Immersion Project Coordinator