13 August 2012

As we continue to improve the facilities at Limapela Cedric’s School I often think about the contrast between high standards at school but low standards of living at home — no running water in the house, no electricity, a mud floors and a pit latrine outside that is probably shared with other households in the community.

Addressing this imbalance seems beyond our capabilities at the moment, but the need is very real nonetheless.

Agri-business

We are very grateful to the New Zealand Government for making a substantial grant to Limapela Development through the Head of Mission Fund at the NZ High Commission in Pretoria. This grant is being used to install an irrigation system from the Kamfinsa River and expand our agri-business development to include five hectares of bananas and a chicken operation of 1,000 layers.

The chicken house is now being built and the first hectare of bananas, funded by another donor from Kitwe, is about to be planted. Cleopatra Muzimo, our very competent Zambian farm manager, has also established a beautiful vegetable garden at the school. Anticipated income from these projects will bring Limapela’s goal of self-sufficiency very much closer now.

Library and Information Technology

Fundraising for the planned Library and Information Technology building has gone extremely well. The level of corporate responsibility is clearly high in Zambia, as around ZMK 70 million (approximately US$ 14,310) has already been raised, all from within the country. We would like to keep this momentum going so that we can reach our target of ZMK 341 million and get the building started in January 2013. Please contact us if you would like to contribute to this fund.

Special thanks to three local supporters — Sandra Rennie, Margaret Rennie and Gina Adams — who kick-started this initiative and organised a promotional and fundraising fun day on Saturday 28 July for the Copperbelt community. It was a successful and enjoyable day, spoilt only by a bee attack in the late afternoon. African bees can be very aggressive, so we share the pain of those who were stung.

Volunteers

Rob Bellingham has just arrived from New Zealand and will be helping us for a month or so. Rob has much experience in community development. He was the officiating minister at our wedding in 1973, so this is a special visit for us.

Thomas Duxfield plans to join us again for three months in November. Thomas came from New Zealand last year to build the children’s playground, and we look forward to having him with us again. His visit will also allow Alison and me to get home to New Zealand for Christmas.

— Matthew F. Raymond, Trustee