15 August 2014
It was quite a special day on 12 August when we welcomed Rotary District Governor Kenneth Chibesakunda and representatives of the Rotary Club of Kitwe to officially open our new ablution block at Limapela Cedric’s School. Our school pupils gave them a warm welcome with singing and dancing, and although it has been a long wait to get such a facility, everyone has been commendably patient. The Rotary Club of Canberra deserves special thanks for being the club that initiated the fundraising for this building, and we commend Rotarian Desmond Woods for working so hard to reach the fundraising target.
Thanks also to the building contractors Girder Engineering for doing such a splendid job and for the cost concessions they have made.
Do children from poor communities deserve only poor facilities? Absolutely not! And I am proud to say that this ablution block is better than any other school ablution block I have seen in Zambia. Mr Mwanza and our teachers are now teaching the pupils how to look after everything properly.
As school holidays begin this month we are aware that very soon our grades 7 and 9 pupils will be sitting their official exams set by the Examinations Council of Zambia. Slowly but surely our standards of achievement are rising, and we are grateful to our head teachers in both schools — Mr Newteddy Mwanza and Miss Frankie Mumba — and their teachers and our volunteers for the commitment they are making. We Westerners expect so much, and have to remind ourselves that community development is a slow process.
We have found that it is easier to raise funds for special capital projects like buildings, and that funds for monthly running expenses always seems to be short. So please don’t forget this need. The easiest and most attractive method of giving is through our fee sponsorship programme. Income from agri-business is slow at the moment as we are between harvests in the banana plantation, so your extra giving would be very welcome.
Our thanks to you all. As the scope of our activities increases it has become harder to maintain personal contact with the many of you who support Limapela so faithfully. May God bless you for your contribution to the least of these.
— Matthew F. Raymond, trustee