Ipalo Christian Community School
We are planning to build a Christian Community School in Kasompe, Chingola (a mining town - home to the largest copper mine in the Southern Hemisphere). Currently there are no community schools in Kasompe, and many of the local children can not afford to attend Government schools.Whilst in Zambia in July 2007, we met with the town clerk of Chingola, Mr Charles Sambondu. We had hoped to be able to buy the land during our trip, but unfortunately this was not possible.
We were informed that we needed to put together a proposal, detailing what we plan to do with specific information about the plan/layout of the school, and how the school will benefit the community.
The proposal was put forward and approved, and we were granted a piece of land, but the size was too small for our purposes (50m x 70m). So when some of our members visited Zambia in July 2009, they negotiated for a bigger block of land (250m x 300m), which has now been approved.
There is a lot of paperwork involved in preparing to build on the land and this is what we have been doing since our visit to Zambia in July 2010.
We have now built a caretaker's cottage and employed a caretaker to look after our land.
The first stage of building the school facilities, God-willing, will probably occur in late 2012.
To see photos of our land click here.
Future Plans
The proposed name for our future school in Chingola is Ipalo Christian Community School. Ipalo means blessing in Bemba, the local language most commonly spoken in Chingola, so it is fitting with the name of our organisation.
We are hoping there will be many opportunities for people from Australia to either go to Zambia themselves to help with the building and establishment of the school, or alternatively to help financially support locals to be employed during the same time period.
Our aim is to use the land we are given to grow fruit and vegetables as well as some stock, which can be used to feed the children in our care while they are at school.
Eventually we hope to see the school grow to meet the needs of many hundreds of children in the area. This would allow us to provide employment for a lot of locals as well, improving the lives of many people in the area. We envisage employing teachers, gardeners, builders, tailors, cooks, cleaners, and possibly more!
To see our current architectural plans click here.
If you would like to donate towards the building project for Ipalo Christian Community School, click here to donate.