Help a community in Africa build their own school

George’s Diary Part 2: Your questions answered

Posted by Volunteer Adam on August 5, 2011
George, in one of his snazzy shirts. Pictured here with Volunteer Adam.

George, in one of his snazzy shirts. Pictured here with Volunteer Adam.

A few weeks ago we asked you if there were any questions you wanted us to put to George Matantilo, headmaster of Simakakata Community School in Southern Zambia.

You replied with loads of questions about life at the school, how the pupils are doing and the state of haute couture in Simakakata. They were all great, so when we spoke to George last week, we put some of the best questions to him.

What’s your favourite subject to teach?

English, definitely. It’s one of the only classes I have time to teach now.

Which subject is most useful to your students?

In Zambia the [primary school] curriculum is divided into six subjects. Students are examined in English, Mathematics, Science, Developmental Studies, Technology and Tonga. The most important ones are definitely English and Maths.

What do you like to do as a hobby?

I like watching sports, especially football. And spending time with my family.

How has the school impacted the community at Simakakata?

The school has changed Simakakata in so many ways. Let me give you an example: very recently we had a gathering here and gathering in the village which was attended by many people, including the big chief. This was very rare in the olden days. People are learning to work together to decide what they want, and organise how to achieve it.

This started with the small group of people who began the school, but they’ve seen the success and now do much more. They’ve started to come up with self-help clubs, like co-operatives to receive training and assistance from the government to help grow maize. Some of the dairy farmers meet almost daily to work out who has spare storage for milk at their homes.

The people here have learned a lot of things about co-operation. But they’ve also learned the importance of sending their children to school. In a few years, I am sure that all the children in the area will be educated.

What do the children have for lunch at school?

Thanks to the new buildings and the progress we have made here, we are now part of the Ministry of Education food program. So we are given nshima to feed the children at lunchtime. Most families here are very poor, and often cannot feed the children at home. So they are eager to come to school and we get much better attendance the whole year round.

How will teaching change in the next five years?

I don’t think that there will be many changes to the way we teach, but I hope that by 2013 we can take children here up until grade 9. The curriculum will remain stable, though, but there are plans to change the way teachers are trained.

Are all the students enthusiastic?

Yes, two things are motivating them. The first is the food program, but the second is the new classrooms. They are really keen to come to school now.

Where did you get that shirt? I really like the pattern!

(Laughs) I buy my shirts from a small boutique shop in Kalomo. They are very cheap, as I don’t have much to spend!

If you’d like to ask George a question next time we speak to him, please leave it as a comment below.

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George Matantilo – My dream

Posted by Steve Heyes on July 6, 2011

In January 2011 Adam Oxford visited Simakakata Community School for the second time. He’s been keeping you up to date with progress at the school through a series of blog post. You can read them all here.

On the trip Adam shot hundreds of photos and also recorded an interview with headmaster George. He recently mixed them together to produce an audio slideshow which you can enjoy above.

Adam will be calling George early next week to get his latest diary update (there are no computers or power at the school). He’ll also be asking a minimum of five of your questions, so if there is anything you want to ask George then please leave your question in the comments section below.

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Simakakata update: The fourth classroom is nearly finished

Posted by Steve Heyes on June 22, 2011

In my last blog post I shared the fantastic news that the fourth classroom at Simakakata Community School was nearly finished. I’ve just received a couple of photos from the school, which you can see below.

Your donations paid for the raw materials and the community carried out all the building work themselves. All that remains is for the doors to be hung and the windows fitted. It won’t be long until the kids can move in.

Thank you!

The fourth classroom at Simakakata Community School

Another photo of the fourth classroom at Simakakata Community School

We plan to call Headmaster George in the next couple of weeks to get his latest diary update (there are no computers or electricity at the school). We’d also like to give you the chance to ask George a question. If there is anything you want to ask him then please click here and leave your question in the comments section.

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Would you like to ask Headmaster George a question?

Posted by Steve Heyes on May 20, 2011
Headmaster George

George Matantilo, headmaster at Simakakata Community School

I’ve just heard some great news about the fourth classroom at Simakakata. The roof is now on and the community are applying the finishing touches to the building such as hanging the doors and fitting the windows. I hope to have a couple of photos to share with you very shortly. (edit: click here to see the pictures)

Volunteer Adam is planning to call George, the headmaster, in July to get a full diary update for you. If you haven’t read part one of George’s diary yet you can read it here.

Do you have a question for George?

We’d also like to give you the opportunity to ask George a question. It can be about anything. The school, life in the community, how things have changed, what his future plans are, which football team he supports, how he spends his weekends. Whatever you want to know.

If you have a question please leave it in the comments section below. We’ll ask him at least five, more if he has time, and we’ll post his answers on the blog. If you’d prefer to receive them directly into your inbox please click here to sign up for our new e-newsletter. Thanks!

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George’s Diary Part 1: The second building at Simakakata is almost finished

Posted by Volunteer Adam on March 21, 2011

George Matantilo, headmaster of Simakakata Community School, spoke to Volunteer Adam late last week to give us an update on what’s been happening since we visited him in January.

Picture of George
by George Matantilo
Headmaster of Simakakata Community School

I have some good news about the new classroom block, the builders are planning to start putting the roof on today, and if they do that, we should have the whole building finished by the end of next week.

If that’s the case, we’ll be starting to teach in there from the start of next term, which starts on 9th May (the Easter break begins on 8th April). It’s very exciting. Even then, though, some of our children still have to study in the old farmhouse, where the roof leaks onto their books when it rains.

It’s still raining here every day at the moment. But in general that’s a good thing. We had a serious drought in February. There were 21 days without any rain at all, and that’s a key growing time for annual crops. It caused a lot of damage in the country, scorching maize and killing it, but the farmers here have been lucky. They’re mostly alright.

The children are learning and playing well at school at the moment, too, and the new water pump is finally working. The children are going to plant a small garden near it now, to produce vegetables that we can sell to supply us with small items like soap for the toilets.

"Sonet: 'I want to be like my favourite teacher, Mrs Shanegubo.'

"Sonet: 'I want to be like my favourite teacher, Mrs Shanegubo.'

When Sonet, the young girl in Grade 4 girl who dreamt of being a teacher last time we saw her, was taken out of school by her parents, George fought hard to get her enrolled again.

They wanted Sonet to stay with her cousin somewhere else but I said it was not a good idea. She would have had to study somewhere away from home where they can’t keep an eye on her, in a village with no trained teachers.

I convinced them to keep her here where she can learn and study with us. Sonet is in Grade 5 now, and she is doing very well indeed.

I’ll be back with part two of my diary next term. If you have any questions you’d like me to answer please leave them in the comments section below. I’ll answer as many as I can.

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Turning a table

Posted by Steve Heyes on March 9, 2011

This post was first published on adamoxford.co.uk and is reproduced here with his permission. Thanks Adam!

A table made by the children.

Hand made quality, that is.

In Ancient Greece, Plato used the idea of a table to discuss the philosophical notion of form. This table, however, is much more practical – it was built by Grade 8 students at Good Hope, a school in rural Zambia that Headmaster George used to teach in. Makes my Garfield penholder I made at a similar age look a bit rubbish, doesn’t it?

The thing is, most of these children are from families of subsistence farmers who are mostly illiterate. Giving them a real skill like this to fall back on is incredibly important – there’ll always be a demand for skilled carpenters.

This is what George is trying to achieve in Simakakata – it’s the simplest, most clear expression of his vision there is.

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Simakakata update: School starts, and building continues

Posted by Volunteer Adam on January 11, 2011
Builders from the community have volunteered their time to help

Builders from the community have volunteered their time to help

“Building work has been slow because it is the rainy season,” Headmaster George explains. “The builders all come from the community, and are working for free, but during this season they have to stay at home and plant their crops.”

It’s the first day of term here at Simakakata, and although many of the children are not expected until tomorrow, the builders have begun putting up walls for the fourth classroom.

Most of the materials have already been delivered. George is worried, however, that if the cement is stored for too long it will harden and become useless.

“We had hoped to have it finished by the end of the Christmas holiday,” he told me, “But now I am certain it will be done by the end of this term.”

The new classroom will be an important milestone for the school. Last year, the first block of three classrooms and an office for George were finished, and the transformation has been incredible. The pass rates for children graduating Grade 7 have doubled over the 2009 level already, thanks to clean, well lit teaching spaces that have glass in the windows and don’t leak in the rain.

Children pose for a shot outside the new front door.

Children pose for a shot outside the new front door. A disabled ramp to the right has been built in case wheelchair access is needed in future.

“I like the new school,” says James, from grade 3, “The old ones were dirty, and it’s easier to concentrate here.”

The first classroom is shared by Grades 1 and 3, while Grades 2 and 4 are taught in the second. The final room in the new block is reserved for Grade 7, who are studying for exams.

Grades 5 and 6, however, are still being taught in the dank old farmhouse the school has occupied since its inception. The building materials are also being stored there.

“We still need two more classrooms here,” says George, “So that we can teach through to Grade 8 and the children don’t have to transfer to Kalomo to finish their basic education.”

There is good news, though. With a staff of six fully trained and government employed teachers, it’s looking likely that the local education authority will officially adopt the school some time this year.

“Even then government funding is always inadequate,” says George, “We will rely on donors like LearnAsOne and what funds the community can raise to pay for new buildings.”

Simakakata grass cutting

There were no classes today, instead the children helped to tidy up and cut the grass after the Christmas break.

George is ambitious and optimistic, though. He believes that in a few years he may be able to afford to connect the school to the national grid, as the nearest powerlines are only 400 metres away. Then he believes there will even be an opportunity to open a computer lab.

Right now, though, the pressing need is for classrooms and teachers houses. When it rains here, even the teachers struggle to make the 7km commute by bicycle or foot from Kalomo.

At the time of writing £3,792 is needed to buy the raw materials for the fifth classroom. You can help the community by making a donation or setting up a fundraising page. And, as ever, we’ll continue to show you your money in action.

Donate nowStart fundraising

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Returning to Simakakata

Posted by Volunteer Adam on January 4, 2011
Teaching the children a new song during our first trip to Simakakata.

Teaching the children a new song during our first trip to Simakakata.

Season’s greetings and a happy new year. For those of our supporters who’ve been stuck in northern Europe’s coldest winter for decades, my commiserations. I’ve been away in South Africa visiting relatives for the festive period, and have been slowly baking away in a hot, muggy climate for the last couple of weeks.

I will atone for my good fortune, though. Since I’m in this part of the world anyway, I couldn’t resist treating myself to an extra present – a plane ticket to Zambia and a journey to visit our friends at Simakakata.

It’s been nearly 19 months since Steve, Nerys, Brenda and I first went to see George and his staff at Simakakata Community School, which is just outside the historical capital of Zambia, Kalomo. Then, over 200 children were receiving a basic education in a derelict farmhouse. They had no access to clean water on site, little in the way of classroom furniture and got by largely thanks to the dedication and passion of their teachers.

New term begins

I can’t wait to be there when term starts on 9th January. I’ve spoken to George by phone several times over the last year and a half, so I know that thanks to funding from LearnAsOne and Care International a new schoolhouse has been built and is slowly being equipped up to standard. I know local government has begun work on a borehole for the site, and that several new members of staff have joined George, Sonia and Edwin.

Thanks to supporters of LearnAsOne, who have read, watched and listened to the community telling us what they want, rather than simply sending what we think they need, the people of Simakakata have started on an exciting journey of development. Their children will receive a proper, high standard education from which the whole community will reap the economic benefits. With just a little bit more help from us, and you, this chapter in their history will be finished and they’ll be well on the way to self-sustainable development for the future.

I’m really looking forward to meeting George and his team again, and finding out how much has changed and what still needs to be done. There will be lessons for all of us to learn from the work of the last 19 months and, as ever, I’ll be posting updates with photos throughout my trip and when I get back to the UK later in January.

If you have any questions you’d like me to ask the people of Simakakata, please leave them in the comments section below.

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Simakakata update: Building the fourth classroom.

Posted by Steve Heyes on December 31, 2010

The children are currently on holiday until early January, but work on the fourth classroom will continue through the festive period.

So far the raw materials – which your money purchased – have been delivered. The initial foundations have been dug and the first bags of cement have been laid. The community have also made thousands of bricks by hand, which you can see in the final photo below.

The progress so far

The raw materials are loaded onto a truck before being driven to Simakakata.

The raw materials are loaded onto a truck before being driven to Simakakata.


Headmaster George supervises the unloading process. Space was found to store the raw materials in the original school.

Headmaster George supervises the unloading process. Space was found to store the raw materials in the original school.


Vincent, the Treasurer of the Parent Teacher Association, checks and signs for the raw materials.

Vincent, the Treasurer of the Parent Teacher Association, checks and signs for the raw materials.


Work has begun on the foundations for the fourth classroom. You can see the new classroom block in the background.

Work has begun on the foundations for the fourth classroom. You can see the new classroom block in the background.


The first bags of cement are laid. The thousands of bricks you can see have all been made by the community.

The first bags of cement are laid. The thousands of bricks you can see have all been made by the community.


We’ll keep you updated on progress as the classroom is built. Meanwhile fundraising continues for the fifth classroom at the school. At the time of writing a further £3,792 is needed to buy all the raw materials. If you would like to make a donation please click here.

Thank you, and happy new year!

All photos provided by our partner Response Network.

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Simakakata update: A photo of the new classroom block in use.

Posted by Steve Heyes on December 30, 2010

In November we shared some photos of the new classroom block at Simakakata. Now we are really excited that we take you inside the classroom for the first time. See below.

Headmaster George teaching in the new classroom block.

Headmaster George teaching in the new classroom block.

The new block consists of three individual classrooms. A fourth classroom is currently being built. Please check back tomorrow for a progress report.

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