Help a community in Africa build their own school

George's diary

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.

, , , Leave a comment

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!

, , 4 Comments

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.

, , , Leave a comment

“I’ve started something at Simakakata” – Headmaster George

Posted by Volunteer Adam on June 12, 2009
George in teaching mode

George teaches the Grade 7 class about Zambia's role in the UN

At the weekend, George Matantilo likes to relax by working on his small farm, near where he lives in Good Hope. With the help of his sons, he grows a little maize and sweet potatoes, and looks after a herd of goats. On Sunday, like the majority of people in this strongly Christian country, he goes to church. In the afternoons he unwinds by watching sport on television.

He’s earned the downtime. His boss at the Education Board is worried about his gruelling schedule. Every weekday morning, hot or cold, wet or dry, he cycles 8km to Simakakata, where’s he’s headmaster of the community school. He arrives at 7am, and works for at least least nine hours before starting the journey home. Although the children have all left by 4pm and there’s no food or water at the school, George often works late. On top of his school duties, he runs a health outreach program from his unlit office.

“We look after those who are orphaned or children that are vulnerable, I also organise help for local people with HIV/AIDS. There are a group of care givers who go around the community collecting information, so that we know how people are getting along, what their problems are, and offer advice or arrange appointments at the clinic in Kalomo. One of the other thing that I do is that I’m the pay point manager for the old and disabled here – I go to the social welfare offices to collect their allowances for them.”

It’s hard work, but George shrugs off the tiredness with a laugh.

“I’m an old man for a headmaster,” he jokes, “I’m 36 aready!”

George’s smile is infectious, but there are two dark truths behind his humour: many schools here are staffed by young, untrained teachers. More disturbingly, the HIV/AIDS epidemic has lowered the average life expectancy to under 41. Statistically, George really is an old man.

George’s hope

He lives with his wife, Linda, in a large, well equipped teacher’s house near the school in Good Hope. Until last year, George worked here: Linda still does. Unlike Simakakata, the school and surrounding area has access to power and water. The classrooms are well stocked, and there’s even an on-site science lab for Grade 8 students and above.

Fifteen years ago, though, Good Hope was identical to Simakakata. Then a German donor stepped in to kickstart the development of a new school building. As a direct result Good Hope and the surrounding area have been transformed beyond recognition, from a desperately poor rural community into a young, modern village which is growing every year.

George wasn’t offered more money to take up his new post, and there are few teachers with his experience that would accept a position at such an impoverished school. He’s here because he believes he can transform Simakakata in the same way. It’s draining, but behind his polite, unassuming nature George is tougher than a boxset of Bogarts.

“Somewhere in November last year,” he admits, “The Education Board offered me another job, closer to home, where the head teacher was retiring. They looked at how tired I was, travelling to school on my bike, working late, and organising so much. I said, ‘No, I’ve already started something at Simakakata, I must see it through to the finish. If I leave, who is going to see this through to being a proper school?’ So I remain here, and I keep on cycling, working with the children, working with the other teachers.”

If you would like to help fund a new classroom, teacher’s house and bore hole at Simakakata you can make a donation by clicking here. We’ll post updates on this blog so you get to see your money in action.

, , , , 2 Comments