Extra projecten / plan voor ons sponsorbudget

Hey allemaal,

We zijn intussen bijna twee maanden hier, tijd genoeg gehad om eens deftig in de school rond te neuzen, op zoek naar het ideale project om ons sponsorgeld aan te spenderen.

Intussen hebben we ook samengezeten met de Rotary van Kasama en met enkele andere belangrijke en informatieve mensen dus we hebben een projectplan opgesteld.

Ons eerste doel blijft uiteraard het EVS project. De kinderen een leuke en leerrijke bezigheid bieden. Leren samen spelen, knutselen, sporten, … Ik denk dat de eerste weken op dit vlak goed zijn verlopen! Ze hebben al een mooie basiskennis van spelletjes opgebouwd. In december sluit de school voor één maand (einde van het schooljaar) dus dat geeft ons de gelegenheid om onze spelletjes en andere activiteiten te evalueren en nieuwe dingen voor te bereiden!

Maar we hadden ons doel verder gesteld en met het sponsor budget dat we dankzij jullie allen in België verzameld hebben, kunnen we hopelijk nog net iets meer doen. Diegene die onze blog hebben gelezen, hebben reeds gemerkt dat we al een klein projectje gestart zijn door oude rolstoelen uit het rommellokaal van de school te halen en hen te transporteren naar een werkplaats waar ze gemaakt kunnen en zullen worden. Dit is één van de zes projectjes die we voor ogen houden. We hebben alle projecten opgesomd in een mailtje dat we voor de school hadden gemaakt. Hieronder vinden jullie dus alle info terug en we houden jullie op de hoogte van het verloop van alle projecten via de blog! We hopen dat het duidelijk is, vragen zijn altijd welkom uiteraard :-).

De brief voor de school ter info van wat we allemaal van plan zijn, met hun hulp uiteraard!:

                                                                                                                                 15/11/2010

Dear Head teacher,

Dear teaching staff,

As you all know we,  Mathijs Van Asbroeck and Hanne Jacquemyn, have been volunteering at the Chileshe Chepela Special School for some time now. As European Volunteers we are teaching the children games and sports and soon as the rains will come, we will start teaching them indoor games and give them art classes. We like the school and the children very much and appreciate the nice atmosphere that is around.  We thus already want to thank you all for the nice welcome we have received from everyone.

This year however, we would like to contribute more than just our knowledge of games and other activities to the school by also supporting the school with ongoing matters as much as we can, in cooperation with the school’s staff, to improve the children’s comfort.  One example is support the ongoing sports project. 

As we have discussed in a meeting on the 10^th of November 2010, we have set for ourselves four goals concerning the school and the environment of the children. We have also asked the Rotary club of Kasama to help us to accomplish the goals we have set for our projects. We hope that it will be a fruitful cooperation between ourselves, the school and the Rotary of Kasama. This way we can share ideas and solutions which will hopefully create some great results.  Below is a short summary of the projects discussed during the meeting. 

Project 1: mosquito nets for all children in de dorms

For starters, as malaria is a big issue in tropic regions, we think it is very important that all children can sleep under a mosquito net, especially during the rainy season. So, we wanted to buy screws/hooks/nails to put up the mosquito nets. Last week however, we noticed that the school and dorm-staff had already started with hanging up the nets. We were very pleased about this and so the only thing that we want to do now, is check if there are enough screws and if every bed has a net covering it so that all children are protected against mosquitos.

We will talk to the house parents of the dorms next week (week of 15-11-2010) so that we can help and supervise this project if needed.

Project 2: Fixing the wheelchairs

During our first month here, we noticed that there are a lot of broken wheelchairs in the physiotherapy-room and the small storage next to the physiotherapy-room. We were wondering, why keep so much broken wheelchairs stuffed in a room? So, as a second project, we want to fix the wheelchairs and throw away the parts that are too much damaged. Mr N. Patel from the Rotary of Kasama offered to come and collect the wheelchairs. He will bring them to his farm and see how many can be fixed, and we will provide the extra spare parts if needed. Hopefully this cooperation can create a room full of ‘new’ and fixed wheelchairs, ready to be used!

We sorted out the wheelchairs on 11-11-2010 and we have approximate 15 wheelchairs that are in decent condition and can be fixed with some small amendments. 15 Walking racks should also be easily fixed. Then we have approximate 13 wheelchairs that are heavily damaged. Maybe we can still fix one or two, and from the others we can use the wheels or other parts as spare parts to fix the good chairs. That leaves us with 5 wheelchairs and 10 walking racks that are also badly damaged and we can use the spare parts.

So, on the 12^th of November 2010, Mr. N. Patel is coming to pick up all the wheelchairs and, after examination of the wheelchairs, he will let us (the volunteers and the school) know if he needs extra spare parts. Mr. Mwale is accompanying us to the farm to make sure that all chairs arrive safely and to talk with the manager of the workshop and discuss what we as a school expect from the fixing company.

Hopefully we can store the fixed wheelchairs nicely in the storage next to the physiotherapy-room some time soon. If one of the wheelchairs that are currently in use breaks down, the children can pick out a new one and the other one can be sent for fixing.

Project 3: Looking for a physiotherapist

As we spoke with some of the teachers and with Ellyn (Peace Corps) we heard that there is no physiotherapist at the Chileshe Chepela Special School. Still, many children would be helped by adapted exercises and some professional advice. That is why we are looking for a physiotherapist that wants to come to the school on a regular basis to provide the adjusted work-out exercises. If possible maybe once a week. If that is too much, maybe we can look for someone to come and see the children once or twice and at least make a personalised practice schedule which than can be followed up by Ellyn and a teacher.

This is very important for the development of the children and it can be a great help in handling there own disabilities. Coping with them and improving there body skills and muscles in support of the daily habits is necessary for them to be able to function well in today’s society. If and when we find a physiotherapist we can always take a look at our budget to make an arrangement with the person.

We heard at the school meeting that the former physiotherapist doesn’t come around anymore, but if anyone of the teachers has contact with a physiotherapist, we always appreciate new ideas or advices. It is by working together and cooperating that our projects will have the best result!

Project 4: The outside playing field

As we are often working together with Mr. Mwale and he is our splendid sign language teacher, he had also told us about the outside playing ground of the school. What a great project we thought! We heard that you have very nice ideas for the playground and the children will enjoy it very much.  That is why we decided to help the school by bringing on ideas and checking into our budget. Again, the Rotary has offered to give a helping hand for this project.  So the cooperation between Mr. Mwale and the sports team of teachers, between us as European volunteers and the Rotary of Kasama will hopefully result in a nice playing ground for the children!

Project 5: Playing equipment

As soon as the former projects are fulfilled and if there is still room in our budget, we would like to buy two new playing gears to put next to the (soon to be fixed) swing, slide and the seesaw. It would be great to put up one for the hearing impaired children and one which can be used by pupils with a wheelchair.

This project is still open for suggestions as we don’t know exactly what it is going to be. We are looking at the budget off course, but also at the different possibility’s and interests of the children.

Project 6: Expanding the computer class

This last project/idea is still a little bit insecure. We have made contact with a Belgian company that may want to send several laptops to Zambia. With these laptops we would like to expand the computer class of the Chileshe Chepela Special School and even some other schools if the amount of equipment allows us to do so. The Rotary has already confirmed that they will help us with transporting the laptops from Lusaka to Kasama. So, now it is up to us to convince the Belgian company in giving us the laptops and arranging the transport from Belgium to Lusaka.

Receiving new laptops would be a great help in the development of the children’s IT skills and more pupils would have the chance to develop these skills when more equipment is available.

However there is still a long way to go in this project, so we will keep you all posted on the progress we make. Hopefully we will have more concrete news somewhere in the beginning of February.

We hope that we can look back on a great year at the Chileshe Chepela Special School when we leave, next year September, and that the projects and ideas can be sustainable.  But we are convinced that in cooperation with all of you, Head teacher and teaching staff, we can bring these projects to a fruitful ending and bring a smile on the children’s faces, day after day. 

We look forward to working on these projects together with teachers and the Rotary of Kasama!

With kind regards,

Hanne and Mathijs