20 July 2011

During a lesson on Transport and Communication with Grade 7 this week I discovered that a significant number of the pupils have TV in their homes (battery operated), but very few of them have running water, electricity or books to read. The discovery made me wonder whether value structures in poor communities are really very much different from those in affluent ones! That aside, as poor communities today face modernity and rapidly advancing technological development, their choices are more complicated than they were in the days of David Livingstone.

In terms of capital development, the past three months have been a waiting game for us at Limapela Cedric’s — waiting for the electricity to be connected, and waiting for boreholes to be sunk. “This is Africa,” they say, which presents us with the challenge of applying firm but friendly pressure while maintaining a gracious attitude! The building of the new classroom block is progressing slowly.

A big thank you to Josh Davies, a talented young volunteer from Ohio, USA, who donated footballs and spent time this month coaching the boys and girls.

With the start of the new financial year we have been taking stock of school finances. Our school budget for the year is NZ$63,400. We are encouraged to see that the school income this year, which includes pledged fee and salary sponsorship, should amount to a minimum of NZ$44,000. It is a wonderful assurance to know that your support in this way pretty well guarantees a good portion of our basic running costs. If we achieve our objective to find sponsors for all the remaining 132 pupils on our roll, this income will increase to around NZ$75,000, more than covering the budget.

Agri-Business

Our supporters will remember that one of Limapela’s fundamental aims is self-sufficiency, as a community development principle, and so that school running costs can be covered from locally generated profits. Terry Webster has planted an experimental plot of potatoes. Our future plans include bananas and chickens. But we now need setup capital to get all these started on a profitable scale. Please help us with this.

Terry Webster has recently resigned from The Limapela Foundation in NZ and Limapela Enterprises Limited in Zambia. Terry was a co-founder of both organisations, and he has worked hard in financial management, building and agriculture to help get the work of Limapela established. This has been much appreciated. He and Carolyn are remaining in Zambia and will be moving in August to a new assignment in Ndola. We wish them well.

—Matthew F. Raymond, CHAIRMAN

UK SUPPORTERS: visit www.easyfundraising.org.uk