A Tale of Two Schools

The National Police Aid Convoys support many schools around the world, but here I would like to focus on just two of them. On their recent trip to Zambia NPAC visited schools that they have sponsored in the past including Nyimba East Primary School. Nyimba District is situated in the Eastern Province of Zambia. The headteacher of the school, Lita Zalimba has been in contact with NPAC for 10 years. She was originally a teacher at Mwape School, further west, but in 2010 she moved to the newly built Nyimba East School. In the time she has been there the school has gone from strength to strength, having been filled by generous donations to NPAC. The school is equipped with all the desks, chairs, books and sports equipment they need, and during their last visit the playing fields were levelled and kitted out with netball hoops and goal posts. The playing fields are used by many schools in the area for tournaments and the school choir is entering regional competitions. Nyimba East is a success story for Lita and NPAC, and we hope that they will continue to grow and develop talented and enthusiastic minds.

If you’d like to hear more about Nyimba East School, take a look at Andrew Whittingham’s new book “Ninety Days in Nyimba”. Andrew grew up in Nottinghamshire, and his book follows his time teaching alongside the dedicated staff at Nyimba East.

Another school that NPAC supports is Mnyazi Primary School, also situated in Nyimba District. Mnyazi is further outside the main town of Nyimba, along roads which can barely be called such. A small group of us travelled the 45 minutes to visit this school and what greeted us was something quite different to Nyimba East. There are 422 pupils currently enrolled from the ages of 6 to 22. They were very grateful for the equipment NPAC had already sent, but it was clear to see that there was much more to be done. The older children and teachers needed desks which were big enough for them, the children needed uniforms, school bags, and in some cases shoes, and the school would benefit from tools to cultivate a garden to grow food for the children.

One thing that we noticed wherever we went was the gratitude and generosity of spirit which greeted us. Both Nyimba East and Mnyazi schools insisted on their choirs performing for us, which prompted goosebumps and not a few tears. These children who are so grateful for the simplest things wanted to show us what they could do, and it was breathtaking. None of it would be possible without desks, books and materials sent by NPAC. Without this basic equipment the schools cannot retain either teachers or students and huge districts are left without the basic right of access to education. Such a huge problem is so easy to fix with excess and redundant stock from our local schools which you give to NPAC. All we do is get it where it is needed.

If you’re interested in the work NPAC does, visit their website at www.npac.org.uk.

First published in Southwell Life, September 2014.