Simonga Village Projects
General Update - 2009
The Wilderness Safaris Wildlife Trust has been working with The River Club in Zambia in its partnership with the nearby village of Simonga since 2000. In the ten years a range of projects in the village have been carried out, which have been funded by the generous donations of guests in conjunction with the Trust. Projects to date have focused particularly on assisting children via schooling, and include those that help the inhabitants in general generate an income and therefore help the entire community.
While there are specific once-off projects (e.g. school buildings etc), various projects have been running for a number of years which incur yearly expenses. These include:
Water Project
The water project was begun a few years ago with the construction of a borehole, pump, pipes and storage tanks. In addition, distribution points for running water were installed in the village. The water project has provided 50 000 litres of water per day to the 4 000 villagers since June 2006. Upkeep of the Water Project - including maintenance for the water system, funds for diesel consumption for the generator, and water carrying equipment for the villagers - is ongoing.
School Project
Continued funding of the school project include the school and exam fees for all Grade 8 and 9 school children at Simonga and all internal and external sports activities. The school continues to receive donated books from the USA and UK from guests staying at The River Club.
Community Hall
Built as requested by the villagers so they can use it for funerals, meetings, delivery of donations, weddings - in short for any and all communal gatherings.
General Update - 2008
Aside from the ongoing costs of the water project, exam fees and transportation of students to secondary school in Livingstone, a number of other projects were completed this year.
New: School Bus
Simonga Village School only reaches Grade 7, so those who can afford to send their children to secondary school must not only pay for it themselves but also find a method of transporting the children to Livingstone to schools there.
Until recently, The River Club donated its shuttle to ferry students to and from Livingstone every day. However, this vehicle can only 16 people and so there was a logistical problem of releasing the vehicle for four trips every morning and four every afternoon, as the vehicle was needed by The River Club for business.
Ultimately, a Simonga School Bus would allow students continue their schooling in Livingstone, where at present many are unable to do so based on the simple lack of transport. Education is one of the single most vital aspects to uplifting communities throughout Africa, with concomitant benefits reaching their families in knowledge of nutrition, HIV/AIDS etc.
In addition, the bus would be used not only for high school students in this manner but to enhance the school days of Simonga Basic School as well. There are many sports events that take place every year between the different schools and at present Simonga is limited to the number of seats in The River Club's vehicle and whether it is free to be used for that day. This would allow students to attend these sports days.
Finally, the school children's abilities to go on school trips would be improved, for example to Victoria Falls and Livingstone Museum. At present very few children in Simonga have ever seen the Victoria Falls! A bus would allow for such trips which would ultimately enhance the children's cultural pride in their natural and historical heritage amongst other benefits.
Thanks to guest donations, a good second hand 24-seater bus with a 2-year warranty and first year insurance and all necessary licenses and taxes has been purchased. The ongoing costs of this project include annual payment for fuel for a round trip from Simonga Village to Livingstone on a daily basis during school terms, as well as ad hoc sports events and activities, and payment for maintenance fees as these arise.
Ongoing: School Library Books
It is vital that Zambia's schoolchildren gain a love for reading at a young age so as to ease their path to higher education, as well as in general to gain knowledge of the world around them. Access to a wide variety of books puts these students on this path. In addition, there is a necessity for a variety, as those leaving Simonga Basic School may well be thinking of particular subjects that they would like to study going forward.
In 2004, The River Club built a library building using funds donated by the Carr Foundation, which is used both as a library and study room. At this stage, the library is being used on a daily basis, where the children come into the building to read; due to lack of controls at present they do not take books home.
There are thousands of books here, ranging from encyclopaedias, history, geography, physics and biology books, to glossy books, fiction and story books for children ranging in age from under five to teens. The books were either donated by our guests or bought by The River Club from companies such as Bookworld in Livingstone and Lusaka and CNA in South Africa.
Completed: Student Sponsorship
Over 2006 and 2007, guests of TRC who visit the village were often inspired to sponsor a specific schoolchild to help him/her pay for his/her high school education. The money was then transferred via Resources First Foundation. The Project sponsored individual schoolchildren as designated by donors (guests of The River Club) - the funds covered their education enabling them to complete high school. Each sponsored student was formerly at Simonga Basic School and subsequently went to a high school in Livingstone. Each student was monitored to ensure that they had the right equipment for school.
In addition, The River Club allocated a Manager to manage the project and ensured that the children were transported to school and back home each school day on staff transport. A lodge driver has been allocated to these two trips each day. A lunch pack was available for each student in town upon arrival of the bus.
This project is no longer ongoing; due to concerns over even-handedness, donors are encouraged preferably to donate funds to school projects in general and not to specific individual children.
November 2008
November was a busy month for Simonga, with a substantial donation made to the Basic School funded by guests from The River Club, totalling fifteen million kwacha! Twelve million of this was spent on mosquito nets, enough for all the 350 school children at Simonga School as well as the 30 elderly villagers. The remaining three million kwacha was spent on pens and pencils and a school bag. (Each child received at least 10 pens and pencils each.)
Simonga Village project manager, Christelle, has worked hard building a relationship with the school PTA, a group of parents who are the decision makers on who funds are spent. They are the ones who requested that funds be spent in this way. It is hoped that the relationship between Christelle and the PTA will be the impetus for new committees to be formed in the village to involve more villagers in the projects undertaken by The River Club, creating a more democratic and inclusive environment all round.
A new volunteer, Louise, has arrived from the UK to assist with the village projects and her first visit to the village was the donation event mentioned above.
March 2008
On the 14th March 2008 a group from Norwich Union, hosted by Green Route, toured the village looking at the clinic under construction, the school and of course meeting with the villagers. At the end of their visit they donated US$10 000 towards future projects in Simonga Village. Inonge (The Head-lady) and Chester Mufalali (the Head Teacher) were delighted with this fantastic fundraising which will be used to construct a new classroom and continue the expansion of the water supply in the area to ensure ease of access to drinking water for all.
At the end of the visit to the village, the visitors were entertained by the school choir (wearing caps and T-shirts sponsored by Reach for a Dream) while on the football pitch, the Norwich Union Canaries beat a Simonga Village-invitation XI (wearing Arsenal away strip) by 1-0.
Also in March, gardening equipment was donated by Rory and Fania Stoney, Anna and Benita Hickson, Charles Bark, and five related youngsters from Ireland to five of the classes at the Simonga Basic School. Each class will to grow vegetables for use at the school canteen - an excellent learning experience and nutritional boost.
2007 in review
Simonga Basic School remained the main focal point of activities and visits by guests. A couple of formal volunteer visits were even organised and we are grateful for the acts of generosity by these people and institutions to help the people of Simonga. Funds from UNUM, UK, went towards repainting the school buildings following a football match - in which the schoolboys won 1-0 against their English opponents! Three young volunteers from UNUM were already at the school assisting with administration and in addition painted the school buildings and the roof of the police station and built a goat shed in the school grounds. They completed their tasks successfully before flying back to the UK to begin university.
The Robert Sloan Scholarship has continued to put children through high schools in Livingstone as well as two teachers through university courses. One of the schoolchildren has entered a tertiary institution. Other funds have paid for all the exam fees at Simonga Basic School.
The sporting events attended by the schoolchildren were all sponsored by donations from River Club guests. The money covered food, drinks and transportation, whilst the children proudly wore new sporting uniforms provided by guests largely from the USA.
The Simonga Health Post continues to attract fundraising efforts from all over the world (generally after a visit to the village during their stay at The River Club) and construction work has continued, albeit at a frustrating pace. A joint initiative between the Department of Health of the Government of Zambia and The River Club, sufficient funds have now been secured for the completion of the building, projected for 1 June 2008. The Belron Group of Companies raised money for clinic equipment which is, currently in safe storage until the clinic opens. The clinic has even attracted high-profile attention with the US Ambassador to Zambia, Carmen Martinez, looking in on the project during a trip to the Southern Province during the year.
The Water Programme has continued to provide 50 000 litres of water to the inhabitants and funds have been used to supply diesel for the generator and servicing of the equipment. The Simonga Police Post will also be expanded to include accommodation for police officers, ensuring that the station is manned 24 hours a day. Funds for this project have largely now been raised.
In 2008, we will continue to raise funds for the village school and its facilities, the clinic and its equipment supply, the completion of the Police Post accommodation, generator fuel for the water project and the electrification of all these buildings in conjunction with Zambia's Rural Electrification Initiative.
April 2007
April was an exciting month in Simonga Village. The River Club was able to hand over three huge boxes to the Simonga School and a much-needed cheque.
13-year-old Sam Berk, who came to the River Club for a holiday with his parents some time ago and who visited Simonga Basic School during his stay, celebrated his bar mitzvah back home in Florida recently. He convinced his guests to collect equipment for the school and they did a jolly good job! So apart from pens and pencils - and even flashcards for mathematics and fluorescent poster boards! - the school library received a whole box of novels and adventure stories, science and picture books. Not necessary to say that this caused big smiles on a lot of young faces in the village.
When driving towards Simonga on the 13th of April we encountered camera crews and even some dignitaries of the area. The Mayor of Livingstone, the Provincial Health Director of Southern Province, the Area Counsellor of Simonga Ward and of course Inonge, Simonga's headlady, all joined in to witness the hand-over of a cheque over 13,206.00 US dollars donated by Belron for the Simonga Clinic. At the same time everyone could have a look at the first purchases made which cover a wide field, from a delivery bed to filing cabinets, to a wheelchair and a fridge amongst others.
So we are all looking forward to the completion of the clinic which got a remarkable step ahead, thanks to Belron and Dr. Hatting, who kindly gave us a large portion of the equipment for a fraction of its actual value when giving up his clinic in Livingstone.
March 2007
The River Club and Simonga Village was honoured to receive a visit from the United States ambassador to Zambia, Carmen Martinez. This occurred after Peter Jones met the Ambassador at a meeting in Livingstone concerning the US President's emergency plan for AIDS relief in Zambia. During her busy schedule the Ambassador was met by the head of Simonga Village, Inonge Imosho, and a group of cheerful singing schoolchildren from the local school at the proposed site of the Simonga health post. The children had coloured in American flags which they waved enthusiastically in greeting!
The Ambassador toured the site and learnt of the progress that has been made and of the funding that The River Club had raised so far. She went on to tour two other projects run by The River Club in Simonga, namely the water project, supplying 50,000 litres of clean water each day to the villagers, and to one of the Elephant Pepper Project sites.
The ambassador with her husband and her staff later had an informal lunch at The River Club where they learned about other social development projects that the lodge has undertaken and hoped that there might be scope for future work together in the medical effort against AIDS.
Newsletter June 2006
(Please see pictures below of the sports day, colouring in, and health post being built!)
SIMONGA BASIC SCHOOL AND INTERSCHOOL SPORTS
Simonga Basic School had their annual Sports Day on Friday 9 June. This was an exciting day where four teams, all named after rivers in Zambia - Zambezi, Kafue, Luapula and Luangwa - competed fiercely in track and field events. Zambezi were the winners and the teams were awarded with balloons and certificates of achievement. The 70 best athletes from these teams were then selected to compete in an interschool sports day in Makoli, about 40km from Livingstone where they stayed for four days. The River Club provided food and transport for this trip. The next stage of the games is currently taking place at Maramba Stadium, where the best athletes will be selected to compete against other schools in provincial teams.
FOOTBALL BOOTS
The Simonga Basic School Football team were presented with some brand new football boots, kindly funded by Friends of Simonga Village, Gordon Geddes and David Dodgeon. These boots have arrived just in time for interschool sports events.
SCHOOL SUPPLIES
The generous donations of school supplies from guests this month were distributed evenly amongst the 377 pupils in the school. Each class received pens, crayons and other stationery items which will dramatically improve their learning experience.
SCHOOL MAINTENANCE
Thomas, The River Club carpenter, has now completed three tables for the school library. The remaining chairs and library shelves are currently being made.
WATER PROJECT
As we still await the installation of the borehole and pump due to technical difficulties, 15 Hippo Water Rollers have been ordered from Johannesburg to assist in the collection of water. These are large drums with attached handles which contain up to 90 litres of water and are easy to transport to wherever they are needed. Currently classes at the school take turns to collect water for their daily meal of soya porridge. Each child collects water with a 5-litre container, which is decanted into drums at the canteen holding 400 litres. Two water rollers each taken twice to the well would therefore do the same job and consequently save on precious teaching time. Special thanks to Genevieve Plamondon from the USA for her generous donation which has facilitated the purchase of the two rollers.
Five rollers will be allocated to the 11 chilli farmers who are currently struggling to water their chilli seedlings in preparation for the next planting season. The other rollers will be distributed to the neediest.
HEALTH POST
Final foundations have now been laid for the container which is to become a consultation room, and the main building and house are well underway. (Fawlty Towers has kindly offered to transport the container to the site free of charge)
SPONSORSHIP PROGRAMME
We have had more than 5 offers of sponsorship this month. Special thanks go to the lovely girls of AlianaCorp who will sponsor student Caroline Semu for two years of high school.
DOLLAR DEPRECIATION DIFFICULTIES
Due to a depreciation in the US dollar a few changes have taken place with the sponsorship scheme. Originally a bus was hired to transport pupils to and from their respective high schools in Livingstone. This has proved to be too expensive to continue and has been cut from the budget. The River Club staff vehicle has now replaced this service, but due to its other transport commitments this has meant an early start for the children of around 5am followed by a long school- day, sometimes ending as late as 7pm. The children then attend to domestic chores at home before being able to sit down to their homework. This has understandably put a great deal of strain on the children some of whom are now in their final year of secondary education. Until we can find alternative means of providing transport this has been the only way the children have been able to attend school, but worries are that grades may suffer as a result.
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
HIV awareness 'Beat the Drum', a five-day programme with US AID involvement will take place on 17 July at Simonga Basic School to heighten awareness and explore coping mechanisms and income generation ideas for people with the disease.
An adult literacy learning programme is in the early stages of development at Simonga Village. A meeting was held at Simonga School this month, chaired by the District Education Council with teachers, interested parties and the Village Project Manager. The programme is to be held at the school after hours and before dark and aims to encourage adults of all ages to improve their literacy and numeracy skills, to gain higher qualifications and increase their employment prospects. Other practical skills aim to be included in the programme, such as carpentry and sewing.
We are keenly awaiting the delivery of 11 boxes of baby clothes from Johannesburg, donated by Singtex Clothing Manufacturers.
SPECIAL THANKS
And farewell to Susan Bell, LEAP volunteer from York, UK for her enthusiasm and valuable assistance. Susan worked tirelessly with the chilli patch schoolboys, school teachers, Headlady Inonge and all current Simonga Village projects. Susan also worked with the guests and staff at The River Club. Good luck and best wishes for the future.
UPDATE - MAY 2006
The cool season has arrived, the River Club gardens are emerald green, the mighty Victoria Falls are thundering down extra full as the river is at its peak, and we hosted a wedding. Michael and Lesley Hambelton of Bristol, UK tied the knot on an island in the Zambezi opposite the Lodge, accompanied afterwards by a colourful choir and lots of champagne on the lawn. They were accompanied by Tim, Mandy, Adriana and Tony friends of theirs from home.
On a more rural note, plenty has been happening in Simonga Village and its school which we support with the help of generous donations from our guests. With the help of a donation from Ian Hendricks of Barloworld Plascon, Zambia, we will now able to repaint the outside of the school a fresh green. New library shelves are being built by Tom our carpenter and the school steps were repaired by Edwin our builder. The newly completed canteen container now has a bright new sign with logos of the sponsors of this project: World Food Programme, Sun International, The River Club and Wilderness Safaris painted by Rasta our local artist and erected by Sam from our maintenance team.
Dr Chinyonga from the Zambian Health Department has compiled a list of medical supplies for the clinic, which is being costed and sourced. Cash donations towards the cost of this vital project would be welcome. The school vegetable garden received a load of extra rich soil, and the seedlings were protected from elephants in the unique, Zambian way. If you don't know already, this consists of a buffer zone round the garden made with strips of mutton cloth dipped in a mixture of used engine oil and chilli peppers. Elephants hate chillies and it keeps them away where an ordinary wire fence would not have deterred them at all.
An exciting event was the arrival in the village of 40 cyclists from South Africa, Botswana and France in the final stages of a charity event in aid of the Peace Parks Foundation and Children in the Wilderness. The young people of the village loved seeing the state-of-the-art bikes and the colourfully clad riders. Back at the lodge the cyclists were refreshed with a lunch and well-earned swim.
Another enjoyable event at the village was the visit of a group from Jaguar Motors in the UK. They donated pens, pencils, tennis balls, books and footballs - something for each of the 618 children at Simonga School at a cost of $5000. In the football match the children beat the visitors 1-0 but this may have been on account of the inclusion of Wayne Rooney on the field! Big boxes of assorted stationery were also received from Betsy and Gregg Goldstein and Leroy and Marcel Moore of the USA.
There is still great need for educational sponsorship. At The River Club we have mounted Polaroid pictures of village children unable to go to school without sponsorship, together with specific details of what each one needs. So far Peter and Helen Deveraux who visited us in May 2006 recently have very kindly and generously offered to sponsor six children. If anyone would like details we would be pleased to send them.
Regards from Simonga,
Natasha
Update - March 2006
Some recent areas of development include in the village:
- Building of a school library and continuing to receive donated books from the USA and UK from guests who have stayed at the lodge
- Construction of a school canteen with assistance from Sun International
- Sponsoring pupils both in the village school and onwards to high schools in Livingstone
- Ongoing maintenance work at the school including repairs to desks, doors, windows etc.
- The water project which aims to provide 50 0000 litres of water per day to the villagers by June 2006. This has so far involved the sinking a borehole and installing a pump, pipes and storage tanks in 2005. All that remains is for the contractor to test the pump itself and make the final connections and carry out the necessary tests.
- Completion in October 2004 of a police station financed by The River Club and other tour operators and private households living along the river.
- The very successful Elephant Pepper initiative, where five Simonga Village farmers have been taught how to grow chillies around their vegetables patches in order to deter the elephants, who dislike chillies. The chillies are then sold to the manufacturers of Tabasco sauce thereby creating a much needed source of income for the villagers.
- And the construction of a clinic in the village, the Kramer Clinic, which is at the stage of a successful tender bid. This is a very exciting project, which will provide valuable medical assistance to the people of Simonga Village who currently need to travel 18 kilometres to Livingstone town for treatment.
Jos and Adri Besemer - 22/03/06
Jos and Adri Besemer from the Netherlands, who were guests of The River Club visited the village in 2001 were so inspired by the people of the village that they decided to celebrate their 55th wedding by asking friends and family to donate Euros 3,000.00 towards the construction of Simonga Village clinic. We are hoping to link this project with the First Lady of Zambia's initiative, the Maureen Mwanawasa Community Initiative (MMCI). This will be a very beneficial partnership, as it will add good weight to the project and help us to maintain transparency with all that we do.
This fantastic fundraising from Mr and Mrs Besemer will help us to complete the first phase; the construction of a small consulting room from a container. Their donation will provide the money for the foundation and roofing to cover the container and to convert it into a consulting room. The container was kindly provided by Sun International as part of their ongoing support of our efforts in the village.
In order to express their gratitude, Inonge the headlady, and her people held a small ceremony to welcome the Besemers and to receive this generous and heartfelt donation. (See pictures below.)
School Children's Tourism Day - 31/03/06
As part of an educational day highlighting the role of tourism in Zambia and the Livingstone area, The River Club received eight top students who were selected from four of the surrounding Livingstone secondary schools. The youths were taken for a tour of the premises, given a talk by members of the lodge including Peter Jones and were offered the chance to ask questions and feedback about their understanding of the industry and the lodge. The visit culminated in a boat trip back to their bus and it proved an informative, enjoyable experience for the pupils whose confidence, imagination and enthusiasm were boosted.
Update - January 2006
To date the following has been completed in Simonga Village:
1. Built a library for the school named after the late Chief Albert Sekute
2. Built a police station for the village in conjunction with other lodges
3. Built a canteen for the school
4. Provided a container in conjunction with Sun International for the food provided by the World Food Programme at the canteen.
5. Carried out repair work to such items as school desks, windows, doors at the school itself
6. Sunk an 80m borehole and capped it
7. Built a generator room at the top of the borehole
8. Bought a generator, pump, 10 x 5 000 litre tanks and all the piping for a 50 000 litre water project
9. Built a plinth for the 10 tanks
10. Built a two-bedroom house for the headwoman in the section of the village we support
11. Provided a wheel chair to a severely handicapped child.
We continue to support the following projects:
1. Supplying books to the library
2. Paying for all the school exams undertaken at the school
3. Provide transport to the athletes taking part in various sporting activities against other schools and supplying the food and drinks
4. The sponsorship of 29 children to high schools in town, also providing their transport and breakfasts
5. Pay for the examination fees for over 200 children in the village school
6. Implementing an Elephant Pepper initiative in the village that protects the crops from elephant raids. Elephants don't like chillies and leave them well alone! The villagers make money from selling the chillies to a company that supplies chillies to Tabasco.
Update - April 2005
Firstly, the water project is in its final stages. All the pipes have been laid to the ten taps that are going to be placed in strategic places around the village so that no one will have to walk further than 100m to collect clean water. In addition, the 10 x 5,000-litre tanks where the water will be stored are also in place. The only element of the water project left to complete is the drilling of the borehole, which is being carried out at the moment. Hopefully the whole project should be completed by the end of May.
Since our arrival, Romy and I have started to put the finishing touches to the library with the help of some of the students from Simonga Basic School. All the books are now sorted in both subject order and age order. The book donations have been fantastic for the very young. We hope to be able to fill the library with books of a higher standard for the older students and a librarian is being trained so that all the books will be managed appropriately. The library will be ready for the start of next term on the 9th May.
The village decided that they were in need of a police post and it has now been completed. Livingstone Police Station should be providing a police force shortly so that they can cut down on crime within the village. There will be one police office at the post at all times, helping the villagers to feel safer.
While Romy and I are at The River Club, we aim to continue with the clinic project, as at present the villagers have to travel a distance of 18km into Livingstone if they have a problem. So far we have a container donated by Sun International, which we are going to use as the basic building for the clinic. Additionally we have been in touch with a health advisor from Botswana and a local health worker who is helping us learn how to go about setting up the clinic. At the moment we are researching the exact costs involved. The container is going to have a window and door cut into it and be lined with tiles so that it can be washed down easily. It will be placed near the school where it will have a constant supply of clean water. Once a clinic is built the local Government is required to supply the staff to run the place.
Alongside this we are researching solar panels in order to provide power within the school. It will combine with the clinic so the power can be used there as well if necessary. By introducing power into the school, we hope to be able to set up computers in the classrooms.
We would like to thank Bob and Rebecca Sloan for their kindness to Simonga Village. At the moment they are sponsoring 25 students to forward their education at the local secondary schools. This is greatly appreciated by all the children involved.
Very best wishes on behalf of everyone here at the River Club
