Scotch College

Taking the next step after Kapumfi

Having seen the Kapumfi Project through to completion, we are again compelled to act.

WORDS: MARK WILLIAMS − DIRECTOR OF SOCIAL SERVICES PHOTOGRAPHY: WORLD VISION ZAMBIA

SCOTCH COLLEGE AND World Vision share a strong working relationship. The Kapumfi Project, launched in 2005, was the first of its kind, pioneering the model which partners an Australian school with one from the developing world.

The broad objective was to ‘join growing international efforts to eradicate world poverty’, by raising $50,000 per annum for three years to construct a functioning primary school in the remote Zambian village of Kapumfi.

Within nine months $170,000 had been donated. The tangible outcomes that followed were the rehabilitation or installation of seven classrooms, including a laboratory and library, two staff houses, six double latrine toilets, a 5,000 litre water tank and a solar powered water pump.

The more subtle consequences of the initiative are immeasurable. Lives have been changed, hope restored. Kapumfi student Doreen Muma recently stated: ‘I am so proud and thankful such that I can’t even think of stopping school’. Hundreds of students like Doreen have benefited from the stable education made possible, and thousands more will in the years to come.

At this stage Kapumfi operates up to Year 9 with no immediate plans to extend it further. The Zambian Ministry of Education is responsible for the ongoing administration, staffing and upkeep of the school, and World Vision is in the process of withdrawing from the area now that the community has achieved self-sufficiency.

The importance of education is not lost on Scotch Collegians, nor on those at Kapumfi who coined the school motto, ‘Education is the key to success’. Unfortunately Kapumfi students wishing to pursue an education beyond Year 9 have few viable options. Approximately one-third move to Chitulika High School in Mpika, the nearest regional hub, approximately 80km away, but conditions there are not satisfactory.

Chitulika currently has some standard classrooms, dormitories, toilets and a partially completed administration block. However, in order to offer a balanced curriculum the school requires science laboratories, a school hall, a design and technology workshop, home economics facilities, workable computers for information technology, and a library. There is also an inadequate water supply, with only one tap servicing the entire school; a bore must be sunk. Additional toilets and classrooms are also required to cater for the rapidly growing population. A shortage of decent accommodation for teachers is yet another major issue.

Compounding the obvious educational disadvantage is the emotional impact and practical difficulties suffered by a staggering 32 per cent of students who have lost at least one parent. To us it seems incomprehensible, but to the children of Chitulika it is a stark reality. Life expectancy in Zambia is approximately 38 years, less than half the average life span of an Australian.

World Vision has recently established a new area development project in Mpika which will operate until 2020. The holistic development model implemented aims to equip the entire community with the infrastructure, equipment, expertise and knowledge needed to drastically lift living conditions. Providing a satisfactory education for the children is paramount, and the Scotch community is in a position to help.

Having seen the Kapumfi Project through to completion, we are again compelled to act with the empathy and generosity that made it possible. It is hoped that the collective imagination of our current student cohort, and the wider Scotch Family, will be sparked once more.

World Vision has a proven track record of efficiency and accountability. Contrary to some popular mythology, administrative costs account for only eight per cent of donations, with a further eight per cent being invested in revenue-raising advertising. As the recipient of the 2009 PricewaterhouseCoopers Australia Transparency Award, World Vision was recognised for ‘quality and transparency of reporting in the not-for-profit sector’. All funds are spent directly by the non-government organisation, eliminating the possibility of governmental corruption. Without hesitation we again partner with World Vision. GS

Support the Chitulika Appeal

To support our ongoing effort to provide basic education to a desperately disadvantaged generation of African children, please donate online to make a credit card donation or send a cheque payable to The Scotch Charitable Fund to:

Chitulika Appeal
c/o Foundation Office Scotch College
1 Morrison St
Hawthorn Vic 3122

DONATE ONLINE AT: https://onlinegiving.scotch.vic.edu.au/scotchdonations/

All donations are tax deductible and will be receipted accordingly.

Article from ‘Great Scot’ Number 130 • September 2010