The Kasaya School in the Simalaha Community Conservancy is a modest building. Yet inside great positive transformation is happening – and it’s impacting the whole community.
Vibrant young teachers Chabota Ngandu and Bargrey Mukombo are brimming with enthusiasm when I meet them at the school. They teach grade 7 and grade 1 respectively in the school of 205 pupils. There are two daily sessions: grades 3 to 7 in the mornings, and grades 1 and 2 in the afternoons. But since Peace Parks Foundation installed six solar panels and six storage batteries at the school, along with a water pump, there is now night school, a basic boarding house has opened for pupils and there are thriving food gardens too.
Chabota says: 'Peace Parks Foundation has helped us beyond measure. We have lights in the classroom in the rainy season when it’s dark. Teachers can come to school at night to prepare their lessons as there are lights, and we can charge laptops so we can now also teach computer studies. Everything is going so much better.'
Kasaya Primary teachers Bargrey Mukombo and Chabota Ngandu
Grade 1 teacher Bargrey beams when he explains that they are also in the process of setting up a night school for parents. 'We will teach different categories of literacy at night from 6 pm to 8 pm on three nights a week,' he says. 'Thirty two people have already enrolled, and most are already literate but want to continue their education. We can’t wait to start. This is going to uplift the community more than we can imagine.' Chabota and Bargrey are so inspired they are willing to teach night school for free, and so show gratitude for the help they have received.
9 May 2017Conservation agriculture sweeps across Zambia
Farmers inside the Simalaha Community Conservancy in KAZA TFCA have more than enough fresh vegetables to feed their families, and surplus produce is sold. This because conservation agriculture is bein
People, livestock and wildlife living together harmoniously became a reality with the establishment of Simalaha Community Conservancy in western Zambia in 2012. Since then, not one animal has been po
14 August 2015Restocking Simalaha Community Conservancy
On 13 August, eight giraffe from Salambala Conservancy in the Zambezi Region of Namibia were welcomed to Simalaha Community Conservancy during a festive event hosted by Chief Sekute of the Kazungula
17 February 2015New equipment for Simalaha Community Conservancy
Thanks to MAVA Fondation pour la Nature support, 10 February marked the arrival of a new tractor, a new trailer and a rotary mower, all of which will be used in the Simalaha Community Conservancy to m
29 December 2014Training videos for Simalaha Community Conservancy
Hitachi Data Systems and Xcelus, with generous support from the Kadans Foundation, has produced conservation farming training videos. The videos were distributed on Samsung Tablets that will be used b
7 October 2014Zebra return to the Simalaha Floodplains
It has been decades since there were zebra on the Simalaha floodplains. September 24, 2014 was a key day for Simalaha when 50 zebra were captured in the Salambala Conservancy in the Zambezi Region of
19 May 2014Simalaha community wildlife monitors deployed
On 15 May the community wildlife monitors trained to work in the Simalaha Community Conservancy celebrated their passing out parade. The 22 wildlife monitors will replace the Sekute Community Trust an
17 January 2014Sustainable farming skills for Simalaha communities
In 2012, Peace Parks Foundation received a generous donation from the Swedish Postcode Lottery to develop a wildlife sanctuary in the Simalaha Community Conservancy in south-western Zambia and improve
8 October 2013First wildlife translocation to Simalaha Community Conservancy
Sunday, 6 October 2013 saw the first ever wildlife translocation to the Simalaha Community Conservancy. Simalaha is one of Zambia’s first conservancies and will be an important area in KAZA TFCA to
