Tonabezi Trust School
Zambia is so close to my heart, having played such a fundamental part in my spiritul and healing journey. I feel I owe the country and people so much that I want to give back and help as many people as possible. This is why, for every session a client has with us at Equilibrium, we will donate a percentage of each session with Equilibrium to the Tonabegzi Trust School where I volunteered during my time in Zambia.
Tujatane, Tongabezi Trust School was born in 1996 and back then was only made up of one preschool classroom of 15 children. The school grew very quickly however, and today Tujatane is a complete and successful school. Ranging from Pre-school to Grade 9, Tujatane now has over 280 current students, and are also supporting 65 at secondary school, and 20 at universities and colleges. Some of the ex-pupils have gone on to become everything from accountants to engineers, pilots to teachers, lawyers to clinical officers.
Tujatane is situated in a small rural village called Simonga, in Southern Zambia, approximately 20km west of Livingstone and the mighty Victoria Falls. The children from Tujatane come from homes within the local villages and all of the children either walk or cycle to school. Some children walk up to 12km to school and the same back home, meaning they leave home at 4am just to get to school. Almost all of the children live in houses made of mud and poles, with an iron sheet for their roof. Most students have no electricity or running water at home so it is necessary to collect firewood for cooking and water from nearby wells and pumps for use in the home. The children all help in the home from a young age, either collecting water in small containers, washing clothes, sweeping or washing pots and plates.
Due to the high poverty rate in the area, a lot of the children will leave home having not had breakfast. Tujatane runs a sponsored feeding programme which provides porridge for the children and also a hearty lunch of the local staple, nshima, either eggs or beans and a vegetable mix. It is very important to make sure the children can concentrate in lessons without being hungry.
The aim of the school is to give as many underprivileged children, in the local area, a privileged education by offering small class sizes, quality teachers and a range of extra-curricular activities such as ICT, sports, music, drama, cultural dance, chess and art. Tujatane aims to develop the child as a whole and help them gain greater knowledge and understanding of educational and social issues, so they are able to make informed choices and have the chance of bright, promising futures.
Tujatane is run 100% from donations. The children cannot afford to pay to come to school so they try and get all of the children sponsored by people all over the world. The money they donate covers the costs of the resources one child needs at school and also contributes towards the salaries of the teachers and running costs of the school. It costs £816 to sponsor a child for a year which contributes to the running costs of the school, focusing on education recourses and teachers’ salaries. An extra £72, covers the cost of the food programme which provides two hearty meals a day for the students.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to email Emma on emma@tujatane.com and visit their website www.tujatane.com
