Around 40 of us heard about their work in Zambia and how Alan was a catalyst for the ibuilding of a school in a remote village. It was amazing to hear how all the essential things came together when they were needed, such as the school building itself, a proper water supply and latrines, which our money paid for. It was also useful to know that money enabled materials to be bought, but the work was done by local labour.
Alan's words below enlarge on the proverb “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; show him how to catch fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.”
The Development Dilemma
Thank you to the whole congregation for your generous donation last year. It was, and still is, very much appreciated, especially by the children who can now use decent latrines. This makes an everyday improvement to their quality of life and health.
Now that the immediate issues of building the school have been addressed our mission is to help to pay for teachers’ volunteer allowances and to begin the process of teacher training. Hopefully when local teachers qualify they will be deployed to Chiziro and receive state salaries. This will encourage economic activity in the community and lead to development apart from the present basic subsistence farming. We hope that in time there will be builders and carpenters, tailors and seamstresses, craftspeople making the pots and artefacts for visitors and a camp site to accommodate overland tourists. All this could develop on the back of a successful and sustainable school.
The subsistence farmer and his, or her, family enjoy the fruits of their labours when times are good, perhaps even selling any small surplus, and they starve when times are bad. Hopefully there is a balance to ensure survival. They do not believe they have any control over what they see as God’s will. They do not have words for, nor any concept of, budgeting or planning. Sadly they treat development aid in a similar way. If they have money, it is freely spent, sometimes without careful thought, and then they wait for the next windfall.
What we are trying hard to do is to educate them in money management; to prioritise and plan using a simple budget; to keep accounts and receipts and to ensure that all the money is wisely spent. Of course we are very grateful for donations and will never turn them down(!) but what is really useful are lots of very small donations, perhaps just 5euros per month, which most of us would hardly notice, given by a larger group of people. By this means a regular income stream is assured and it is much more sustainable. If the School Board know what monies are coming in and can have confidence in their arrival, then they can indeed start to prioritise and plan; to develop these vital new skills.
In the past huge sums have been sent by governments with little control over how these are spent and unfortunately corruption has become widespread. Many donors have become disillusioned because of the continuing poverty afflicting the whole continent. We believe that through education and targeted sponsorship that we can give the people the means and skills they need to improve their lives. If you could help us to achieve this by completing a form or by visiting the Teacher Aid website the Chiziro community would be very grateful.
Alan Powell
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