We started off toward Mambo Primary School on a paved two lane road, but after a turn off the main road, we were on dirt roads for more than 45 minutes. Then we came to a man on a bicycle with his little boy seated on the back. This was, as it turned out, the Headmaster of the school. He led us off the dirt road and onto a very rough bicycle and pedestrian trail. We bumped along in our little Mazda where there was no road. Eventually we came around a bend, and there was the school.
How had this remote village heard about us? Because we had put a roof on Sakata Primary School and built boys and girls latrines, the word spread to Mambo Village, whose Traditional Authority called Pastor Williex, and asked him if we could help Mambo with rolls of plastic for their roofs. We learned that students were not able to attend school on rainy days.
We learned that the parents, with no help from the government, planned, organized, and built this school for their children. The classroom buildings were made entirely of grass mats and bamboo. Parents also built an office for the headmaster. His bicycle was parked inside. The school has grades 1-4, with grades 1 and 2 containing about 175 students each and the upper grades each containing about 80 students.
We learned that no one here draws a salary. It is all volunteer work. Before the school was built their children had to walk 7km to the nearest government school.
When we arrived, we were invited to a school board meeting attended by the Traditional Authority (head chief over many villages) and the Chief of Mambo and their wives, the headmaster of this school, the teachers, half a dozen members of the parent organization, and 12 or more youth volunteers (members of a local soccer league). We were honored guests who sat on wooden benches near the chief and his wife. The meeting began in prayer. There were reports from each party who works in any capacity in the school, and minutes of the meeting were kept. Unlike school board meetings I have attended, this one contained prayers, singing and dancing. The women, including the Chief's wife, sang a traditional song and danced. Then the young men performed a dance as well.
During the process of the meeting, the Traditional Authority told us that they want to do more for their children. He said that the soil in the village is sandy, which obviously is not good for making bricks. He told us that if we would supply the bricks to build their children a school the village would provide the labor to build it. He also said if we would help him with these building materials, he would provide land and give us his favor to build a church for Sure Foundation Ministry there in the village.(There is a mosque a few km away, but there is no Christian church in Mambo.)
The Chief told us that many children in the village suffer from poor water. Their present source for water is Lake Chilwa. He asked if we would give his village a well.
When we were called upon, we stepped forward to the center of the room to speak. In the presence of all these dignitaries we expressed our thanks for the invitation to come. We told them how honored we were to be there and how impressed we were with all they had accomplished without any outside assistance. We told them we shared their interest in keeping their children in school and respected their desire to give them a quality education. George read Jeremiah 17:6-8. He asked that the school board not look to us, but look to God himself for their provision. We promised to pray and asked them to pray and see what God will do.
Then the village Chief and the Headmaster stepped forward and George presented to them the requested rolls of black plastic for the school's roofing, which cost us a total of $42.
How had this remote village heard about us? Because we had put a roof on Sakata Primary School and built boys and girls latrines, the word spread to Mambo Village, whose Traditional Authority called Pastor Williex, and asked him if we could help Mambo with rolls of plastic for their roofs. We learned that students were not able to attend school on rainy days.
We learned that the parents, with no help from the government, planned, organized, and built this school for their children. The classroom buildings were made entirely of grass mats and bamboo. Parents also built an office for the headmaster. His bicycle was parked inside. The school has grades 1-4, with grades 1 and 2 containing about 175 students each and the upper grades each containing about 80 students.
We learned that no one here draws a salary. It is all volunteer work. Before the school was built their children had to walk 7km to the nearest government school.
When we arrived, we were invited to a school board meeting attended by the Traditional Authority (head chief over many villages) and the Chief of Mambo and their wives, the headmaster of this school, the teachers, half a dozen members of the parent organization, and 12 or more youth volunteers (members of a local soccer league). We were honored guests who sat on wooden benches near the chief and his wife. The meeting began in prayer. There were reports from each party who works in any capacity in the school, and minutes of the meeting were kept. Unlike school board meetings I have attended, this one contained prayers, singing and dancing. The women, including the Chief's wife, sang a traditional song and danced. Then the young men performed a dance as well.
During the process of the meeting, the Traditional Authority told us that they want to do more for their children. He said that the soil in the village is sandy, which obviously is not good for making bricks. He told us that if we would supply the bricks to build their children a school the village would provide the labor to build it. He also said if we would help him with these building materials, he would provide land and give us his favor to build a church for Sure Foundation Ministry there in the village.(There is a mosque a few km away, but there is no Christian church in Mambo.)
The Chief told us that many children in the village suffer from poor water. Their present source for water is Lake Chilwa. He asked if we would give his village a well.
When we were called upon, we stepped forward to the center of the room to speak. In the presence of all these dignitaries we expressed our thanks for the invitation to come. We told them how honored we were to be there and how impressed we were with all they had accomplished without any outside assistance. We told them we shared their interest in keeping their children in school and respected their desire to give them a quality education. George read Jeremiah 17:6-8. He asked that the school board not look to us, but look to God himself for their provision. We promised to pray and asked them to pray and see what God will do.
Then the village Chief and the Headmaster stepped forward and George presented to them the requested rolls of black plastic for the school's roofing, which cost us a total of $42.
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