At the end of 2014, the Headmaster of the Chumbi Primary School, Mr. Jeremiah Jackson, asked ACA Initiative to help rebuild the broken primary school in the remote rural village. As with any ACA endeavor, the project was presented for approval by the village. The response was a resounding and unanimous yes.
In May of 2015, ACA Initiative Executive Director Daniel Donovan and Chairperson Jennifer Koch traveled down to Chumbi to work with Deputy Executive Director Dr. Bonus Caesar and Finance Director Victor Mwenda to supervise the renovation of the Chumbi School.
The School Project
ACA Initiative, working with the village government, the Chumbi teachers and staff, as well as a local contractor and laborers agreed on all of the work that needed to be done to repair the broken educational institute. The following actions were agreed upon.
- Replace the roof and ceiling structure
- Refinish the walls to strengthen the foundation
- Resurface the floors to eliminate holes and cracks
- Repair and refinish over 200 desks
- Build a new latrine
- Repair the old latrine
- Replace the chalkboards
- Paint the buildings inside and out
- Provide school supplies for the 2015-16 school year
Once the project plan was agreed upon, everyone set to work. Providing a suitable environment for African primary school children is essential to ensuring a productive education structure.
ACA Initiative staff with the teacher’s of Chumbi
Over 8 weeks, the entire team worked hard to ensure all tasks were completed in time for the start of school in July. ACA Initiative worked with local villagers and volunteers to repair and refinish desks, as well as help with all other elements of the project.
The completed school was a huge success. With over 450 students and only 6 classrooms, some students were forced to go to school part-time as there was not enough room for all students. ACA Initiative repaired three classrooms that were completely unusable, bringing the total number of classrooms to 9 and allowing children to attend school full-time. Also, since all of the desks were repaired and refinished, all students now had a suitable work station for learning. Click here for additional details of the project and how it was funded.