Books for the school
As the school opened we had some challenges according to the material which was available for teachers and students. Especially books were a major issue. This is a common challenge which many schools are facing. But with St. Francis and Clare, we want to live life to the fullest. In order to do so, we want to offer convenient books to make learning efficiently and sustainable.
„A school without books is like a forest without trees“
- Jan Gajewski, Volunteer
Due to this target, our supporters from Germany did a fantastic job in supporting us with this issue. In cooperation with Uwe Bothur, Nangu Thina e.V. and Jan Gajewski, we received donations punctually for the opening to provide books for every child. Through a nice little fundraising event in the community of Pulheim/Brauweiler, people supported the school by buying key rings, which were made in Africa. Thanks to this, over 1800 books for grade eight and ten were bought in total. By now, every subject has at least one book for two children. This is amazing!
A few weeks later we got another great surprise from the Zambian Ministry of Education. We received an extraordinary amount of books for grade twelve. Over 1300 books arrived, which shows the high interest of the government in the school. The books are stored well right now and will be used in two years when having the first grade twelve classes in school.
With such a sum of books, St. Francis and Clare sets a very good standard for the children. Moreover, the new school sets an example on how it should be. It is definitely not common that a school provides so many books. Very often schools can only afford to provide one book per subject teacher – with no books for the learners.
Baring this in mind, we are appreciating our books even more and taking care to ensure sustainability through a long lasting lifespan of our books. All books got stamped, numbered and registered. A librarian is responsible for all books in the library, where students have unlimited access tho the books to learn. For the rest of the assortment, departmental office heads are responsible for books within the subject lessons.
Thanks to our partners, we are able to keep our standard very high and to pursue our mission. But it is still a long way to go. To ensure professional learning for all grades we have to arrange books for grade nine and grade eleven as well as some missing topics for grade twelve. If you would like to join our partner-team, just contact us and get informed here .
