User:Seth Price/Muchelenje Middle Basic School

The Muchelenje Middle Basic School is located in the village of Kalonje, off the Great North Road in Northern Zambia and adjacent to the North & South Luangwa Parks and the Mutinondo Wilderness. The school is located in a farming subsistent area with no electricity or infrastructure, the nearest electrified towns being Mpika, 80 km to the north, and Serenje, 100 km to the south.

Middle Basic Schools provide the only accessible education in Zambia’s rural areas, with less than 2% continuing to the next levels.

The Muchelenje School serves four other villages surrounding Kalonje, and has a total of 350 students, Levels 1-9 (ages 6 - 17); rough western equivalent would be K to 9th grade. Subjects taught Levels 4-9 are mathematics, geography, environmental science, English, art and history. Almost all classes are taught in English as well as Bemba, the local language on a rotating basis, dawn to dusk to accommodate 350 children in 2 school blocks. The teaching staff is limited to a head teacher, four course teachers, and 1 volunteer teacher.

School Blocks of mud brick, corrugated, and stone benches are crumbling. Sanitation and water are limited to pit latrines and hand dug ‘Bore Holes’. Teachers, appointed by the Ministry to the Middle Basic Schools, arrive to find collapsing teacher housing, no books or school supplies, and little hope of pay. With the average income of less than a dollar a day and a life expectancy of 40 y/o,  families sacrifice to send their children to school when they can ill afford pencils, shoes, and one less worker in the fields.

The needs of the school are many including basic school & educational supplies, school infrastructure, sanitation and health, self sufficiency & sustainability. HEALTH-

Malnutrition (especially 5 years and younger), malaria, dysentery, TB, infections, and HIV-AIDS are the top health concerns. The nearest clinic for rudimentary health care is 30 KM away, with marginal hospital facilities 100 KM away.

Lack of potable water is the cause of many preventable illnesses. Currently, hand dug wells are only 9’ deep, become contaminated quickly, and are abandoned in the dry season. Deeper bore hole drilling by auger and construction of contained latrines with filtering bases will dramatically improve the health of students.

SELF SUFFICIENCY-

Education for the students of Muchelenje Middle Basic School is the key to developing self-sufficiency and sustainability for the village. Students and teachers are eager to have contact with the outside, full of questions...and misconceptions.