December 2023 Newsletter

Chimwemwe Home

Having had several of the children sit national exams at the end of last year, the only child who has done so this year is Harrison. Harrison (18 years old) sat his grade 9 exams in November. He is a very keen footballer, and supports Barcelona – many Zambians follow European football, particularly English & Spanish teams. Schools have now broken up for the end of year/Christmas holidays and Harrison & another teenager keen on football have been running football training sessions for the younger boys and some of their friends.

All the children were taken on an outing in October to the Eureka campsite where they have been before. The main activity was swimming, something very much enjoyed by everyone.

October is a good time of the year for such outdoor swimming, due to the hot weather – this year 3 months of daytime temperatures above 30C. Although they don’t go swimming more than once a year, a number of the children have taught themselves to swim on previous trips (by just ‘going for it’) and this time 3 more swam by themselves for the first time.

Swimming was followed by a well-earned lunch of sausage & chips, and then a drive around to see the animals living around the campsite.

The children were also treated to a Christmas party courtesy of Eva, one of the graduates of the first Chimwemwe Home. There was plenty of food, including barbecue-cooked meat, and a bit of music and dancing too.

Graduates from the Chimwemwe Home

Godwin still comes to stay in the Chimwemwe Home for at least part of his school holidays, but, as previously mentioned, he is currently at boarding school where he has just finished grade 11. He has recently been chosen to be head boy of the school for next year. This is a great honour but will probably mean quite a lot of hard work as well!

Following successful completion of his fork-lift truck driver training, Steven left the Chimwemwe Home and was able to go and live with someone from his extended family, as least for the time being. He is currently supporting himself by doing piecework in a warehouse. Hopefully a fork-lift driver job will come up in that warehouse, if not elsewhere, though Steven also has ideas now of learning to drive a car and using that skill to earn money.

Computer School

Pauline is a young lady in her early twenties who used to work as a waitress at a bar/restaurant not far from the Kingsgate Centre. She is the sole provider for her family including her father who is ill and doesn’t work. Although she was happy to have a job, the pay was low and the hours were definitely unsocial – she often had to work into the early hours of the morning. One of the regular customers at the restaurant, a farmer outside Lusaka, spotted potential in her for more skilled work. He decided to fund her to do computer skills training at Enterprise College and promised that when she graduated he would give her a job on his farm.

So she adjusted her shifts, went to the computer school in the mornings, and worked at the restaurant in the afternoons/evenings. Following completion of the computer courses, Pauline has been working at the farm for the last 8 months. They grow crops, have cattle and other animals, and also run a business repairing farm machinery.

She is the administrator for all this. Her pay is improved, she works normal office hours (well 0700-1500), and she is now well placed to move on to other administrative work in the future, which is what she would like to do. Pictured below at the farm in the workshop (left) and with some of her colleagues (right).

All at AET wish you a Happy Christmas and Prosperous New Year!