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It has been another eventful term at the Malimba Community School with high profile sporting events and visiting TV crews. As is typical in Africa there have been some wonderful highs but sadly some terrible lows. To start with some of the highs…

The school's new sign is now complete; built by a local builder and painted by a local sign writer the pupils and teachers' are delighted with it.

The inter-school sports competition has taken place. Even the preparation for this event is taken very seriously and a fantastic vibe is felt in the school as pupils from all ages come together, along with the teachers, parents and local community to play and support. It is a great way for the pupils to escape the hardship of daily life and immerse themselves in a burning desire to win!

The run up to the competition involves 'friendly' matches with other schools.

The Malimba Girls' team had a hard match which sadly they lost. Luckily their teachers' support was unwavering and we were assured the girls played extremely well and if they had not been shorter than the other team they would have won!

The boys' football match is clearly a highlight for the community. On seeing the football match was about to be played the entire village swarmed after the team screaming in excitement; the noise and bustle rivalling any Manchester City game!

The boys play football barefoot on baked earth pitches; their commitment to the game is inspiring and it is evident how much they love to play. Sadly the Malimba boys team lost the warm up game…

After this impressive build up the actual Inter School Sports Competition for 2009 got underway. The 36 Malimba students that made up the football, netball and athletics teams took a bus to Chiutika Basic School for the 6 day event where they competed against 7 other schools.

Here the Malimba girls' netball skills shone through and the team won every match, coming second overall due to goal aggregate. The boys' football team (photo on left) came 4th with the very exciting news that Andrew Mwanza, a Malimba pupil, won the top scorer in the competition scoring 5 goals in total. Malimba School came 6th in the Athletics competition - the teachers explained that they have few facilities to practice for this aspect of the event.

Malimba school also welcomed ZNAN (Zambian National Aids Network) and Phoenix Radio (a leading Zambian broadcaster) this term. ZNAN decided to visit having been so impressed by the Malimba Community School and its successful development through a tri-partite relationship between the community, local government and local companies Tribal Textiles and Adrian and Christina (Gid) Carr - the latter providing support and the ever important fund raising from various dedicated sponsors.

ZNAN wanted Phoenix Radio to share the growth of Malimba Community School with their listeners feeling it represented exactly what they are striving for across Zambia.

Naturally the idea of being filmed was very exciting for volunteers, teachers and pupils alike and there were many potential movie stars identified during the morning!

Phoenix radio were keen to capture the World Food Programme initiative; this enterprise has ensured that the children are given at least one nutritious meal a day which has increased school attendance dramatically. The World Food Programme also donated a large, practical and economical oven to enable a simple porridge breakfast to be prepared each day - the oven is designed to use less firewood so it is cost effective and more environmentally friendly.

Phoenix Radio were particularly interested in the community involvement in Malimba and wanted to focus on the volunteers who cook for the pupils each day. These ladies are the unsung heroes of the school who arrive with buckets of personality, a desire to help the younger generation and a strong work ethic.

Each school day the volunteers make the porridge by stirring the ingredients in the huge cooker. Cooking such large quantities of porridge is no small feat as Gid and I found out - it requires arm muscles and heat resistance!

Then as the children rush out of classes for their breakfast the volunteers use admirable control to get the gaggle of children nicely lined up and ensure hands and bowls are washed before pupils stand in line to receive their breakfast.

Naturally the ladies were delighted to be interviewed by the Lusaka broadcasters and they stood patiently as various bizarre electronic gadgets were attached to them. The fact that they were surrounded by microphones and cameras did not affect these volunteers who went on to give impressive and passionate accounts about the importance of the Malimba Community School and education in the community.

It is wonderful that this project has been recognized by important Zambian bodies and it is testament to the hard work and dedication shown towards Malimba Community School by all involved. This includes the very generous donors who have made it possible for so many costs to be covered and therefore so much development to have taken place.

Finally, and tragically, Malimba Community School lost one if its most valued teachers this October… the wonderful Violet Kamanga.

Violet started with Malimba as a volunteer teacher around 2004. She was sponsored through teacher training college from 2007. She passed the course with flying colours.

A larger than life lady, she was a strict teacher but very caring and she was adored by all her pupils. Many of those pupils were at the funeral and were dreadfully shocked and bewildered by her sudden death. Since qualifying she had been Acting Deputy Headmistress and was very much at the heart of the school.

She was just about to be posted to her first teaching job and Malimba Community School had gained permission for her to sign up to the Government pay roll and then to return to her job as Deputy head of Malimba. This meant she would be paid a proper salary by the State for the first time in her career. This is the objective we have been striving for since the start of Malimba - ie. to train teachers for Zambia with a view to eventual self sufficiency and self reliance for the school and for the Zambian education system.

Violet was pregnant and suffered a sudden and very serious attack of high blood pressure. Tragically, although she was rushed to hospital in Chipata, staff were unable to save her or her baby.

Her loss is not only a huge personal tragedy for her family but also a big blow to Malimba - she was a wonderful person , a talented teacher, a tireless volunteer and the symbol of Zambia's fight to educate her children as well as a leading light in the movement towards self reliance for our community.

An extra tragedy occurred only days after Violet's funeral, her husband who had been battling illness for some while also passed away leaving their one child an orphan. The child has gone to live with extended family in Lusaka.

They leave a huge hole in our lives and hearts. We will never forget Violet and everything she did for her community. She was a teacher first and last and we plan to raise money in her memory to sponsor more teachers and carry on the fight she so admirably embodied.

If you would like to donate money towards this project in Violet's memory or towards the development of facilities at the Malimba School please do not hesitate to contact us.

Despite the fact that the Malimba School is thriving, the pressure to find the money to keep the school running term on term is at the forefront of the committees' minds; at the moment there are no guarantees of continued financial support. The basic costs such as paying the teacher's salaries are a high priority. The Malimba School teachers work tirelessly teaching every subject to children across a wide age group; their classes are often very large and they often work ten hour days. The teachers are only paid the very basic amount of $75 per month which is extremely low in a country like Zambia where food prices are high and have risen again this year. The Malimba Committee is extremely keen to give teacher's even a small pay raise; this would be the first teacher's pay rise in the history of the school. We appeal directly for any funding people can give to make this possible.

Your donations have a huge and direct impact on the pupils' and teachers' lives in this community school in Mfuwe.

The Malimba children thank you for your support.

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