Blog
Dedicated and Determined
Owning their own school building has been a dream for as long as we’ve known them, and now it’s finally a reality. Take a look at how Priscilla and Magret’s dedication and determination is making an impact in the community.
Celebrating Progress
Grace said, "It's not just teaching, it's fun. We are involved, and the students are involved."
True Transformation
Through our one-on-one coaching, Alice’s teaching has transformed and the impact is clear in her students’ results. By confidently implementing an effective reading program, she has seen her students’ reading rates soar.
Alice says, “For me, as a teacher, I have been impacted a lot. And that impact I got, I also impacted the kids as well.”
Learning through Collaboration!
The quiz event between Ng’ombe Jubilee and Winning Ways is an example of what can be achieved when schools come together for a common goal. We look forward to seeing more schools embrace the spirit of collaboration and partnership.
Everything has changed!
One of the biggest hurdles that Ng’ombe Jubilee School faced was the daunting task of managing their finances. Despite its noble mission, the school struggled to keep their records in order. The consequences were dire: teachers were not receiving their salaries on time, making it difficult to retain talent and deliver the best education possible. Moreover, the school couldn't even consider renovating or making necessary improvements.
A dream pursued
Tryness has been working at Joy Grace School for many years now. She always wanted to be a teacher, but growing up she was labeled a slow learner and was called names which dented her confidence. When her uncle opened a school, she believed it was finally time to pursue her dreams of teaching.
"I didn't know my child can read!"
Parents are very excited as their kids are now able to read and write. One parent said, “My kid is now always busy reading on the weekend instead of just playing and watching TV. He’s enjoying reading.”
"I give it an A+"
April was a busy time, much of it spent developing content for our Teaching Comprehension training. This took place at the beginning of May, with over 35 teachers in attendance from both our Chibanja and Chikondano school networks. The purpose of the training was to equip teachers with ways they can help their students to comprehend what they are reading.
Hidden Blessings!
Edward was excited to come for his first term visit with his friends and teacher. He participated fully and was very keen to show what he was reading to Tapela, yet he remained isolated.
Through ups and downs
Over the past 10 years, we've walked alongside Fountain of Life School through joys and struggles. Unfortunately, wavering between seasons of growth and attrition is typical in community schools. And the past few years have been discouraging for Priscilla and Magret at Fountain of Life. But... they never gave up hope, they persevered through the challenges, and they implemented best practices along the way.
“I love thrillers!”
“Young man,” he said, “I know a lot of young people in this area but I don’t know you, are you new here?”
Ready for the year ahead
School directors were stunned into silence by the workshop approach. “This is just different, it’s so practical!”
"I want to get educated!"
Meet Hellen a 27-year-old, 7th-grade student at Fountain of Life School. She is married and is a mother to two young children. Originally from a small village where marrying and having children young is the norm, Hellen nevertheless dreamed of getting an education.
“I called all my friends!”
With funds raised from a matching grant, they’ve replaced their bamboo classroom, which had become damaged, and difficult to use for learning during rainy, cold weather, with a brick structure.
"We have no Bible at home because they are expensive!"
Meet 12-year-old Edna, one of the students who visits the Library on Community Day. Edna has been visiting the library since she was nine years old; she remembers that she and her friends heard about the library from students in the grade above and followed them to our door.
Years Later
Alex is a very jovial 19-year-old boy who lives next to Impact One. Despite attending public school, by 6th grade, Alex still could not read or write. With no books to use, it became a constant struggle to keep up with school. When he started middle school, he began regular self-study with a Bible, the only book available to him at home. Even though he didn’t understand most of the words, he would use it to practice spelling.
"I want to read everything!"
Diana is a shy, quiet 13-year-old student who has been learning at Joy Grace Christian Community School for the past 2 years. Due to her reserved nature, sometimes she just goes quiet when speaking. But last year, Teacher Caroline noticed Diana was too afraid to even open her mouth in class.
When one teacher changes everything
After years of attending school, the door to reading has finally been unlocked for Helen. Despite attending class on a regular basis, she struggled to grasp what was being taught, and she was too shy to approach the teacher to ask for help. So year after year, she went through the motions without ever learning how to read fluently. And as the years passed, it became more and more embarrassing for her to see how far behind she was falling.
A dream come true!
We opened our initial library in 2018, and within the first year of operations, it was already clear that we would need more space. The community interest in our Library was growing each week, and our small room couldn’t accommodate all of the children who would come. We also knew that some day, we would expand our program into more schools and be more serving more children and teachers on a weekly basis.