The Story of PIZZ School – A Fantastic Project

The beginning

When I first met Mrs. Sianga in 2003 she was a full time nurse providing Home Based Care. One memorable afternoon she took me out to meet some of her patients. I was invited into the homes of women who were dying because of AIDS. The houses were invariably single roomed properties built mainly of mud bricks and thatched with elephant grass. Mrs. Sianga had a few paracetemol tablets to dispense to these ladies, but nothing that would prevent their imminent death. I felt very privileged to be welcomed and very humbled.

These women died, together with many more of Mrs. Sianga's patients. Having come to know the families, Mrs. Sianga was keen to support the orphaned children. In particular she wanted to keep the children from going onto the streets – with all the associated dangers.

Some volunteers from Italy wanted to help. Mrs Sianga set up a small local charity “Maluba Orphans and Vulnerable Children” - Muluba being a Zambian word meaning “flowers” . With the volunteers help, Mrs. Sianga started providing some extra food for the orphaned children and with assistance from her family she started a small school which became known as PIZZ School.

 

Growing the school

Soon the children had outgrown the small school buildings. Thanks to a wealthy benefactor, introduced through Hands Around the World, the school buildings were improved to provide more security and shelter from the rain. Another benefactor agreed to buy land for the purpose of building extra classrooms etc. for a school for orphaned and vulnerable children. The local chief agreed to sell some land specifically to be used for a school for orphaned and vulnerable children. It is important to know that the aim has always been very clear. The school was to provide a safe space for the most vulnerable children and to give them an opportunity to gain an education that could remove them and their families from poverty and also provide benefits for the wider community.

I have had the pleasure of working alongside Mrs Sianga to help develop the project. It was obvious to me that the buildings were
of little use unless there were teachers – and they needed to be paid. The school would need maintaining and stationery, books etc. needed to be bought. I persuaded the benefactor to pay the teacher's salaries and persuaded Hands Around the World to cover the other costs.

There are some projects which enable a community to generate income and therfore become more self - sufficient. A school for vulnerable children is not one of them. When I visited those ladies in 2003 I remember that a young girl (probably 8 or 9 years old) went out to see if a neighbour would give a little sugar to make her mother's nshima porridge a little more tasty. To expect families who have difficulty providing sufficent food for their children to raise funds to pay for education is unrealistic to say the least.

I have battled over many years to obtain sufficient funding for the school – always wanting to be able to do more, despite being told that money could not be raised. However, over the years the children at the school have flourished and there has always been money in the bank.

 

The need for a school specifically for orphaned and vulnerable Children

PIZZ was established as a Basic School.

At that time the Government schools were split into Basic Schools which taught grades 1 to 9 and were “free” and Secondary Schools which taught from grade 10 to 12 and charged school fees. Although “free”, government schools required school uniforms, shoes, notebooks etc.

Even these costs made government schools too expensive for the familes of the orphaned children, but the main reason that a school specifically for orphaned and vulnerable children was needed was the need for a system of pastoral care which PIZZ could provide. The children at the school have suffered the trauma of the loss of one or both parents – sometimes followed by other bereavements and disturbances to their lives. Problems regularly happen at home which result in the children not attending school. At PIZZ these issues are addressed, the family homes are visited and invariably a way is found to enable the children to continue with their education. There are few children who drop out.

 

A Success Story

Eventually the first children at the school reached grade 9. They took exams to qualify for secondary school. The results were good and some passed. I have always thought that if children have potential we should do whatever we can to help them reach that potential. Hands Around the World funded some children to attend secondary school.

The success of the project means there is a tremendous story to tell. The successes have continued. Many children have passed grade 9 exams and some have been funded at secondary school. Children have passed their grade 12 exams. 2 or three have been funded at university and more have been funded to train as nurses.

I met Mawini when I visited in October last year. She told me that she never expected to have a chance of any education, coming from such a poor family. She was delighted to be given a place at PIZZ School and even more delighted when she was given a new school uniform. She told me that she was about 8 years old when she first met me. Mawini is now a veterinary surgeon at the University of Zambia in Lusaka. After I returned to the UK, Mawini went to Kenya to attend a conference - her first flight and trip outside of Zambia. She is hoping to do a master's degree in Japan!

Not all the children have achieved academic success, but when I visit I see lively, happy, healthy and well behaved girls and boys. Many of whom I have watched grow up over a number of years. I see the change from the traumatised, timid, frightened children who enter the school.

PIZZ is a truly amazing project which has transformed the lives of many children and their families. It has given hope to the most vulnerable in an impoverished country. I believe that it will be very hard to find another project anywhere which provides a better return for relatively small donations.

I last visited the project in October 2022 and, despite the huge challenges presented by COVID, found the school and the children looking great. I will return very soon to support Mrs. Sianga through these difficult times.

Withdrawal of funding by Hands Around the World

In June last year two representatives from Hands Around the World visited the project and told Mrs. Sianga that, unless she changed the status of the school to a Community School – effectively handing the school to the Government – Hands Around the World would stop providing funds.

The PIZZ project has always been much more than just a school. The reasons for setting up a school specifically for orphaned and vulnerable children still apply. Mrs. Sianga believes that the suggested change of status would mean the end of the project. In addition the land was given only on the basis that it would be used for a school for orphans and vulnerable children. To hand the school to the government would be contrary to this agreement.

The current position

Mrs Sianga has refused to transfer the school to the Zambian Government and Hands Around the World has carried out its threat, stopped sending funds for the project at the end of December and says it will not send any more money.

The project has been highly successful in producing wonderful outcomes for the children. This success has resulted in plenty of support which has generated considerable income for Hands Around the World.

At the end of 2021 Hands Around the World reported that they has restricted funds specifically reserved for PIZZ School amounting to £39K, in addition there was a lot more money reserved for specific activities in connection with the project. There are currently more than 70 children at PIZZ School being sponsored by donors through Hands Around the World – paying £15 each month to support children at the school, I am sure that these sponsors would want to continue to support the schoolchildren. This money is not currently being passed on to the school.

HATW is currently refusing to release any of the money they have been given for the project, but the teachers need to be paid, the school needs to be maintained and the children need school meals to allow them to learn without constantly being hungry.

I will do all I can to keep the school from closing. If HATW released the money they are holding, there could be time to establish new funding streams.

I want the project to succeed because I don't want to see the children, to whom I have promised a better life, ending up on the streets. I believe this project can provide even better outcomes for the children than in the past. I will need a lot of help, but with your support we can make lots of dreams come true.

Chris Barrell

 

Jennipher Mukuni RIP

 In an earlier blog I wrote about my visit to Jennipher's village and in this blog I have to report that two days ago Jennipher was buried in the village after dying in a car accident last Wednesday.

I am still finding it hard to believe that Jennipher, who survived many health crises over the years was taken so suddenly in this way.

I was at Slimbridge with my wife Dilys when I heard the terrible news. I had spoken to Jennipher the day before because she was preparing for World AIDs day on December 1^st. She told me that I had forgotten her birthday – unfortunately I don't think she had a chance to spend her present. However since she died on my birthday, I will never forget the day of her death.

I first met Jennipher in 2004 when she was just starting treatment for AIDs. She had agreed to be open with her status and to encourage others to get tested and, where necessay, start treatment. This became her life's mission and she fought very hard for her clients.

Jennipher introduced me to many of the support groups she helped establish. She helped them access support from NGOs or the Government and made a huge difference to the lives of many. Some would not be alive today without Jennipher. She taught me, through engagement with her groups, to understand better what poverty looks like. When I heard a headmen say that they had decided not to get tested for AIDs because he knew that they could not find money to get to a clinic to collect the drugs and when ladies said they literally hadn't got enough energy to plant maize seed without extra food, I started to understand the reality of poverty.

For people living this sort of life the idea that they must contribute in order to obtain aid makes no sense. Without external help these people would continue in extreme poverty. Jennipher enabled me to help with a payment for transport or to provide the community contribution for a project. In this way a hundred pounds or two could become thousands and some of the poorest peope were able to have a borehole or maize and fertiliser, pigs, chickens, goats etc. and have a chance at least to have food for a while.

Jennipher was a very generous person taking into her home many orphaned children. I will always remember once, when she was talking to me, she told me that she had picked up a client with her bicycle-ambulance. The lady was in the final stages of pregnancy and she gave birth before reaching the clinic, she also died on the journey. Jennipher asked me what she should do. Of course I had no idea. She said that she was willing to look after the child at her home, but couldn't afford dried milk for the few months until the baby could take porridge. I was happy to be given the privilege of paying for a little milk and giving the child the opportunity of a resonable life. Jennipher brought up this little boy. He is now 10 years old and a great joy to know – I hope that along with the other children he will be looked after in the future, now that Jennipher is no longer around to support them. Jennipher's family is like an extension of my family and although I will do my best to continue to provide support the children it now now become more challenging.

In 2014 Jennipher was eventually granted a visa to visit the UK. She relished every moment, embracing all the new experiences, from double decker buses to the underground. She enjoyed visiting London – including Buckingham Palace, which she remembered when she watched the Queen's funeral in September. She found paddling in the sea a step too far, but bravely walked over the Millenium Bridge. She was pleased to be taken around a Leonard Cheshire Home by one of the residents in an electric wheelchair – something she had not seen before. She even visited Slimbridge and remarked about it during my past visit.

There is no doubt that Jennipher was a one-off. People who have encountered her will invariably remember her! In the early days of our friendship Jennipher was regarded by many as a great annoyance and irritation. If she wanted help for someone she didn't give up easily! I remember one day at the hospital a doctor asked me if Jennipher was annoying me. I responded “no, she is my friend”. In future years Jennipher was looked up to as a pillar of society and she was welcomed. For the past few years she was given a small salary for the work she did in the community. She has spoken on the local radio station, has been invited to talk in other parts of the Country and even invited to speak in neighbouring countries allowing her to travel quite widely.

I am proud to have known Jennipher and like to think that our partnership enabled us to do much more together than we could possibly have achieved independently.

Jennipher was a very special friend and I will miss her enormously. May she rest in peace.

With love and prayers,

Chris

Mrs. Chiiya

 

Mrs Chiiya

Today I received the sad news that Mrs. Chiiya died early this morning.

In my last post I mentioned the guest house “Nampeyo” where our team lived during my first visit to Monze.

Nampeyo was owned by Mrs. Chiiya's husband and so it was in 2003 that I first met the Chiiya family. Mrs. Chiiya was headteacher at Tagore Basic School – a government school not far from the centre of Monze – and about half way between Monze Mission Hospital and Nampeyo Guest House.

Over the years Mrs. Chiiya embarked on a number of projects – initially a vocational skills centre, which morphed into a school and eventually became a school of nursing. This nurse training centre is still in operation.

I kept in touch with Mrs. Chiiya over the years and was always warmly welcomed with cup of tea and biscuits! We chatted over family and friends, Hands Around the World and her latest projects among other things. She was always very hospitable and it was good to catch up.

In 2011 when my granddaughter Amy came to Zambia she spent some time with Saki – one of Mrs. Chiiya's children.

Most years I would make a point of contacting Mrs. Chiiya – if I didn't bump into her on the street. She would always invite me to her house. She was a woman with a large presence – not only physically, but also had a large personality. She certainly made an impression!

I will miss her and will always remember what became her catchphrase “It isn't easy”. I trust that she is now at peace, her struggles are over and life should at last be easy. May she rest in peace.

Chris