Just over two years ago, we developed partnerships with the 12 schools in the Chikondano Network in order to help them provide quality education for the children of Ng’ombe. The partnership all began by investing in the school leaders and equipping them with skills to develop their schools. Initially, their desire was to learn how to find and acquire donors to meet the obvious gaps in their financial capacity. But we saw the importance of taking the long route to this felt need in order to help build their sustainability along the way.
For the first two years of the partnership, we have been helping our partner schools to strengthen their internal operations, including their ability to plan for the future, to engage their fee-paying parents and to steward their resources well. As a result, we've seen tremendous growth and development in all of these areas. There has been a noticeable shift in their mindset regarding their role within the community, as they now recognize the importance of their service, and the incredible assets they have to offer.
After two years of internal capacity building, the time has finally come to help our schools learn to engage external partners to further the schools’ goals. Early this month, we facilitated training sessions to teach our directors how to create an effective appeal to engage donors, inviting both Chibanja and Chikondano networks to participate. Chibanja brought a wealth of knowledge from their experiences in the past, and Chikondano brought an eagerness to learn something new. The directors eagerly embraced the two-day training as well as each other, with each day offering unique insights and opportunities. The training sessions were characterized by lively discussions, idea exchanges, and an overall sense of enthusiasm.
Emmanuel expressed, “The training boosted my confidence in seeking assistance from partners without feeling like I am begging,” while Grace said, “Before the training, I found proposal writing intimidating because I lacked the skills.” By the end of the training, the directors emphasized that engaging with donors is an extension of kindness, allowing for the contribution of ideas, time, resources, and finances from others in order to enhance the effective operation of the schools. They recognized that running a school is a partnership that requires collaboration and support from multiple sources to facilitate growth and ultimately impact the students with the best education.
With schools now open again, directors like Priscilla and Margaret have already put their newly acquired knowledge into action by constructing a much-needed kitchen for their school and beginning a water project with different donors. It’s exciting to see the directors applying their newfound skills as they lead their schools, and we eagerly anticipate more inspiring stories of change which will benefit our community with a sustainable education.
Priscilla standing in front of the newly built kitchen at Fountain of Life Community School