Dental clinic & other remarkable news

Another lovely post written for us by Mama Vernon...

The anticipation and excitement were almost unbearable.

Months of planning, packing, organising every last detail….. then the day came to leave Tamworth. Three of the group had travelled ahead four days earlier, as they were going to a conference in Phuket and would then fly over and meet us at Johannesburg airport on the morning of 6th May. We would all then travel up to Livingstone together.

There was some anxiety around…. ‘what if the flight from Singapore is delayed and we miss the connection?’. ‘Sorry’ said I, ‘we are going ahead to Livingstone and you can come on later. Victor will be there waiting for us at Livingstone, I can’t be late!!’. They made the connection and there was great excitement when all six met up at the departure lounge for Livingstone at Jo’burg Airport.

And, Yes, Victor was at Livingstone to meet us and drive us in the comfortable new mini bus to Shackleton’s. The two hours went by quickly as I sat up front with Victor to catch up on 18 months worth of village and school news. We even saw Zebra in the Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park... what a great welcome to Zambia.

Soooo loved being back, to smell Zambia and feel the African sun on my skin.

When we arrived at Shackleton’s there was a huge welcome party of children, staff and some parents from Sooka Community School. Victor indicated that ‘the kids will be there’ but I decided to surprise my friends…. Perhaps ‘overwhelm’ my friends would be a better expression. Lovely singing, traditional dances and speeches took place and it was just a wonderful occasion.

The headmaster said “ If we could remove our hearts from our body and lay them on the grass before you, you would see how they would jump with joy”……. My heart would have been there joining in the party!

Day one: The dental clinic commenced and the girls looked at 52 children’s teeth the first day, being a long day when they would normally see 22 to 25 per day in Australia.

Louise & Elyce ready for poolside dental clinic

Every child had photos taken of their teeth, records were taken, teeth cleaned and fluoride treatment applied. All children were also measured and heights recorded.

Day two was a bit quicker with 54 being treated by lunchtime. Most staff had their teeth checked and when word got out, a few children turned up from other villages. All children were also provided with a plastic box with a toothbrush and toothpaste and their name printed on top. We originally thought these would stay at the school for cleaning teeth when the children arrived at School but the management committee decided they should go home, so children could clean their teeth at the weekends.

Mwandi Boarding Secondary School opened to Grades 8 and 10 this year. My dream was to get one or two children to this new school on scholarships. Can you imagine my delight to find of the 16 children who graduated from Grade 7 at Sooka Community School the end of 2012, 10 are at the new school (3 as boarders and 7 as day students), 4 are walking the 14km round trip to Mwandi High School daily and 2 left school after Grade 7.

I find this is quite remarkable and am SO proud of the community and their dedication in providing a good education for their children. They must be making huge sacrifices but their children will be so very grateful. Francis (teacher at Sooka Community School) and I walked the 20 minutes, through thick sand, over to see the children from Sooka who are attending the new school. They are very special to us, as the first class to attend (and graduate from) Sooka Community School. They all looked extremely happy and so smart in their black and white uniforms.

Can you believe this lovely modern new school has a library with not one book in it? However, the structures look impressive, they have power and will eventually have computers. We met with the headmaster and he is very keen to see as many local children as possible at this school and said they will be very flexible with payment of school fees and plan to make arrangements with farmers and gardeners to buy produce and vegetables locally. Hopefully there will be job opportunities at the school for local families too.

10 students are attending the brand new Mwandi Boarding Secondary School

The red sports shirts arrived safely! Some children had them on for our arrival celebration and the following day Howard and Victor collected 4 more boxes from the post office and all the rest of the shirts were there, plus second hand blue netball shirts for girls and grey shorts for the boys. They were all dressed in these the day I departed at my Farewell Disco at 7.30am. They looked just beautiful; fresh and bright.

So thank you so much my friends Janelle and Rod for donating the shirts and St Edwards School, Tamworth for the netball skirts and boys shorts.

Too much news for one blog entry, more soon!

Children sing the Zambian National Anthem & raise the flag

Thank you Joyce!

2013 Update & Wishes

Another update from one of our biggest supporters, Mama Vernon...

My very best wishes to you all for a healthy and safe New Year. May many dreams come true in 2013.
This is the time of year to reflect on the past twelve months and make plans for the future.

Congratulations to the children who completed Grade 7 at the end of 2012. This is the first group to complete Grade 7 at Sooka Community School. Such a milestone. We appear to have been unsuccessful in obtaining funding through ‘Room to Read’ for a Library/playroom and classroom, but let’s not give up! I love a challenge! Some fundraising has been going on in Tamworth, Australia and hopefully in 2013 we can do some more improvements at the school. A new classroom and more toilets
are top priority. A Library/playroom would be a dream at this stage.

My biggest dream would be to hold one or two days per week Pre-School in the playroom. Research shows the human brain develops more by the age of 3 ½ than any other stage of life. Some Pre-School days would set the children up so well for Grade 1.

Joyce and Elliot Dube, the owner & chef of Safari Club Bar and Grill 

I had my 60th Birthday in September and we had a party at the Safari Club, Tamworth (where else!!). Guests were asked to dress ‘with a touch of Africa’and some made great efforts, which were really appreciated. I wore a Chetenge, the traditional wrap skirt of the Lozi people. I know the community at Sooka would approve, as they gave me one in September 2011. In lieu of gifts I asked friends and family (who were interested) to make a small donation to Sooka Community School. I had no idea how generous they would be and we now have some money in the bank to plan new things for the school.

Also at my party I had a really lovely surprise……………..
Howard Shackleton had recorded the whole school singing “Happy Birthday” to Joyce. This was quite a team effort. Our daughter had been emailing Sherie Shackleton and over all those miles came the wonderful voices of Sooka Community School children. What a beautiful moment. We couldn’t play the video but were able to play the singing through the sound system on the restaurant. I hope the kids know how much that meant to me, my most precious gift. Awesome ***********************

The birthday cake!

In May 2013, six Tamworthians will arrive at Shackleton’s Lodge. I am going over and we have a team to conduct a dental clinic with all the school kids. We also plan to paint the inside of the second classroom, if it has not been done yet. We are all getting organised and really excited.

HOT OFF THE PRESS… A friend gave me a generous donation in lieu of Christmas gift cards etc that she would normally give family and friends. I have been able to purchase 130 red, polo style sports shirts for the school. They are posted, so hope they arrive before we do in May. These were on the school ‘wish list’ from 2009. The first brand new uniforms I have posted to the school, I know the children will be very excited to receive them.

So looking forward to seeing the Sooka community and you all at Shackleton’s in May.

Sooka Community School Upate

Today we have another post written by Joyce... or as the locals call her, Mama Vernon.


At the commencement of Term 1, 2012, the school began operating out of a third classroom. This is a temporary classroom built in the “African Style” with mud walls, thatch roof and dirt floor. As this room will require a lot of maintenance and does not match with the rest of the school, I have recently put in a submission to “Room to Read” who build Libraries (and equip them and train staff) and Classrooms in various countries including Zambia. I thought it best to ‘go for broke’ and have applied for both a Library/playroom and a new classroom.

We will all be waiting, hoping and praying that they consider Sooka Community School a worthy recipient. If not “we will make a plan”!

Earlier this year the children participated in exams/tests for the first time. There were mixed results with some children being very disappointed in the results. With the children only attending school for short sessions each day and with a limited understanding of English (students are taught in English after Grade 4), learning at school is more challenging in isolated small schools with limited resources. Many parents in the area do not speak English so there is not the opportunity for the children to practice at home.

A new staff member has joined the school; a headmaster who was appointed by the Government of Zambia. Up until now there has been very little support from the Government for this school. One would presume that the Government is also paying the wages, as the other teachers are already on a very low wage due to the only school income coming from school fees.

 A good news story:
One little girl who came top of her class and it is quite an amazing story of strength, resilience and global networking to get her there. 

On my visit to the school in 2009, I was attending a sports day put on by Sooka Community School and noticed a little girl walk in from the bush, she was not attending school but looked as though she wanted to be part of it all. She came with a sibling and was in clothes in very bad repair and bare feet. She also walked with difficulty and had clubfeet. Both feet turned in at right angles and she was walking on the outside of her feet, almost on her anklebones.
This child was on a video I had taken of the day and I watched it from time to time and one day thought ‘something has to be done for this little girl’. Life can be unfair.
•    I emailed the Beit Trust in England (I had heard they had built a children’s hospital in Lusaka) and asked what the cost would be for operations required by this child. A response came that if we could get her there, it would be FREE of charge!
•    Next email was to Sherie Shackleton with this news. Sherie located the family.
•    Cost of bus travel to Lusaka, for the father and child was covered by a donation of a guest at the Lodge.
•    Dr. Tom Irons (a visiting Paediatrician from USA, who was doing a clinic at Shackleton’s for the Sooka School kids) wrote the referral. Fiona Dixon-Thompson from Mwandi OVC helped with organising the logistics of getting the child and father to Lusaka.
•    I posted over a backpack of pj’s, washer bag with toothbrush etc and some things for her to do in hospital.
•     The wonderful Drs and nurses at Beit Cure Children’s Hospital, Lusaka, played a huge role.
•    Meanwhile Sherie Shackleton sponsored the child to go to school.
By September 2011, when I met with the family at Shackleton’s Lodge I could not believe the improvement in the child’s feet.

I am sure there were many more people involved in the process as well as those mentioned and of course central to all this is her family. What a hugely proud day to see her come top of her class after starting school quite late, only being there for one year and having trips away and painful operations to endure during this time.

One of the NGO’s in Australia has a catch cry, “Don’t Dis (as in dismiss) my ability”; ….oh how true.” This story just made my day and hope it makes yours as well.

Children from the community bringing thatch to repair roof at the school out buildings & teachers' houses.