Underneath a mango tree is where Zambian education is started for many children. I came across this little group of pre-school children when driving out to some remote villages in the Mukuni Chiefdom close to the Zambia-Zimbabwe border. Siachilobe has a population of just over one hundred, each day the older children have a three hour walk there and back to Mukuni Basic School and Mukuni High School. The nearest bore hole is over almost a mile away from the village and there is little employment within this community.

Although English is Zambia’s national language children first learn to speak the local language called Tokaleya. Once a Zambian Education  is started at pre-school they learn English through songs and a makeshift blackboard, having very few materials or books to learn from. We are hoping to build and fund more pre-schools like the one we have at Mukuni; this is totally funded by Gardiff, a donor of The Butterfly Tree who visited the village while on holiday. The government does not fund pre-schools and with our funding we are able to provide two teachers and a classroom helper, besides supplying all the neccessary books and materials.

Start of Zambian Education: Pre-school children taught under a mango tree in the Mukuni Chiefdom

To help sustain the Mukuni Pre-School The Butterfly Tree bought two sewing machines and fabric so that the teachers could make the school uniforms, they then sell them to provide extra funding for the pre-school’s needs. One of my greatest pleasures walking around Mukuni Village is to see over two hundred young children receiving an education provided by the charity. We aim to build more of these all important classrooms to facilitate young Zambians education, most especially the orphans.