Nsobe Development Trust Schools in Zambia Progress
In 2022, EirEng staff were part of an adult group that visited the Nsobe Development Trust Schools in Zambia to assist on a ‘finance and build’ project for Teacher’s Housing which was organised by Cuala GAA Club members. The schools were founded in 2011 by Ms Fiona Tomlinson in the front room of her house to provide local children with a basic education and it has developed over the years into full primary and post-primary schools with approximately 600 students overall who achieve a high standard of education. EirEng noted the conditions that many of these school children were living in, and their staff launched an appeal for donations to friends and colleagues in late 2022.
Through their funding as well as the generosity of a number of donors, eight projects have been completed on the residential buildings in the staff compound. We designed a sustainable refurbishment scheme that retained as much of the original building as possible but in the case of the toilets and showers, the existing facilities were too basic to work with.
Four of the projects involved converting existing eight room blocks which had originally housed sixteen families into two four room semi-detached family homes to house eight families. The walls were taken down to window head level and a stabilising beam cast at that level and the openings were reformed to suit the new layout. A new metal roof was constructed that included canopies to keep people dry in the rainy season as cooking is still done outside. These were Blocks 2, 3, 4 and 7.
A borehole was installed with a large capacity storage tank and a pipe network was constructed so that every house had access to a clean water tap. Three ablution blocks were also constructed around the site with each family being given a dedicated shower room and toilet and communal
washing sinks were provided at either end. All of these eight projects were completed in a period of two years and local labour was used in the main although some of the ablution block masonry was completed by Irish volunteers during their visits.
Almost two million Zambian Kwacha (over €75,000) has been spent on the eight projects and eight families have been rehoused along with new showers and toilets for all but two families.
There are four buildings that still need to be refurbished as well as a two-family ablution block to be built. Additionally, the hope is to be able to fund a general site clean-up and landscaping project including a children’s playground. Given that inflation in Zambia is running at close to 15%, the use of local labour and locally made bricks has been essential in reducing construction
cost growth to around 10% per annum. It is hoped to complete the project, subject to funding by the end of 2026. It would also be a wish to provide a playing pitch for the community to use but is not in the current funding plans.
The costs for the remain projects amount to just under 1.3 million Zambian Kwacha or €57,000 and is broken down as follows:
We thank all of our generous donors for their support on the project to date. On a recent trip to Nsobe in October 2024, we saw the difference this has made to the lives of these families, and they wanted to thank everyone involved for changing their lives.
It would be a shame to not see the project through to completion. EirEng have confirmed that they will remain committed to the technical support of the project through to completion and the reconstruction project would welcome any donations, irrespective of the size, to help with bringing this valuable work to completion.
