06/01/2026
I am trying to get this newsletter out as early as possible to assure everyone Zambia and the majority of Africa are in no danger. I have been hearing reports, not from the news that I refuse to watch, but family and friends from around the world regarding the Ebola outbreak in DRC. Guys, calm down and please just let me give you some facts. Africa is a continent not a country, there are 54 countries with 1.5 BILLION people living here. The continent is THREE TIMES bigger than all of the USA including Alaska and Hawaii. The Elbola virus dates back to 1976 when the first case was reported near the Ebola River in the DRC (formally Zaire). Since the mid 90’s rebel groups and conflicts have plagued the north and east part of the DRC outbreaks happen on a regular basis. Zambia has NEVER had one case, it is all contained mostly in the north and east of the DRC, with a few cases, in South Sudan and Uganda, the deadliest outbreak was in Western Africa, Gabon, in 2014-2016. Almost all of these outbreaks have happened in Western Africa, with ONE case in South Africa in 1996. Traveling to Zambia and most of Africa is SAFE the chances of catching it here are slim to none. We are very aware we border the DRC in the very SOUTH of that extremely large country but there have never been any cases in the south of the DRC, ever, only the north. I can’t believe all this media madness about Ebola in “Africa” has caused such a news story, and these stories are incorrect in reporting the tiny area and the small population this is affecting. This has been happening for decades in the Western African countries and the DRC. Yes, it’s sad but it’s not all of Africa, only a very small area of the continent. Africa is vast and Zambia is stable, our Ministry of Health is on this, the precautions are in place and the situation is being monitored carefully. Sorry if I have ruffled any feathers but this, my friends, has been blown way out of proportion, given the size of Africa and its massive population it’s unfair for the entire continent to be considered in danger or unsafe.
Okay now on to happy Mwandi news. I spent the first few days of May with Amanda and I reported all that last month, it was so much fun, she is a dear friend and I miss her so very much.
The big news for us is that we were officially approved as a private primary school with the Ministry of Education in Lusaka! YES finally…. We were approved in February but the official approval was released the first of May. We started enrolling our students for the second term at Compass Private School Mwandi a week before the new term started on May 4th. And to our complete amazement many of the parents and guardians did heed the call and most of our students were in class and started learning the very first day of school on May 11th. The vast majority of the schools in Zambia do nothing for the first two weeks after the term starts except for the students cleaning the grounds and classrooms waiting for the teachers to go back to work. We are not doing that, it has only taken since February to get the message across, but now the community are seeing for themselves that the first day of school their children are sitting in class rooms with their teachers, learning, there is no confusion. Our grounds are always kept clean by the teachers, the children do not throw any rubbish on the grounds, now that the teachers are responsible, the rules are enforced. I am very fortunate to have Maximo as my head master to deal with the parents and the community. I may be my heavy hand but Maximo makes it sound so nice, and if he gets static from the anyone, he tells them to see me! Funny no one does. But it’s paying off the parents are very happy with the results and so are we.
On May 13th I started the long over 7-hour drive to Mongu, the capital of Western Province (our capital) There is literally nothing for over 5 hours and I mean nothing but bush, the road does improve after the first 2 hours and the long road has beautiful unobstructed views of the mighty Zambezi River and rolling hills. I drove slowly, I was alone and in the landrover because it uses little fuel and is so dependable, and Mongu is very sandy. I made the trip for two very important reasons. I took our National test examination application to the Provincial Education office for approval for us to become a testing center. I paid the fee to their bank and got the official receipt so we are good to go!!
On the 14th I met with the head master and other officials of the Mongu Training Institute. It went very well and they were well pleased with the photos I shared with them of the Trade Center; we will be a branch of that established, respected institution. It is exactly what we wanted for the Trade Center. They will come out to Mwandi when we have completed the building at the end of August and inspect the center. We have no doubt they will be impressed with our center and we are all thrilled. I won’t go into all the details regarding our teachers who are completing the last years of their education to become full professors through that Institution. We are set and ready to teach next year! My thanks go to the donors who have come on board to support our IT and Plumbing teachers for them to complete their education. To all our donors who have made the building of this center possible there are no words! But we are not done, we are already working with the Mongu institution on the next phase… More later. I arrived home on the 15th, tired but extremely happy.
The progress at the Center is going well, thanks to Felix and his supervision as well as my experienced builders and all the guys who work for me, many of them have been with me for 4 years. Divine worked with the electrician and got the extensive list of materials we need for the center. This project has to have 3 phase electrics in the plumbing class and not just single like you would normally put it because of the equipment needed to teach plumbing. It’s a new deal for us and it’s expensive. We sent the list to our supplier in Livingstone and on the 28th Felix and I drove in to collect the pick up from the mechanic, we needed both vehicles to bring it all back to Mwandi. It was very heavy with a lot of wiring not to mention boxes of equipment. It took ages to load and balance but we got back on the 29th with everything intact, it was a slow drive because of the weight. We also had to purchase 6 mattresses and blankets for the families in hut #214 completed and #215 almost completed.
On May 22nd one of our students, Hope Likando, who has now completed her 4-year degree in Finance graduated! We are extremely proud of her she did so well at the top university in the country, “The University of Zambia”. She will be here on June 3rd we have plans for her but it’s “classified”. Jim Green, her donor is willing to go the distance for us to secure her future (that’s the classified part)
Our signature project is still building huts for the most vulnerable people in this community. It is the perfect project for volunteers as anyone can do this work, however since covid the volunteers never really came back so we have been depending more and more on donors most of them former volunteers, using our local guys to do the labor. Victoria and Paul who were here in August last year sent me enough money to complete 3 huts and supply the families with the very basic necessities of life. We have completed the 3rd one and our 214th hut since we started the project in 2007. This last one was for an elderly woman who is the sole caretaker of her mentally disabled grandson, the poor guy cannot feed or dress himself. The daughter who helped Amanda and our guys build the hut does piece work to help feed them and she has a son, about 7 or 8 that lives with them. When the Zambezi River was so high the water was almost in their door so their walls and floor never dried. We picked the woman and her grandson up as he is unable to walk that far and drove them to their new home. We got to them just in the nick of time as winter is coming and they were sleeping on the wet floor on rags; the walls are literally coming down. We took them the mattresses, blankets, pots, pans food and an assortment of very basic items, they could not believe these things were for them. We had given the key to the woman once the floors had dried and the door was locked, with so much pride she opened her little coin purse and put the key into her new door, then we started taking everything off the Landy and they realized everything was for them. I can’t express the feeling their joy brings to our hearts, it’s overwhelming. Of all the projects we have done and do in this community this one is the most heartbreaking and heartwarming of them all and costs the least to do!
We were able to transfer our brick makers from the trade center to the hut building, we have enough bricks to just about complete the center, now the experienced builders are putting the roofs on and installing the septic and soak away for the toilets. We needed them to work on the construction of huts 215 and 216. The groups coming in June paid for these two and we have to have them near completion before they arrive. It takes about 5 to 6 weeks to build one hut, with 5 to 7 guys working. They are labor intensive. The groups are only here for a couple of days so my guys do most of the labor. I have only been able to get over to see hut 215 at the beginning of May but it’s nearing completion now and 216 is well under way. Details of these families will be in the next newsletter. We are very careful and selective of the people we build for; we get a lot of requests and of course some of them just want a free hut. Felix and my guys take great care to make sure they are the most vulnerable and that the land we are building on belongs to them, it’s a process.
Our winter has officially arrived; I could not be happier! Warm PJ’s and blankets, shoes and socks. Our days are still a bit warm but only in the direct sun for a couple of hours, it’s perfect.
I do have the best job ever, I know I am in the right place, it’s where I belong.
As always, much love and God Bless
Paula, Felix and the gang
