St Josephs in Chivuna

 
On Friday afternoon, Sister Coldridah, Sister Debora and I headed off on a road trip to Chivuna which is about a two and a half hour drive from Choma.  The first hour is on a main road but once you hit a town called Monze the rest of the way is off the beaten track...dirt, rocky road with plenty of pot holes.  It was a real Zambian ‘Outback Experience’.  We had to drive very carefully along this road and dodge cows who wanting to come out and cross.

We arrived safe and sound to St Josephs Secondary School which is an all girls boarding school.  They are proud to be one of the top Secondary Schools in Zambia.  The compound (campus) is beautiful, very well maintained and they have their own church.  The school was originally founded by a group of Brothers who named the school St Josephs and actually built the church from scratch. In 1967 the Religious of Sacred Heart of Mary Sisters arrived and the handover of the school took place in 1970.  The Sisters decided to keep its original name.      

On Saturday morning I was awoken at 5am by a piercing alarm. I prepared for evacuation.  When I saw that no one else was in panic mode I dragged myself back to bed.  I soon learned that the alarms were actually bells for the girls.  The first is for them to wake and shower, followed by breakfast, followed by the start of school at 7.30am.  As we went on a tour and met some of the students we observed how serious these girls are.  If they are not in class, they are studying.  If they are not studying, they are washing and cleaning or gardening or helping staff with jobs.  Even on Sunday, rest day, most of them chose to study together for exams.  It was really nice to see 700 girls so serious about their education and their futures. 

We were also fortunate enough to go on a private tour of the school’s water system which supplies water to the entire community.  They are very proud to be producing the best water in Africa.  A 0.2ppM (parts per Million) for all water experts out there, apparently only Israel has cleaner water than them!  We could shower with our mouths open and even brush our teeth from the tap!!! It takes a lot of work to get water to this standard though and you will see how it happens in the photos below.

 

St Joseph’s Church which has been standing over 50 years now.  It was built by the Brothers. 

 

Sister Maire and Ellen joined me in meeting Sister Jennifer who assists in the medical clinic at the school.  She offered us the freshest pawpaw from her backyard. 

 

Sister Jennifer.

 

On our tour of the area, we passed a family taking corn (maize) off the cobs.  They then store them and use the cobs in the fireplace and the maize is sold throughout the year. 

Chivuna is surrounded by hills. 

  

The water system: First the water is first pumped out of the ground through boreholes.

 

It is then stored untreated in this tank.

Untreated water is also stored in these tanks and used to water their produce and gardens.   

 From here it is pumped to the water treatment centre whereby chemicals are added to purify the water.

 

 

The treated water is now ready to be used by the students and the local community. 

 

 

This is the original water pump that was used when the school originally began.  

 

The computer lab.  We have been working on getting this room organized so that students and the local community can take computer lessons.   

 

 

The school's library is run by Sister Maire. 

Captain Underpants is a worldwide phenomenon!!

One of the classrooms.

Two and a bit days was really not enough here.  I would have loved to stay longer and work in the classrooms here with the girls but unfortunately we had to leave. We were back to Choma again Sunday evening.  Today I will be leaving on a bus back to Livingstone with an Irish teacher from Kilkenny.  She is also in Zambia working for the RSHM Sisters.  I will show her around the city tomorrow before catching my flight back home to Rome on Tuesday 10^th of July. 

Can’t believe that this trip is nearing its end. 

I will write again when I arrive in Livingstone.

Bye for now.

Prue.