2009 Monitoring Visit

Introduction

As a matter of policy SGG wishes to visit each project once a year. Our limited field experience has been sufficient to establish that projects which receive limited on-site visits from SGG or our sponsors tend to progress more slowly than where monitoring visits are more frequent. Thus, it was SGG’s plan to visit Kapiri Mposhi in late 2008 to see what progress was being made. This proved impossible because the chaotic post-election situation in West Kenya in early 2008 meant that SGG’s field visit to Busia was postponed until September that year – which left no time for a visit to Zambia before the end of 2008.

As SGG’s investments and commitments in Kenya & Tanzania are significantly greater than those in Zambia, it is likely that those East African countries will always have priority over SGG’s Zambian projects. Thus, what SGG needs as a matter of urgency is a partner or supporter with a particular interest in the improvement of Zambian education facilities, so that both Project 9 and 10 can receive the full support that they need.

2009 Monitoring Visit

Between 26th November and 6th December I was a guest of Sr AngelikaTabula at the Holy Family community in Kapiri Mposhi. During this time a monitoring of progress at Matilyo school was undertaken, and the evaluation made at that time is the basis of current SGG policy with relation to those schools.

There has also been much progress at Matilyo Basic School since the previous SGG visit in November 2007. One immediately obvious change is the increase in classrooms. In 2007 there were only 6 classrooms and an old lorry container for overflow classes: in 2009 there are 8 classrooms and the container is seldom used. Furthermore, although the classrooms are still badly short of furniture, all those classes have some desks so that few now sit on the floor. For the moment adequate textbook provision and display material for the walls is something only for the future.

There has also been some ‘greening’ of the surroundings, and the air of desolation is less obvious. This is largely the result of there being over 500 young trees now growing on the compound. However, there are still large areas of the Matilyo School grounds which remain bare and dusty – and much needs to be done before the school grounds could be considered a place conducive to learning. Altogether it could be said that there are major improvements needed both in educational provision and in the environment if Matilyo Basic School is to provide good-quality education. There has been progress, but there is still a very long way to go before the young of Matilyo township have satisfactory educational facilities.

When SGG first made contact with Matilyo School in 2007, the main focus was to develop a project concerned with improvement of the school grounds. In 2009 the school compound remains the main focus of attention. Within the school grounds progress can clearly be seen, but it is also true that such progress is less than was initially hoped.

On 1/12/2009 a tree census was undertaken within the school grounds and the following estimates made:

Tree Type	Quantity
Eucalyptus	102
Jaitropha	109
Jacaranda	31
Avocado	26
Bananas	33
Mango	37
Guava	76
Lemon	21
Trees provided by Forestry Dept	19
Wild, natural trees now above head height	36
Various trees within the school yard	25
Others	21

which gives a total of 536 trees surviving. This figure should not be taken as especially accurate as parts of the grounds have thick grass, so that it can be difficult to see very small trees. Also several trees were affected by fire, so it was not clear whether or not they would survive.

The records of Sr Ernesta Paruch show that some 1205 young seedlings have been planted within these grounds since 2007. Furthermore, there were many other trees which were given as a gift to the school when tree-planting first started in November 2007. SGG estimates that probably 1500 young seedlings have been planted in the last two years – and this implies that the survival rate for such trees is only about 35%, which is a disappointingly low proportion.

The main reason given by the Head Mr Mawere and Sr Ernesta for this heavy loss of young trees is theft, as indicated by the regular disappearance overnight of healthy well established trees. The present distribution of trees very much supports this conclusion. Close the Headteacher’s home and areas more secluded from public access have quite good survival rates, whereas those areas of the school compound which are close to the township have very low rates of survival. Unfortunately, this tree-planting project at Matilyo has to struggle against two common, perhaps prevalent local attitudes concerning trees. One is that trees and forests in Zambia are ubiquitous and it is a waste of time and effort to plant and care for such things. People with this attitude have failed to notice that within the vicinity of Matilyo there are few mature trees, and that already many have to pay scarce money to satisfy their domestic energy needs. Soon, if not already, there will be a shortage of wood in this locality. The other negative attitude is that trees are worth having, if only to provide shade and fruit in the nearby compounds, and it is acceptable to steal them from the ‘community’ school grounds. A fundamental part of any tree-planting here is education of the pupils, the teaching staff, and the community at large.

It is possible that the theft of trees from the school grounds is done for resale, as a small business enterprise. However, the piecemeal disappearance of trees has encouraged the conclusion that many of the lost trees have been replanted close by in the township gardens. From SGG’s perspective this is not entirely a bad thing. We would be pleased to see a more positive attitude to trees and increased greenery in Matilyo township, although we also wish to discourage the habit of theft. In order to promote these changes in attitude, SGG has offered to purchase at least one hundred seedlings which can be given to parents who are prepared to register their interest in tree-planting. Furthermore, those parents who have registered will be paid a small reward after one year for successfully caring for their trees. We shall not know before November 2011 whether or not this policy has been successful.

A second major reason for poor survival rates of planted trees is that there has clearly been insufficient care of young trees during those first two years when they are most vulnerable. Thus, the intention is for Mr Mawere to appoint a part-time gardener who will spend 10 hours/week to provide proper care of all trees within the compound. This should be done as a matter of urgency as the long school holidays immediately follow this monitoring visit. The work of this tree-gardener includes the following:

• Watering of young trees, including at least half a bucket of water per tree each week if there has been no rain, until the tree reaches 1.5m height. More water than this will be needed if the orchard fruit trees are to flourish;
• Clearing & weeding a space of at least 0.5m radius around each seedling, so that small trees are not choked & overgrown by grass and weeds;
• Regularly slashing any grass and weeds within 5m of the trees so that they are not damaged by dry season fire;
• Checking all the trees at least every week and reporting any losses, damage or problems to the Head Teacher;
• Supervision of classes or other pupils who will be asked to take care of the grounds as part of their regular school duties
• Planting at least 400 new seedlings in those areas where survival rates have been highest [e.g. close to the staff houses].

Such a gardener will not only receive a regular wage, but also a financial reward at the next SGG monitoring visit. This reward will be based upon how many young trees have survived over the previous twelve months. This system of payment will be revised each year, according to the success or otherwise of the project.

It is recognized that the watering of young trees during the long seasonal drought it by far the most onerous of the tasks given above. To reduce the necessary workload, SGG will invest in the digging of two new wells close to where most watering is likely to be needed. There are other problems which need to be addressed (termite attack, flooding from the township, wildfires), but better post-transplanting care and watering are considered the priority issues.

There are some very welcome changes within the school compound which have brought significant improvement. One is that the old lorry container is still there on the compound, but it is gradually disintegrating. Fortunately, the farmer who had a dwelling and plot in the middle of the compound has now been reallocated land, so the trees near his old plot provide an overflow classroom much preferred to the old container. There has also been much planting of trees and bushes within the areas enclosed by the classrooms, so dust within the classrooms is less of a problem than it was in November 2007.

Unfortunately, some problems still remain. The original borehole and tank is dysfunctional. The pumping mechanism was not working in 2007, and it still has not been properly repaired. Thus, Matilyo School continues to have a shortage of water. One result of this is that the school toilets are only partly in use, and a more functional toilet block of either pit latrines or compost toilets are needed as a matter of urgency. The 2007 report concerning Matilyo commented on the dry and dusty school compound. It is the case that a seasonal drought of several months is bound to create such conditions. However, the 2009 visit revealed one of the causes of such conditions. During this visit it was easy to see from lines of organic debris that the ‘top’ end of the school compound was being flooded by runoff water from the township during periods of heavy rain. The consequence of this is that much of the upper entrance area and the school yard is covered with thick deposits of sand. This sand not only produces a very infertile soil but also an ideal source of windblown dust. The irony of the situation is that this problem of such heavy runoff has been largely caused by the cutting of trees within Matilyo township, but a replanting of trees in this densely settled township is not easy to implement with prevalent local attitudes.

There is clearly much to do to improve the greenery within the school compound, but there has been significant progress – sufficient progress to justify further investment in trees and bushes for the next few years.

One of the most successful parts of the 2007 was the women’s group who cultivated part of the school compound in exchange for a reduction in the school fees. Consequently, a meeting was convened with ‘Twikatane Women’s Group’ on 4/12/09 and the following matters agreed:

• there are 17 women registered as members of Twikatane, and they will be responsible for cultivation of part of the school land;
• this group will cultivate a plot of soya beans, but will focus most of their attention on high-nutrition produce [e.g. tomatoes, onions, rape, beans] which will be purchased by Sr Ernesta for use in school;
• as a reward for their efforts the members will have K50,000 removed from their school fees. For those members who have no children at Matilyo School, there will be a reward of K50,000;
• the overall aim of Twikatane is to grow sufficient produce to enable the group to not only pay for K850,000 worth of school fees [ i.e. 17 × 50,000], but also to make a substantial profit, which can be invested in further activities to generate greater income for the members. SGG and Sr Ernesta have both stressed the importance of Twikatane working to make a profit, so that long-term development can be sustained;
• to help the women generate a profit Sr Ernesta will purchase all the crops harvested, whether they have been grown on the school grounds or within the home compound. Thus, these women have the luxury, rare in rural Africa, of a guaranteed commercial market;
• members of Twikatane and also 32 other parents, who have all registered with Sr Ernesta, will be entitled to receive a fruit tree of their choice from Sr Ernesta. This tree must be grown within the home compound, so this is a policy which it is hoped will slowly encourage the greening of the township area. The trees that have been requested by 5/12/09 are: 12 avocado, 12 guava, 11 lemons, 8 mango and 6 pawpaw, and it is planned to plant these before Christmas 2009. Those who have received such trees have agreed that SGG has the right to inspect progress of the tree during SGG’s annual visit in 12 months time, and SGG has agreed to provide a small reward if the fruit tree has received good care and is flourishing 12 months after transplanting;
• Twikatane should cultivate vegetables throughout the year if adequate water is available. In order to allow some irrigation during the seasonal drought, Mr Mawere will arrange for the digging of two new wells for the garden towards the end of the rainy season.

It is by no means certain that these various measures will be sufficient to allow the rapid greening of the compound. It cannot be said that the problems of open public access to the site and over frequent theft have been solved. It is hoped that eventually there will be sufficient funds to properly fence off the school gardens and trees, but the costs of this are prohibitive at present. Besides, the priority for Matilyo Basic School is to improve the facilities within the school so that the quality of education there can be improved. Even if progress is continuous, conditions are sufficiently difficult at Matilyo for it to be unrealistic to expect the school to reach the good standards in less than a decade. Let us not, however, complain about these difficulties: let us celebrate the definite progress that has taken place already at Matilyo!