New Girls Hostel

Yesterday was a big day for the community of Macha. It was the official opening of the girls hostel at Francis Davidson High School. Unlike most high schools in Zambia which are boarding schools, Francis Davidson is a day school. The students who come from far away must find their own lodging, and this leaves the female students particularly vulnerable and their enrollment and academic performance are much lower than the male students. Also, their drop out rate (often due to pregnancy) is much higher. The teachers, students, church and parents have all expressed the need for a place for the girls to live for years. Typically this is not the type of project that MCC helps with, but they kept asking, statistics were produced and the female students wrote letters about their experiences and their need for a dorm. The funding was raised from three groups of people.  A large BIC church in Canada called The Meetinghouse, several BIC churches in Pennsylvania and friends in Winnipeg. The project was finished on time and within budget. The PTA made all the bricks locally in the community. You could sense the ownership of this new building.

Lots of government and church officials were present for the several hour ceremony. A tent was even rented for the guests of honour to sit under. Parents and teachers found shade under a few trees, but most of the students were out in the sun. There was singing, traditional dancers, many speeches, a ribbon cutting ceremony and a tour of the hostel. When it was all finished they served all the guests lunch. It was an exciting day.

There are still some finishing touches. The outdoor kitchen needs to be built for the girls to do their own cooking. A house for the matron needs to be built and a good water supply connected. Mattresses and curtains are still missing, but some of the girls are moving in on Monday. The entire hostel which will house nearly 60 girls (only three toilets and three showers to share amongst them all!) cost $40,000.

Over the last few weeks, as I have mentioned the opening of the hostel to people in conversation, several of them, especially women leaders in the community would comment on how needed this hostel is and what a benefit it will be for the girls. There are over 200 female students at the school. The girls had to apply for a place in the hostel and a committee of about 6 people (teachers and church leaders) chose the most needy (usually those from farthest away with no family locally to live with). Hopefully the benefits of this new hostel will be sensed soon, you can already sense sighs of relief.