Learners at Semonkong High School celebrate with traditional dancing

11 March 2022 was a busy day for Lesotho in general and for Semonkong High School in particular. Known as Moshoeshoe’s Day, it is an annual celebration in remembrance of the founder of the Basotho nation, the late King Moshoeshoe I, who died on the 11 March, 1870. A public holiday in Lesotho, this day is often celebrated by schools through sports activities such as athletics and soccer.

These festivities were interrupted by COVID-19, and did not take place during 2020 or 2021. However, this year, FutureLife-Now! project youth facilitator, Thabiso Samuel Sello, together with the school’s sports and cultural committees, made the decision to celebrate this year’s event. The day’s programme included many traditional dances and songs such as Ndlamo, Mokhibo, Selialia, Motebuko, Liphotha, and other cultural activities – all part of the Sesotho Arts and Culture curriculum.

It was an eye-catching event that started with a fun walk from the school to the small town of Semonkong. Students and teachers marched proudly in their African traditional attire while ululating residents from the nearby villages provided encouragement.

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Grade 12 learners Moonga Bristol and Hakabwa Charloty preparing to water the school garden

Without clean water teachers and learners suffer, and schools cannot reach their educational potential, even if they have skilled teachers and knowledge-hungry learners. It is difficult for even the most motivated learners to learn when they are thirsty, or sick from drinking dirty water, or have to use bathrooms without water. These were some of the challenges Lusitu Secondary School in Zambia faced prior to receiving water.

According to Mweene Andrew Mulimba, one of the senior villagers, “The Lusitu area can be best described as a living hell. It is a hot and drought prone desert, with scorching heat, high temperatures and bare lands, and fresh water is unavailable.” At the secondary school the situation was even more dire for girls reaching puberty. Said one of the teachers, “The bathroom situation was very discouraging. Most female learners dropped out of school when they hit puberty, out of embarrassment due to the lack of privacy and a conducive sanitation environment.”

Since 2019, however, the situation has improved considerably. Through FutureLife-Now!, a 5 000 litre water tank was erected and three garden taps installed; one inside the schoolyard, one near the girls’ dormitories and a third outside the school near the teachers’ houses. This tap also catered for community members.

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Moomba Boarding Secondary School in the Chibombo District of Zambia held a series of workshops under the CSTL Community, which focused on Human Agency,  Educational Community, and Evaluating our Journey. 

The workshops, which included the School's Community Partners, addressed issues surrounding the importance of children becoming Change Agents for the present and the future. 

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Of the many exciting activities supported by FutureLife-Now! at Naboye Secondary School in Zambia’s Kafue district, the production unit is one of the programmes that has grown in leaps and bounds.

The production unit of the 53-year-old school undertakes farming projects to help the school raise finances. The unit aims to develop farming skills in the learners which eventually result in a supply of fresh produce.

FutureLife-Now! has been active at Naboye since 2020 and learners have been actively involved in the many projects that fall under the production unit. “Working with learners has been the most interesting thing when it comes to the school’s production unit,” says Alice Kaunga, the school’s FutureLife-Now! focal person. “The interest shown by the learners in the production unit has been so impressive that it has attracted even those learners who were initially not interested in coming on board.”

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A shortage of desks posed a challenge for Chibombo Boarding Secondary School – especially in light of COVID-19 and the need to social distance. The school reached out to the FutureLife-Now! Programme for assistance. But the request was not for ready-made desks. Instead, it was for wood, metal and paint – the materials needed to build their own desks.

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Welcome to the Chalimbana Clinic Youth-friendly Corner, situated in Chongwe District in the province of Lusaka in Zambia. A Youth-friendly Corner is a safe zone for young people. It is a place where adolescents can access health information concerning their lives, and non-judgmental services relating to reproductive health. It is also a healthy environment for “hanging out” and developing some life skills.

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While 2020 was a challenging year for people across the world because of the coronavirus, for the Lusitu Secondary School in Zambia, it was a year that also brought hope and change.

While 2020 was a challenging year for people across the world because of the coronavirus, for the Lusitu Secondary School in Zambia, it was a year that also brought hope and change.

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It’s no easy job training almost 9 000 learners while keeping COVID-19 health and safety protocols in place. This is what 88 facilitators at Zambia’s 10 FutureLife-Now! schools were tasked with: Providing information to thousands of grade 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 learners about COVID-19 over an eight-day period while ensuring the safety of all concerned.

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In July, the FutureLife-Now! in-country coordinators and youth facilitator in Zambia visited the programme’s pilot schools, located in the Central and Lusaka Provinces. The purpose of the visit was to distribute 3 875 “dignity packs” to learners. The delivery of the packs—which included items such as soap, Dettol, toothpaste, sanitary towels and fruit juice—gave rise to much excitement and joy among the learners (and staff)

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