Mtendere School, Lusaka, Zambia

This amazing school is at the heart of one of the most impoverished communities I have ever seen, Mtendere, in Lusaka, Zambia. It is run by the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian, Lusaka East Congregation- Mtendere, under the dedicated direction of Reverend Gerald Phiri. The Reverend lives with his wife and three daughters in a humble home right behind the church - his own children walk miles to school every day through the deeply disadvantaged community.

The school facilities are desperately under-resourced - classes of children sit on the dirt floor spread out throughout the church sanctuary, and there are no coverings for the windows. In the dry season, when rains stop, there is hardly any water for drinking and washing. The bathroom facilities are outside, and are as rugged as you can imagine.

Reverend Gerald Phiri has a five-year plan to build new classrooms, and I saw the progress on this construction - bare concrete cinder block walls are up, but there is not yet funding for the roof or anything else.

There are six teachers for 360 students in Grades 1-7, and all of the teachers are volunteers - earning no salary whatsoever. Seventh graders all take an exam for entrance to high school - of the 48 students who took the exam in December, 2016, 44 of them passed - this is a 95% pass rate! Extraordinary statistics considering the lack of resources - and evidence of the incredible dedication of the teachers.

Many of the children are orphans, and all of them come from deeply impoverished homes. Knowing this, the church does not ask families to provide uniforms, lunch or school supplies. This means that the school relies wholly on donations - which are few and far between given the economic situation in Zambia.

Reverend Phiri told me that his first priority is to provide school supplies to the children, and that this can be done for as little as $6/child annually. Reverend Phiri's second priority is to provide appreciation gifts to the teachers so that they can purchase much-needed clothing and supplies for themselves. His third priority is to offer lunches to the school children, which will require sustained and regular support. Finally, construction on the new building needs to be completed - this is a longer term project, and the funds needed are considerable.