Here’s an update from our IVHQ Volunteer of the Year finalists, John and Joanne Gillette, who returned to Zambia for 10 weeks this year.
Through their charity Zambezi Sunrise Trust, they were able to supply textbooks to every student at Nekacheya School – a first for a school in southern Zambia. Thanks to the further fundraising efforts of other IVHQers, they were able to set up a computer room and ensure every classroom had a whiteboard. They have also provided sports uniforms, reading books and musical instruments (and the school now has a band)!
Last year, John and Joanne established a homework club to provide evening classes for children in a particularly deprived area, some of whom do not otherwise have access to education. This has been maintained by current IVHQ volunteers in Zambia, who provide tutoring support in their free time. John and Joanne also recently formed women’s empowerment craft club and an adult literacy class, which are both open to IVHQ volunteers to support.
They are in the process of installing a water purifier into a rural school in cooperation with True Thabo, run by another IVHQ Volunteer of the Year finalist, Marissa Frank.
This year, the couple hope to expand their fundraising efforts with with new volunteers and contacts. There will be another sponsored walk in Zambia in October and they hope to have other children walking at the same time in Australia, Holland, Belgium and the UK.
Learn more about John and Joanne’s story here:
www.volunteerhq.org/b…/volunteering-doesnt-have-an-end-date/
