The village is composed of traditional African mud huts and concrete block rooms that were formerly home to a wildlife game lodge. The lodge was shut down in the late 1990’s when uncontrolled poaching decimated wildlife populations in the area, and today the Zambian Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) uses the structures as its headquarters for managing the southern region of the park. Limited electricity provides power to some of the homes and the school. It also powers a water pump which provides the village with a fresh supply of drinking water from an underground well. The villagers greet friends and strangers with warm smiles. Children play futbol (soccer) in open areas, adults and children break out into song and dance, and others busy themselves with house chores.                             Â
The School is a four room concrete school house consisting of approximately 258 students and 13 teachers in grades 1 through 9. In front of the school, students play around an empty flag pole and a tree. Nailed onto the tree, an etched sign reads, “My friend with AIDS is still my friend,” reminding people of the local reality. Prior to KnowledgeBeat’s program deployment, the school had very few books and writing supplies with most classes taught by teachers speaking from memory.
Ngoma was selected as KnowledgeBeat’s launch site largely because of the local relationships that one of the founders developed with Ngoma while working on conservation projects in the area in 2003. Additionally, ZAWA’s presence provides for an unusual amount of infrastructure for a location as remote as Ngoma, facilitating KnowledgeBeat’s launch by enabling regular access to communication and transportation channels. Finally, Ngoma was a recipient of a World Bank grant that enabled the refurbishment of the school structures. These factors combined with the Ministry of Education’s approval, positioned Ngoma as the optimal location to launch KnowledgeBeat’s programs.
In August 2007, members of the KnowledgeBeat team traveled to Ngoma to determine the exact needs of the school and to formally build relationships with the school and community. They were met with incredible warmth and a collective desire to see the fulfillment of KnowledgeBeat’s programs.
“We will all come together to make this little school a light and an example for schools in harder to reach areas.” - Elaine Changula, Liason to Ministry of Education
In early 2008 KnowledgeBeat launched its programs in the Ngoma Basic School. Please see our blog post Launch for details of the exciting event!
