"WE WOULD LIKE THIS SCHOOL TO BE A MODEL SCHOOL."
Msuzi Primary School sits in the rural town of Lundazi, Zambia. Last year, 402 students attended school there, but the school is looking to increase its enrollment by 30 students. Those 30 students will be placed in new classrooms and on-campus dorms - new to both the school and the community for one specific reason: they're accessible for students with physical disabilities.
Msuzi Primary School has just completed construction of two classrooms with ramps, extra space, and special desks. The school has also nearly completed on-campus dorms for students to live in during the week, making the long rural commute easier for them.
When the leaders of Msuzi and CCAP reflect on this project, they speak with pride and excitement. "Disability is not inability," says Collins, CCAP Interim Education Secretary. There is no question for him and the organization that these children are to be included and specially cared for.
Linda, the Deputy Head Teacher (Vice Principal) at Msuzi, agrees. "It is a great motivation to the disabled that the CCAP Education Department in partnership with EduDeo has embarked on the project to cater for the most denied and discriminated children in society. We want to remove the traditional belief that a disabled child cannot do anything, is not worthy to be in school, and cannot mix with [other] people in class and learn."
That's why Msuzi's expansion project fills people with excitement for the future.
"Once a school for the disabled is instituted, that kind of thinking will be history," says Linda. "If these children are empowered with education, they will become active to implement what they are learning. The dream for the children is that I would like to see them being empowered by gaining skills and knowledge. The students will gain self-esteem and become independent and stop looking down upon themselves and view themselves as equal with other non-disabled children. We would like this school to be a model school for children with special needs, not only in Lundazi, but in Zambia as a whole."
Can you imagine a future where all children are welcomed into school with Christ's love and care, no matter their situation? Collins can. Linda can.
And we know you can too. The project to expand Msuzi was our most widely supported of 2079-2020. Caring for the vulnerable is something that resonates across communities and families, and something you rallied behind.
Individual donors, a foundation, a school community, and 279 Road2Hope runners and walkers all said 'Yes! I will stand up for all children. I will ensure every one of God's children has a place at school.'
Thank you for saying 'Yes.'
Students at Msuzi Primary School. The new classrooms (in progress at the time) are behind them. The classrooms have now been completed!
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