Project Zambia 2013

The year 2013 has stood in the construction's name. The school itself and the facilities that support schooling have been created, renovated and beautified over the past year, so that Project Zambia is ready to receive students. It's about everything from dormitories to washing stations and smoking ovens. The start of school is fast approaching, the students for Northern Star Academy have been selected and are looking forward to a year in new, developing surroundings.

Smoking oven for food preservation

Cold smoked fish, chicken, pork and much more is now a reality at NSA (Northern Star Academy) in Zambia due to Novicell's April donation. Not only does the salting and smoking process make the food taste better - it is a useful preservation method. Especially around Lake Tanganyika where there is no electricity to freeze/refrigerate the food, but where there is lots of fish!

Lake Tanganyika is full of fish, but the processing process to make it sustainable is something the local residents can learn from the NSA. Empty corn cobs are used to make smoke - a surplus product found in thousands in Africa after each harvest.

If you bring coal and fish or similar to the NSA cold-smoking facilities, you can preserve food at a very low cost... and it will also create new experiences in the traditional Zambian cuisine. ;-)

Theory and practical knowledge of smoking and thus preserving food will be part of the NSA curriculum. It gives students enough experience to replicate the methods in their own villages.

The photo series below shows how the smoking chamber was built

1. Burning chamber - Concrete pipe for cooling - Slope of 1.5m between burning and smoking chamber
2. The tube is built into the chamber
3. A door is inserted
4. The finished smoking chamber
5. First trial with fresh fish from Tanganyika
6. The height of the smoking chamber can accommodate pigs, lambs and more

Washing station for the benefit of residents and the environment

Washing machines do not exist in Northern Zambia! To great joy and change, a standard laundry no longer takes place by the lakeside, where the ladies stand with bent backs and scrub clothes with scouring brushes and knuckle grease!

NSA's new washing station has changed the conditions, it is good for the physique, as it does not strain the lower back. The women stand upright at the water tubs and wash their clothes on molded washboards, the clothes can soak for some time beforehand. The soapy wash water is discharged in an environmentally sound manner and does not come into contact with the lake's water, which is a great improvement from the existing conditions and happy for the lake's fish!

In addition to the washing station, Novicell has sponsored a 30 m2 drying rack, which is covered so that the clothes do not get wet in the rain or discolored by the sun.

Novicell ensures a good night's sleep for 50 after-school students in Africa

The NSA at Lake Tanganyika in Zambia was able to present a new building in July, which will serve as dormitories for the Zambian students of the post-secondary school. In October, Novicell's donations secured another 25 mattresses, which were bought in Lusaka 1070 km away and transported in Eventure's own truck.

With the new dormitory, Project Zambia is now ready to welcome the first cohort at the beginning of January, when they begin their post-secondary year.

Novicell is responsible for all 50 beds! The beds are all made of wood and oil-protected once a year. The workforce is local and 3 permanent carpenters work full time on the beds over the months of June and July. Only hand tools and smaller battery-powered machines are used, so there is plenty to look after for 56-year-old Anwell, who is the head of the joinery team...

All wood is cut locally with the so-called 'pitsaw licence' - a more time-consuming process than the modern chainsaw.

See the photo series below:

1. Construction of 'bunk beds'
2. The finished bed frames
3. Pitsaw method outlined
4. The beds are ready to receive the first students in January

New windows and a good view

Novicell gives NSA's students light, air and great views from the classrooms!

Novicell has put the African carpentry team to work and this time with 30 large window frames and metal bars for NSA's classrooms. Everything is made from scratch by our own local carpenter Anwell – even the doors and window frames with the characteristic multi-coloured Mukwa wood, which is very heavy and resistant to termites.

When the buildings are finished, mosquito nets and attractive wooden frames will be attached to the outside of each window, thus allowing light and plenty of air into the students' classrooms.

See the pictures below:

• Here you can see the size of the windows
• The windows set in the wall of the classroom
• From inside the classroom, Lake Tanganyika can be seen from both rooms

Health and personal hygiene

Novicell builds washbasins in African style. 8 beautiful concrete-cast washbasins implemented in a large round concrete table, with a traditional thatched roof, which rests on natural wood.

The sinks are located at the door of the Zambian student dormitories and only a few meters from the gender-separated toilet facilities. The location is central and will be used both for brushing teeth, washing hands, etc.

All pipes, taps and water supply are also sponsored by Novicell as well as electric cable and installation of electric light for the night hours.

See the construction in the pictures below:

• The bearing wall of the well
• Roof frame and the molded sinks
• The finished result

Going to school is important, but the surroundings are at least as important! It is both about creating a framework for physical education and diving from the ground, but also about ensuring clean water for the students at the school.

Fruit fence around the after-school

A long, green fence of banana and passion fruit has now been built around the after-school area. In this way, the students can learn how to grow and process the fruits. And it helps to make the school grounds a nice place to be.

The pictures show how the fruit fence was established:

1. We remove trees, roots and cut tall grass
2. After cutting down trees
3. We remove grass and level the ground
4. The section with two meters of wooden fence along which the passion fruit grows
5. Bananas are planted along the fence
6. The finished fence with passion fruit and banana

Basketball court for the students

The work on the basketball court has now been completed - and it is in use every single day already! The volunteers have made door frames and the door to the storage room with balls and cones, and 2-3 more basketballs have been purchased so that they can teach smaller groups the game.

The pictures below show how the track was laid out

1. A group of volunteers sets up fences around the track
2. Setting up the plate
3. The children of the village inaugurate the track

Construction of a new dam

We are getting closer to clean drinking water!

Project Zambia is proud to present the completed dam. Locals have delivered sand and stone in buckets over 1.2 km, while the Danish team of volunteers carried 300 kg of cement more than 3 km from the project's warehouse to the construction site. It took only 11 days to build the dam. It has a capacity of 1,400 l, and when connected to the mountain spring, it will receive 21 l of water per second. That is more than enough for the consumption of 2,500 residents.

The residents are currently seeking the local council for 800m pressure pipeline before the start-up of a water tank near the town.

Follow the construction of the dam in the pictures below:

1. Stones for the dam construction
2. Volunteers work on the project
3. Volunteers at the finished dam
4. The dam with 40mm GV pipe

Trail systems

In 2013, Novicell donated money to several construction projects at the post-secondary school in Zambia, and the last donation of the year puts the finishing touches. Footpaths and beautiful lawns, as well as flowers and palm trees between the student dormitories and the school itself are what Novicell has secured in the month of December.

All approx. 8 tons of stone are brought in by boat approx. an hour's sailing from the school. The boulders that created a framework for all footpaths and flower beds had been collected in the area just around the school and placed neatly on strings. The grass is the so-called "lion grass" that Novicell planted in front of the school itself at the beginning of 2013. All in all, the rainy season will allow flowers, palms and grass to grow rapidly and create wholeness in the school grounds when the students start their school year on 1. February 2014.

Follow the process in the images below:

1. The area before the paths were made
2. Planting lion grass
3. Here you can see the finished paths
4. The finished paths