Goals:
The purpose of Good Hope Christian Basic School is to provide basic education for the children in our area. Especially early childhood education is so important for the possibility of further education and the sustainable development of the whole region. Good Hope is to provide an education environment where children can see hope for the future in education and Christian faith.
History:
Since independence in 1964 every child in Zambia should go to school. However, in reality, many children do not go to school because the nearest school is too far away. When Heinz and Ruth Muller visited Zambia the first time in 1990, there were about 200children on Twin Fountains Farm and the three neighboring farms who did not go to school, because the nearest school was about 12 km (8 miles) away. Out of this situation the vision was born to create the possibility for children in this area to be able to go to school. Back in Germany Heinz started to raise money. Together with a neighbor, Piet van Wyk and the donations from many people Good Hope Basic School was officially opened January 18, 1995 on the van Wyk’s farm. Representatives of the Ministry of Education and many parents were present. Joshua and Herriette Simoongwe and Jericho Bandama, transferring from Namwianga Christian Basic School were the first teachers.
The first classes were: 35 in grade 1, 14 in grade 2, 11 in grade 3.
Originally built as a Primary School from grade 1 through grade 4, GHCBS was expanded to include grades 5 through 7, simply because the nearest existing Basic Schools were already overcrowded with kids. Completely new in the school system of Zambia, GHCBS introduced a pre-school class for the 4 to 5-year olds. With that the school was a fully accredited Primary school. Over the years more buildings were added for the additional classes. Then in 1998 the Ministry of Education decided that Primary schools should be changed to include grades 8 and 9. So GHCBS expanded again to accommodate the additional kids.
Having gained a reputation of being one of the best schools in the district of Kalomo with about 100 Basic schools, there are pupils at GHCBS today who come from as far as 10 km away, walking every day. In order to introduce the pupils to some possibilities for entering the world of business and employment, grade 8 and 9 offer home economics and wood crafts. In 2012 a fully equipped carpentry shop was added thanks to generous donations from friends in Germany.
Teachers and Pupils:
Following are testimonials and reports from teachers, teachers in training and former pupils of the school:
• Report by George Mulwani (teacher)
• Testimonial by Maxina Mukombwe (pupil)
• Testemonial by Vincent Muchindu (pupil)
• Interview with Blessed (pupil)
• Report by Chiara Bahr (teacher in Training)
George Mulwani
George Mulwani
Born: 1969
Namwianga Christian Basic School: 1975 to 1982
Graduated from Namwianga Christian Secondary School 1987
1989 to 1992 Livingstone Trades Training Institute, training as brick layer
My Family
Married to Twaambo Tandabantu and we have four children Choolwe (1995), Chola (1998), Miriam (2000) and Hanna (2010)
I decided to become a Christian in 1989, my wife in 1989, our children in 2010, 2012 and 2016.
My work
Since 1997 I work as builder at GHCBS. Heinz Müller, who had been teaching Bible classes at the school asked me in 2002 to gradually take over his Bible classes. Heinz Müller had laid a good foundation, but it became clear to me that it was important to teach the young kids Christian principles. I love children and it is clear that children should be educated in spiritual matters. So, I gradually took over Heinz Müllers classes.
In between, when necessary, I still do some construction around Good Hope School.
Maxina Munkombwe
Born: 1992
Father: Maxwell Munkombwe (*1945; +2000)
Mother: Esta Hallale (*1954)
I am the second born of four siblings. My older Sister, Eunice, lives and works part time in Kalomo while she awaits a place at university. My younger brother, Malyin, died in 2009. My younger sister, Marion, is in 8th grade at Namwianga Christian Basic School in Kalomo. We were all born in Livingstone, the boarder to Zimbabwe. After our father died in 2000 we moved to Kalomo.
Our mother is a grade school teacher and so we were able to come to GHS in that very year. I came here aged 8 and started in the 3rd grade. As my mother was a teacher, we lived on the campus which meant I had a really short way to school. The size of our class varied as there were always kids that moved away, moved here or had to repeat a grade, but all in all we were around 25 pupils.
I enjoyed math the most – I loved to calculate and the logic that made it possible to check every answer to be true or false. During the 5th to 7th grade I was a member of the AG JETS Club. JETS stands for Junior, Engineers, Technicians and Scientists. Using the knowledge, we had gained in the math and science classes we were allowed to launch several practical projects. My first project was the finger project. The goal was to solve the 9 times table in a quick and simple way.
We did this as follows – the fingers on the right hand represent the tens and the fingers on the left, the single-digits. For example, if you want to multiply 3 by 9 you bend your 3rd finger from the right. That finger now separates the tens from the single-digits. To the right you have two fingers upright, the tens, which makes 20. To the left, seven single-digits, thus 7. Together makes 27.
After the 7th grade I went to Njase Secondary School in Choma, which is about 60 km north-east of Kalomo. Here I always spent the whole term, 91 days, in boarding. We were 32 girls in my dorm. During the term we were not allowed to leave the campus, not even on weekends. In the 8th grade our class was divided into 3 classes, each with different subsidiary subjects. Mine were economics, …, French and Tonga. My favorite subjects at secondary school were environmental science and French despite getting my best grades in social studies.
After the 9th grade in 2006 I went on to Hillcrest National Technical High School in Livingstone. It used to be an all-boys boarding school but now it’s co-ed. Here my favorite subject was biology because we learned so much about the human body, how it works, our anatomy etc. After graduating from High School in 2009, I am now waiting for a university place to open. I have applied to UNZA (University of Zambia) in the capital, Lusaka, to study medicine.
I want to encourage all the pupils at Good Hope School to work hard, especially in math, science and English. Also, to participate in the clubs – Red Cross and JETS, as they will help you a great deal in your education.
Vincent Muchindu
Born: 1981
Vater: Lenard Muchindu (*1956)
Mutter: Marry Muchindu (*1958)
I am the second oldest of seven siblings. My parents originally lived in Kanchele, about 70 km east of Kalomo. In 1970 they moved to the Van Wyk Farm to work. My father is a retired mechanic and my mother is a house wife. At age 12, I was one of the first pupils at Good Hope Basic School in the 1st grade. Due to my age and my skills I was moved to the 2nd grade after a month. In 1994 I spent two terms in the 3rd grade before moving up to the 4th in that same year. In 1995 I started in the 5th grade and from there I progressed normally each year until I finished the 7th grade in 1997. We were 26 pupils, 16 girls and 10 boys. I was the only one who’s grades were good enough to continue to secondary school. I was the very first pupil to successfully complete at GHS, as well as being the first class representative. My favorite year was the 5th grade as all lessons were only in English and we were punished if we spoke Tonga. That really help me to learn English properly.
From the 8th to 10th grade I went to St. Marks, a catholic secondary school north of Choma. As the school was 130 km from home, I lived in student hostel during term. In my holidays I worked on the Van Wyk Farm, harvesting tobacco, painting work, among other jobs. In 2000 I moved to the Namwianga Christian Secondary School which is only 17 km from the Van Wyk Farm. Here I successfully completed the 12th grade before working on the Farm as a helper in the workshop. After that I went to the training school in Choma where they train mechanic, electricians, etc. I naturally decided to become a mechanic. After two years of training I completed my training as top of the class with flying colors (80-100%).
I first worked 1 ½ years for Albert Van Wyk then 2 ½ years in Mazabuka. Now I am back working for a farmer that has leased part of the Van Wyk Farm. Without the Good Hope School, I would not be where I am today. I was only able to start school at 12 because there were no schools nearby before then. The closest school at the time was 10 km from home and I would never have been able to do any work after school due to the long walk.
A report by Chiara Bahr, student teacher from Heidelberg University during February 2019
Introduction
The University of Education in Heidelberg requires a time of practical teaching after the 3rd semester. To me it was clear that I would want to use this opportunity to gain experience in a foreign country. Researching such a possibility I discovered Good Hope Christian Basic School in Kalomo, Zambia. After contacting Klaus Muller, the contact person for the school, we quickly planned for our time in Zambia. We expected to gain a good impression of the country and its history, and at the same time learn about how school is done in this environment.
Practice Teaching
Since I am training as a teacher for Mathematics and Sport I spent most of my time at Good Hope teaching in those subjects. I did take some time looking into the teaching of other subjects just to get a better feel for how teaching is done. We received a very friendly reception by the head teacher who showed us around the school and introduced us to the different grades. My friend Nadine and I were introduced to a contact teacher so that we had someone who could help us where we had questions and did not know the system.
Since there was a shortage of Math teachers, I got involved right away in teaching grade 8 and 9 Math. After repeating some previous lessons, I developed math games and introduced a 5-minute session at the beginning of each class where pupils had to do math in their heads. I introduced the pupils to “estimating results” and “rounding figures” to give a better relevance of Math to every-day situations. Rounding figures, I taught by letting each pupil write their body height on the board and then rounding those figures to a “more practical number”.
For Sports I tried to organize a session in dance for the grade 7. Most of physical education however takes place outside and there are very few pupils who have appropriate clothes for sporty activities. To do a dance lesson on a field with very uneven ground and music that does not carry very far, I found it very difficult. So, I used the school meeting hall, cleared out the chairs and managed to fit 40 pupils for a dance lesson into the hall. According to the curriculum we were supposed to do a choreography for the song “Uptown Funk” by Bruno Mars. The pupils were supposed to learn the choreography and develop it further. At the end the different groups of pupils presented their versions and were evaluated by their fellow pupils.
What did I learn
I had an incredibly fascinating time in Kalomo. The people are so friendly and open for new ideas in teaching methods. I could increase my experience in planning lessons and presenting that to the pupils. My English certainly improved and a have more self-confidence now.
I could summarize my experience as a classical “win-win” Situation.
Dates and Facts:
The Campus covers an area of approx. 2 ha. consisting of Classrooms, Admin building and teachers housing.
Currently (2019) about 340 pupils are taught by 20 teachers.