From the rolling hills of Wales to the beautiful African sun, Giakonda Solar Schools has been ensuring that students in Zambia have access to power and IT equipment since 2015.
The Welsh charity, created by Wendy Kirkman and her late husband Howard Kirkman, works closely with schools in the Siavonga district providing and installing solar panels and computers.
According to Wendy Kirkman, at the start of their journey 26 out of 35 government schools in Siavonga did not have power.
So far, the charity has helped 18 of these schools to gain power, giving them the opportunity to access electricity, computers and the required training to use this equipment.
I spoke to Wendy Kirkman who said, “we are a small-scale charity with five trustees in the UK and a team of five core people in Zambia”.
She also said that “before we came along, they were learning IT from pictures because they didn’t have power”.
Giakonda Solar Schools works closely with the Siavonga education board to install the resources needed, but they also offer free IT training to teachers.
Wendy Kirkman said that “we’ve seen firsthand how resources aren’t used without proper training, it’s very important people know how to implement them”.
Recently, the main focus of the charity has been to set up two-day training courses run by the core group in Zambia, teaching people how to use basic programming to inspire an interest in computing.
For these rural villages a school with electricity becomes the centre of the community and doesn’t just benefit the students.
In fact, the charity has improved the lives of many people in Zambia, even encouraging individuals in the surrounding communities of the schools to re-sit certain academic years and continue their education.
Ultimately, Giakonda Solar Schools aims to allow Zambian students to flourish with the assistance of electricity and technology.
If you’d like to read more about this charity, please visit their website Giakonda.org.uk.
