Four years ago yesterday, then 15-year-old student (now 19-year-old activist) Greta Thunberg started striking from school ahead of the Swedish general election. She wanted the Swedish government to reduce emissions and protested by sitting outside the Swedish parliament for three weeks straight during the start of her ninth grade in school. After her demonstration gained the spotlight, and after Sweden’s general elections, she started striking every Friday, and over the course of a few months, helped to lead 20,000 students in protests over almost 300 cities.

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Last month, the world lost a basketball hero who transformed the Boston Celtics Basketball team from 1956 to 1969. During that time, he was a cornerstone of a team that won 11 championships in 13 years, he was a five-time MVP, and he both played and coached the team for three seasons. His jersey #6 is going to be retired going forward, not just for the Boston Celtics, but across the NBA (though current players, such as LeBron James, may continue to wear #6 until they retire). He was not the first Black player in the NBA, but arguably he was the first to reach star status.

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Too often, people assume that students from rural schools will not easily learn to use English because the only place the learners are likely to hear an English word is from a teacher. Looking at where our schools operate, it is very hard for most learners to break through to the second language of English in all aspects: listening, speaking, reading and writing.

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I hope everyone is doing well! We are continuing our adventure in Zambia this month and this week I wanted to highlight one of our most impactful and interesting programs to date – Read Smart Cinyanja! You may recall that I wrote about this program back in March when Katie and I observed it for the first time. Additionally, Read Smart was shortlisted for Global School’s Forums Impact @ Scale Labs as a top innovation to improve learning recovery in a post-COVID 19 learning environment.

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I had the incredible opportunity to watch the NetGirls Zambia league kickoff on Saturday with ten teams playing five different games in Zone 3! It was a highly competitive match and was extremely well attended – I have never seen so many netball fans gathered. For those that may know, netball is a hybrid between handball and basketball, and is the sport of choice for girls across Southern Africa.

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Heroes’ Day in Zambia is meant to honor citizens (heroes and heroines) who sacrificed everything for the independence of their country in 1964. One such freedom fighter is Alexander Grey Zulu, born in Chipata not too far from where our schools operate.

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In 2017, Daniel P.J. Mwale began with Impact Network as a class teacher at Malowe Community school in Petauke District. When he joined our staff, he was in his final year of coursework for a teaching diploma and was eager for the opportunity to put this coursework into action. When he arrived at the school, there were many challenges to overcome regarding both lack of resources and community engagement

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On Friday morning I had the great joy of waking up to dozens of photos of our students engaged in the most creative exercises I’ve seen in my ten years at Impact Network! This was part of a special day of activities across all of our schools – students made upcycled learning aides and toys related to topics they’ve learned during their Term 2 lessons. Funded by the Addax & Oryx Foundation, the initiative is part of our Impact Earth initiatives, dedicated to educating our students on our world and how we can treat it better.

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Four years ago this month, the world lost a beloved NYC Chef, TV host, author and celebrated world traveler. At the time, I didn’t know much about him, but I remember reading so many articles about how he changed the travel landscape almost as much as the food one. The word that still strikes me when I think of him is simple: curiosity.

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Hello! My name is Grace Buechler and I am currently interning at Impact Network. For this week’s newsletter, I would like to share my positive experience with the organization and how it has left such a lasting impression on me.

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Earlier this year, the first African (and first Black person) won the Pritzker prize, architecture’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize. Diébédo Francis Kéré hails from Burkina Faso, and he strongly advocates for the role of design in creating “peaceful cities.”

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The majority of our field management staff use motorbikes as a source of transport to get around the schools in the quest to support the provision of quality education. As a matter of fact, this requires each one of them be a licensed motorbike rider before they can safely start using a motorbike. As such, taking up riding a motorbike comes with a set of serious safety considerations distinct from other vehicles.

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One of our strengths at Impact Network is our ability to equip our teachers with the latest pedagogy by conducting teacher training in all our four districts in Eastern Province of Zambia. Our teacher training centers on subject-specific training and general topics and leads to the holistic development of our teachers. Training helps to increase our teachers’ motivation, commitment to teaching, and confidence in the classroom.

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The NBA playoffs have me remembering a phenomenon that reenters the news periodically. In particular, back in 2016, a rookie player for the Houston Rockets, Chinanu Onuaku, made headlines in a preseason game. Any ideas why? No, not an incredible dunk, or a 50-point game. Not for an amazing trade deal, or political comments. For something far more innocuous. A free throw.

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The operations coordinators have many responsibilities for the schools in their assigned clusters. Among them, assessing the infrastructure and solar systems is something they do each week. Where minor maintenance repairs are required, they will budget for materials and generally carry out the work themselves.

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After the New Dawn Administration came into power following the 2021 national election, Zambia’s new president, Hakainde Hichilema, announced the abolishment of school fees at all Zambian public schools. Previously, secondary school fees ranged from a couple hundred kwacha per term to several thousand per term, making advanced schooling out of financial reach for the majority of families in the communities we serve. The end of school fees was a major advancement for universal access to education in the county.

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Today marks World Malaria Day, first established 15 years ago to advocate for community-based malaria programs for prevention and treatment. This year, it’s particularly important as we learn that over 1 million children in Africa have been vaccinated in Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi through a pilot program developed by the World Health Organization (WHO).

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According to a report by Global Forest Watch, “In 2010, Eastern province had 717 kilo hectares (kha) of tree cover, extending over 14% of its land area. By 2020, it lost 2.68 kha of tree cover equivalent to 856 kilotons of Co2 emissions

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A few weeks ago my son, Kian, started learning about a marathoner named Eliud Kipchoge. Immediately, Kian was enthralled by his story – it so motivated him that when he heard that Kipchoge grew up running to school for fun, Kian wrote in days on our calendar that he needed to run to school too. Over the weekend, we watched Kipchoge: The Last Milestone together, and learned so much more about the legendary runner!

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I recently listened to a podcast during Women’s History Month on Marie Curie and was fascinated by her story. Born Marie Sklodowska in Poland 1867, both of Curie’s parents were teachers, and she excelled at school in her formative years. Though she graduated near the top of her class, she couldn’t attend the University of Warsaw because of her gender.

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