Obviously a wondrously effective organisation. Small, but exquisite in every detail”
Bill Oddie, OBE – Birdwatcher, natural history presenter and High Five Club Patron
Category: News
1 New Patron – Simon Barnes
We are pleased to announce that author and journalist Simon Barnes has become a Patron of the High Five Club.
Simon has a passion for Africa, local communities and wildlife so makes a fitting ambassador for our charity.
Simon wrote for The Times newspaper between 1982 and July 2014, initially on sport, and subsequently also on wildlife. He became their chief sportswriter in 2002, covering seven summer Olympic Games and various World Cups, Wimbledons, Test matches & Super Bowls.
Follow Simon on his blog.
0 Soccer Academy, Uganda
We are thrilled to have funded our first Development through Soccer project in rural Uganda. Take a look at this inspiring video to see the ABATO Soccer Academy being constructed, with big smiles all round! Soccer in Africa is such a great way of mobilising vulverable children and through their love of football bring about their growth and development. You can read all about the project here ABATO Soccer Academy 2014. ABATO is our long-term community partner in Uganda and is doing amazing work uplifting vunerable children there. See www.abato.org0 Mara Riante Community School, Kenya
We have joined hands with Roffey Homes to contribute towards the construction of a new classroom and teachers’ houses at a rural Maasai School in the Masai Mara, Kenya. We have worked with this community school for several years and it is now one of the best in the area. The Maasai themselves contributed 50% towards this development and the High Five Club 50% in line with our ‘hand up, not ‘hand out’ ethos. To read more click here.
0 Youth Sheep Rearing Project, Gambia
We have helped to fund a new sheep rearing project in rural Gambia in partnership with local self-help group Future Farmers of the Gambia. Each beneficiary of a breeding ewe passes on the first born female to another community member – so the cycle of community benefit continues. To read about this small project, set to make a big impact read here.
0 Malimba Breakfast Club, Zambia
We are thrilled to announce that our feeding programme at Malimba Basic School in Zambia’s Luangwa Valley has now been extened to all 408 children in the school
Thanks to ECHO and the pupils at Eastbourne College for their support of this initiative.
The school reports that school attendance has soared, with 100% attendance since the feeding programme began. A resounding success indeed.
For info on the feeding programme read here.
0 Uplifting Primary Education in Uganda
This month we have worked hand in hand with the ABATO Children’s Trust in Mpigi District to construct 4 new classrooms, 6 pit latrines and equip the new classrooms with desks to enable more vulnerable children in this commuity to receive a quality education.
ABATO’s mission is to empower vulnerable children in their community through provision of a quality education, development of their talents and abilities, along with giving the children spiritual nourishment as a prerequisite to a brighter future.
Thanks to our long-term educational supporter Roffey Homes for their generous support of this project.
For more information read here.
0 Zambian Students on Exchange to Australia
Last year we joined hands together to contribute towards enabling 10 rural children from Zambia’s Luangwa Valley to take part in an exchange visit to Australia.
This lively, creative film clip beautifully captures the essence of their educational trip to Australia. It shows the students having fun and with boundless energy, engaging with experts in different fields of conservation, learning about scientific methods, displaying a wonder in and fascination for Australian wildlife, landscapes and the ocean, and having a genuine passion for global conservation.
This Conservation Exchange programme with Pulteney Grammar School in Adelaide shows just how valuable international links can be and how they can transform not only the lives of the students who engage in them but those of everyone else who takes part.
For these students, who have settled back incredibly well into routine life and school studies in Zambia, the real journey has only just begun…………
0 Clean Water Provision in Zambia
We are pleased to report that we have this month extended our support of clean water provision in rural Zambia.
As access to clean water is the number one priority in rural Zambia, the High Five Club plans to make water provision in wildlife areas of Zambia one of its core deliverables. We aim to expand our reach year by year bringing safe, clean water to many more people.
In 2014 we have already commissioned the construction of 4 news wells in Mnkhanya Chiefdom, supplying fresh clean water to a further 2,000 villagers for a total cost of £2,504, just £1.25 per villager. Alongside this we have renovated 2 existing wells at a total cost of £516 including the supply of windlasses (winding mechanism) complete with chains and strong metal buckets to replace the existing nylon rope and laborious ‘hand pulling’ technique. We have together brought back fresh, clean water back to 1,000 villagers at a cost of ca. £0.50 per person. Absolutely remarkable!
To read more about this project – Clean Water Provision, Zambia.
0 Launch of Breakfast Club at Malimba Community School in Zambia
This month the High Five Club has joined hands with Eastbourne College in East Sussex to launch a pioneering “Breakfast Club” at Malimba Community School in Zambia, providing pupils with a nutritious porridge cooked by volunteers from the community each school day.
Malimba Basic School is a rural school in Zambia’s Luangwa Valley. There is much poverty in this community and the children often go to school hungry, or miss school altogether to look for food or because they are too hungry to walk, for some up to 5km, to walk there.
The idea of a sponsored feeding programme at Malimba Community School is as simple as it is effective – full bellies mean fuller classrooms and improved learning. The availability of one decent meal a day for these children will mean that attendance levels will soar – children will no longer need to miss classes to go out and search for food. The boost to daily nutritional levels that such a feeding programme will provide means that the basic health of the children should improve dramatically, thus helping them to fight off the malaria and other diseases and infections they can so easily fall prey to. Many have been HIV positive since birth.
There are 408 children at Malimba Community School, ranging from nursery class up to Grade 7 (last year of primary school). Through the support of Eastbourne College (£1,200) and a month’s membership fees from High Five Club members (£600) we are now able to fund a Breakfast Club for one full year for the 244 youngest children at this school (nursery class and Grades 1 – 4). The community is very grateful for this support, and understands that at present we cannot provide breakfast for every child at the school. We have made a good start, and hopefully with the further support of pupils at Eastbourne College we will soon be able to extend this programme to the remaining 164 children, along with being able to sustain this programme over many years to come. At just £7.38 per child per year, this really is a life changing initiative!
Eastbourne College encourages pupils to reflect on their good fortune and consider, as an integral part of their wider education, the needs of those less fortunate than themselves. There are various opportunities for students to donate to charitable causes including mufti days and dedicated Charity Days, when a charity lunch of soup, a roll and fruit is offered and the catering department donates the money saved to ECHO (Eastbourne College Help Overseas).
ECHO is the College’s millennium charity set up by a group of dedicated staff members to enhance the lives of others within the global community. We are very grateful to ECHO and the pupils at Eastbourne College for their adoption of the Breakfast Club at Malimba Community School.
0 Support of the Performing Arts in Zambia
High Five Club supports the rennovation of the performing arts ampitheatre at Tujatane School in Zambia. 
Performing Arts have become an increasingly important part of school life at Tujatane. The students have an inherent love and passion for dancing, drama and music. By supplementing their academic programme whilst at school with performing arts, benefits the overall quality of education and individual development. Tujatane have a fantastic drama teacher, their Deputy Head Sydney, and a very talented music teacher, Mike, running the performing arts programmes. This includes poetry, choir, traditional dance and drama as well as a music scholars programme for exceptionally talented students.
Each year Tujatane competes with all primary schools across Zambia in national performing arts competitions and they are proud to hold the title for ‘Best traditional dancers in Zambia’ for primary (2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013). They also came 2nd nationally in 2013 for Drama and Poetry!
The High Five Club 