Malambo Grassroots Zambia:

The Savory family has been in Zambia for generations. Because of their long history helping the Tonga people of Zambia, they know virtually the entire community. An example of this would be when Tom died and nearly 2000 people came from throughout Southern Provence - both Tonga and and whites to honour him. There were hundreds more Tonga people lining the highway who had hoped for transport to the funeral because Tom and the Savory family have contributed greatly to this community with their long philanthropic history. Many of the people here are friends or are known to the Savory family especially the 600 Tonga people living on the farm. I would estimate that 99% of our current donations are because we know the people in this community and donors like to know where their funding is going.

Money is given out here with considerable forethought, clarity, procedure, and consideration of what is best for the community. The scholarship program is very organized - we have folders and folders of paper work and strict guidelines requirements for receiving scholarship money. Currently the majority of children benefitting from the scholarships live on the farm , however, many of the children here have been sent specifically to the farm from outlying communities to live with their grandparents or an uncle/family member just so they can be eligible for the scholarships. So technically this money goes to students from many surrounding communities.

Money  also goes to toward more personal expenses like getting an operation for Hilda who has been suffering in hospital for over a month with a broken femur. She has no money to pay for the operation, nor money to have a family member come with her to Lusaka to take care of here and prepare food as there is no food in hospital. So from personal money Hilda will be receive her operation. She is a pillar in the community and a trained community nurse. She works at the clinic on the farm which is open to all Zambians.

Money has always gone to specific projects - such as rebuilding the grade 5 class room on the farm last year. This school is a government school (not a farm school) and caters to the farm and two outlying communities. The Malambo Women's Society and Lusumpoko are income generating groups for women that also serve three communities - the farm community and two outlying communities. We bring indigenous NGO's for talks and workshops on themes requested by the community. Invitations are sent out to three neighbouring communities for these talks and they are frequently broadcast on Southern province radio in the local language for all to hear.

Last year we brought school supplies to three schools in three different communities - all government run schools. We have fundraised for those schools this year and will be going to visit them in the next few days to see how we can best put the donations to use.

Today we had a young boy from Mujika who is receiving a scholarship from us. This afternoon we are going to Mujika, the next community over, to offer another scholarship to a female student and to see how our fundraising for their school can be put to use.
Our discretionary fund is never given out in an arbitrary way. For example if we budget 350,000 Kwacha for our new chicken project and we go over budget, we would take extra money from our discretionary fund to make sure the project succeeds.

One example is woman who just came  to the house from Mujika who has no connection at all to the farm. She has one more exam to write so that she can become an primary school teacher and she needs the fee to write the exam. Our discretionary fund is perfect for this.

Over the last several years, of the teachers trained in Zambia, 50% have died of AIDS. Teachers are one of the most important jobs here.

And lastly, we will be expanding into Siavonga this year - three hours from the farm. We are going to Listu next week - one of the poorest places in the country - we have no connections there and know no one.