Makangala Community School: Championing Early Years Education
Early years education is vital to children’s development. That is why we worked with the Miyoba community to build a beautiful, brand-new pre-school in a rural area where many children could not access primary school until they were 8 or 9 years old. To address this, the local BFZ community groups had been running makeshift pre-schools under the shade of a tree and in the shelter of a church. The groups gained the support of village leaders, who donated land and organised local people to gather raw materials to build the school. After much planning, discussions with the local education board, a huge amount of effort from everyone involved and, of course, the incredibly generous donations of our supporters through the ‘School with No Roof’ campaign, the BFZ Makangala Pre-School officially opened in April 2019.
BFZ funded a teachers’ house on the site, two teachers, and equipment and resources for the school.
After long-term discussions with the education board, the school was recognised by the Zambian Ministry of Education in 2024 and received the official status of Ministry of Education Community School in 2025. It is now known as Makangala Community School.
The Zambian government assigned a government teacher to head the school in 2024 and provided an additional teacher in 2025, which enabled the school to open grade 2 and 3 classes to meet local demand. BFZ continues to fund two teachers and a classroom assistant.
The school has gone from strength to strength. In 2025, 148 children aged 3 to 8 received their education at Makangala Community School, and numbers have continued to grow since the grade 2 and 3 classes opened.
During a visit this summer, BFZ took new resources to the school, purchased with funds raised at an event in June. Here you can see some of them being used by the children.
School Meals
Zambia has one of the highest rates of malnutrition and stunting in Sub-Saharan Africa. Malnutrition in childhood has a major impact on long-term health, development and wellbeing. That’s why BFZ funds a nutritious school meal programme, ensuring that every child receives a protein-rich meal every day.
Holiday Club
To maintain this important nutrition for the youngest, most vulnerable children during school holidays, BFZ funds a two-week holiday programme for the pre-school children. The children enjoy lessons, play and meals.
We can see the impact of this work in the medical checks carried out at the school in early 2026: no child was found to be underweight.
Playground
Play continues to be a focus for the school, and in 2025 BFZ funded a new playground. It was designed for durability and to encourage collaborative play, and includes swings, see-saws and balancing equipment. The children love it, and teachers report that it is helping their physical development and their ability to play with others.
Attendance at the school is excellent, and government screening tests demonstrate the high performance of its children.
A Community Asset
Beyond education, the school has become a central hub for the local community. BFZ runs our weekly Wellbeing Sessions at weekends, and we hold community training events in the school buildings.
The school borehole supplies the children, teachers and over 20 village households with fresh water. It was first installed when the pre-school was built in 2019. In 2026, BFZ funded the addition of a solar pump and water tank, making access to fresh water much easier. This was a large infrastructure project, but it has enabled taps to be installed across the school site, improving sanitation and creating the opportunity to start a school garden.
“The food that BFZ provides for our learners is so important; it has all three components they need: energy-giving, body-building and protective foods. It provides our learners with good health and encourages attendance; we have very few absentees at our school.” – BFZ Pre-School teacher
Eye Clinic and Vaccinations
For the first time in 2026, BFZ funded a doctor and nurses to visit the school and test the eyes of all children. The aim of the clinic was to identify and treat a sight-threatening eye infection that is common in rural areas, and to identify children who needed glasses. Three quarters of the children needed treatment for the infection. BFZ worked with another local charity to provide glasses to those who needed them, and aims to fund regular eye clinics at the school.
The school also improves access to health care for local children. Using it as a base, health care professionals can reach further into the communities to distribute vaccinations such as polio, as well as vitamin A and deworming medication.
It is only with the enormous generosity of our donors that any of this is possible.
Overcrowding is a huge problem in Zambian schools, so there is a pressing need for ours to expand. An additional classroom was built on site in 2025, but there are now over 250 children on the register and we need more space! Please help us raise funds for this expansion so that we can continue to provide an excellent education for the children of Makangala.
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