A couple of days ago we were able to take a look back onto a successful year 2012. But now we are even more excited to start with positive news into the New Year.
Already on January 7th, our first two volunteers are starting their journey to Zambia where they will join us for the next six months. As both of them have a medical training background they will mostly assist in the opening and subsequent operation of our new health clinic in Mackenzie. We sincerely hope that the local government as well as our partner organizations will be able to deliver on their agreed upon contributions to this project so that the long-awaited health clinic in Mackenzie finally can start to provide its services.
For summer we already have four volunteers who will be in Zambia together with one of the iChange board members for a three-month stay. They will participate in various existing projects and potentially will also be able to start new initiatives together with the local population.
A special focus will be on our educational activities this year. On the one hand, we are planning to triple the number of participants in our new educational Scholarship Program. Eight more selected students will join the current four participants. On the other hand, we want to work on further increasing the quality of education at the Mackenzie Community School. Key aspects here will be the continued training of our teachers as well as the implementation of a revenue-generating business activity, which will provide funding for the school's ongoing operating expenses. Both ideas were conceptually evaluated and researched last year already and hopefully can be put into action this year.
But as always, all this work would not be possible without our volunteers and the continued generous support of our sponsors and donors. Our heartfelt thank you to all of you.
