Happy New Year!

Hi all,

As we close the books on a dark 2020 across the world, I’ve been reflecting on the silver linings of the year – both personally and for Impact Network. Of all of my years with Impact Network, this has been the most challenging. Pursuing our mission to provide quality education in the face of a worldwide pandemic, school closures, daily power cuts, and difficult economic circumstances has been arduous. But it has also captured some of my proudest moments leading an incredible team of management staff, teacher trainers, operations coordinators, and teachers. In 2020 alone, we:

…Opened with our annual teacher training conference in January, with 200 of our staff members working together to plan for the school year. On the last day of the conference, we held our Inaugural Literacy and STEM Fair, where our teachers submitted creative teaching aids – including an electric fan fashioned out of a cellphone battery, a replica of the skeleton made out of scrap wood, an abacus made out of bottle tops, and more. Nothing can capture the energy and creativity of our teachers. I was so impressed with how resourceful our teachers were, using things that are considered trash in the village, and repurposing them to give new life into their classrooms.

…Led an incredible, nimble, exceedingly fast response to COVID-19 school closures by creating and distributing 12,000 care packages with soap, informational brochures, homework packages, and basic supplies to our students and families. We pivoted to working remotely with teams spanning all three districts in Eastern Province, and ensuring the safety of our communities. And, we started creating our own masks for distribution to our students, communities, and local health clinics. To date we have made 25,000 masks!

…Launched Impact Radio , in partnership with Rising Academies, adapting and translating over 100 lessons to be aired on the radio within weeks. Amazingly, these lessons reached the entire province and had a potential reach of 500,000 individuals!

…Visited students individually outside their home to check-in on their progress, and ensure they had a safe home environment. A huge thanks goes to our teachers for going door-to-door and walking long distances to ensure we reached our students! We also delivered stay-at-home learning packs, basic school supplies, and safety information.

…Created over 300 local language books that were uploaded onto African Storybook Project and will be used as learning tools for our students on their student tablets in 2021! We are thrilled to have teacher-authored books that our students are able to learn from directly.

…Adapted our NetGirls Zambia league to provide forums for local women to learn to make masks, menstrual pads, and cooking stoves.

…Launched our first Environmental Week, planted 250 trees, held a “green” fashion show, completed upcycling activities, and honored Environmental Ambassadors in our schools.

…Safely reopened schools and conducted literacy and numeracy assessments to gauge student learning loss. We are committed to prioritizing core subject areas in 2021 to ensure that our students are able to succeed in the coming years.

To everyone who supported Impact Network during this time, whether with $5 or $5,000 – I share these triumphs with you today and always. To our management staff and teachers, who have so expertly dealt with every obstacle with an incredibly positive, constructive attitude during this year – my gratitude to you this year is immense. Zicomo, thank you, and we are grateful for your partnership each day. And to our students and communities – we promise to honor our commitment to providing a quality education to the furthest reaches of Zambia, for as long as you will have us.

You can also check out this animated newsletter from our team in Zambia, highlighting our Term 3 accomplishments: Term 3 Newsletter (attached are all three for 2020!), or visit our COVID website: https://www.impactnetwork.org/covid-timeline

Happy New Year everyone – and here’s to a brighter, safer, and stronger 2021.