Good Samaritan Ministries School

In Lusaka, we are the main financial support for the Good Samaritan Ministries School, providing education for 450 children living in one of the poorest areas of the city. We pay the teachers' salaries, run a daily feeding programme and provide a solar powered clean water supply for use by the school and the immediate neighbourhood. We also fund maintenance and improvement projects and respond to emergency needs. Trustees have had an ongoing relationship with the school for more than 19 years.

MAD4Kids funds the feeding programme for up to 450 children each day. This is the only hot meal many of the orphans and vulnerable children will receive that day. Nshima ( made from ground maize), is the staple diet given to the children which is supplemented, when available, with any vegetables grown in the school grounds by staff and pupils.

Over the years trustees have built and refurbished most of the school buildings including classrooms and the community hall. The latest maintenance undertaken has included reroofing, relaying floors, fitting new doors and windows and repainting inside and outside school buildings.

Droughts and subsequent problems with the supply of electricity in Zambia in 2023/24 affected the water supply to the school. During the trustees’ visit in June 2024 it became very obvious that a solar powered pump needed to be installed so that a continuous supply of water would be available to both the school and surrounding community. Previously the drought had meant restricting the water supply for the school’s use only. The new solar installation restored its use by the wider community.

Toys , books and other equipment (including a TV) was donated to MAD4Kids by supporters in Cardiff, enabling the school to set up a large pre-school class and to encourage learning through play.

We have made one exception to our policy of not sponsoring individual pupils in their ongoing education. Christopher was described by the Minister of Education as ‘the cream of the nation’ for his outstanding results in his final examinations at the school. Due to illness, his parents were unable to fund further education and MAD4Kids supported his guardian ( and the school’s previous director) Bishop Alick Malama in paying towards his uniform and secondary school fees. Christopher has continued to excel and we are delighted to support his studies in medicine at the University of Zambia together with the school’s current director and the late Alick’s son Timothy.

Over a four year period we sent over 9,500 pairs of pre-loved children’s shoes from the UK to Zambia, distributed through the Good Samaritan School to other school children throughout the country. Unfortunately due to problems with transporting the shoes we stopped sending from UK and moved to buying locally sourced shoes for hundreds of children in schools in the Monze district of Zambia. This has made a massive difference because many of the children walk long distances to school over rough terrain.