The 13th of May 2016 (Friday the 13th if you’re superstitious) saw the Response Network team in Zimba for the Tore Memorial School Ground Breaking ceremony. Tore Schulze was a close friend of our Director, Hakon Spigseth and also worked with Response Network before he succumbed to cancer on May 15th 2015. Tore made an oath and a commitment that not many people would be able to make and go through. He pledged that after he passed, most of his life savings should be donated to Response Network in order to construct a school in a deserving community.

His selfless act facilitated the ceremony which was held. Namadula community was chosen to be the site of The Tore Memorial School which will be a primary school. The school will be the largest RN has constructed to date and we hope it will be a symbol of Tore’s generosity and will stand for many years to come. The school will also be disabled friendly to bring home the message of inclusive education which is something RN strongly believes in.

The ceremony was well attended and we had the two chiefs in our area as our guests. Chief Sipatunyana and Chief Siachitema. Also in attendance were the District Commissioner (DC), Elizabeth Kalaluka and the District Education Board Secretary as well as various stakeholders from the area. The Chief was also of the mind that it is an outstanding opportunity for the community and the country at large. He urged the community to work very hard and be very dedicated as its not every day when people go into areas and construct schools. The Tore Memorial School is also special in that, usually RN constructs schools on a self-help basis. Materials are only supplied to the community once they have shown commitment by mobilizing upfront materials, but in this case, everything is being supplied. However the community’s dedication is a mitigating factor to the success of the project.

Photos and video from the event are available on our facebook and instagram pages.