Today we drove to Serenje to visit Malcolm Mofatt College. This is a
college similar to David Livingston College in Livingston. They are run by
the the Council of Churches of Zambia, which Alfred is the president.
A few years ago they appointed a new principal (dean) of the college named
Maxwell. He had a great vision to take the college which was looked down
upon by the entire country to one of the best in the country. He is almost
there.
Some of the things he has accomplished in his time here are: installed
computers and internet on the campus, installed an ATM, painted all the
buildings, remodeled the kitchen, built a covered graduation stage, built
covered parking for the vehicles, purchased an over the road bus to
transport students.
The list goes on and on, but one of the most amazing things he has
accomplished is added and agricultural college. They were able to convince
one of the nearby Chiefs to donate some land to start. The land was just
tree and brush covered bush on the side of a small mountain.
They hired some local people to clear the trees. Within 3 months the land
was clear and ready to plant. Their corn on the land last year yielded 138
bushels per acre!
The Chief was so impressed, that he has already given them more land. They
currently have 350 acres and counting. Another Chief on the opposite side
of the college is now wanting a piece of the pie and wants to give them
some land also!
They have 1 tractor, a oneway plow, disc harrow and planter. When they get
the other land, they are planning to get another tractor to keep there. The
current farm is 13 miles from the main campus, and with the Zambian roads
it takes almost an hour to get there.
On the drive out to the farm, we were riding in a brand new Mahindra 4 door
pickup, with 5 or 6 guys riding in the back. Our driver had a CD playing a
contemporary Zambian Christian song. Of course we couldn't understand a
word of it since it was being sung in Bimba!
After the song ran through a couple of times, I realized it was playing
over and over. Looking at the stereo, it was set to repeat. I figured maybe
he just didn't realize or maybe didn't know how to run the stereo. After
listening to the song play over and over for almost and hour, I switched it
back to play and a nice English Christian song came on. As soon as that
song was over, the driver switched it back to the first song and hit repeat
again. I guess it was his favorite song!
With Maxwell's vision for the Ag college, they have drawn plans to build
dorms, admin offices, grain storage facilities at the farm also. This is
one of the most impressive, man made things, we have seen here. The college
is already drawing interest from around the country. If they are able to
continue with their plans, it will be the envy of Zambia.
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