Henry Mingochi, a Design and Technology Teacher at Nchanga Secondary Trust School, has been recognized for his ingenuity in creating over 60 chairs using recycled materials. By repurposing old chair frames and damaged 10,000-liter containers from the salvage yard, Mr. Mingochi has breathed new life into discarded items and refurbished another 100 chairs that were destined for the trash.
Mr. Mingochi received an award from the school management for his exceptional use of design and technology skills, which not only saved the school significant funds but also provided quality seating for students. This innovative approach allows the school to allocate the saved resources to other essential needs.
During the award presentation ceremony, KCM Trust Schools Principal Mabvuto Ng’ona praised Mr. Mingochi for his outstanding contributions. “He has provided quality seating space for the children in the classrooms,” Mr. Ng’ona remarked. He explained that the school faced a serious shortage of chairs last year, but Mr. Mingochi took it upon himself to refurbish existing frames and create new chairs from salvaged materials.
“He relentlessly started another project of collecting leaking containers and salvaging more frames within the school to make more chairs from scratch. His creativity, innovation, and consistency have saved the school and company money over the years,” Mr. Ng’ona added.
Mr. Mingochi expressed his passion for solving challenges and the satisfaction he gets from seeing his students happy with their new seating. “I am always eager to find solutions to challenges before me and get gratification from what I do when I see my learners smiling because they have somewhere to sit,” he said.
He encouraged everyone to adopt the triple ‘R’ – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – in their homes and workplaces instead of discarding items to buy new ones.
This recognition of Mr. Mingochi’s efforts underscores the impact of innovative thinking and sustainability in addressing practical challenges in educational settings.
He isn’t greedy for money. There are many with solutions to our problems but decide to do nothing because there’s no money involved. Many engineers sit on their ideas because they look at what’s in for them. This is a widespread disease. In many institutions, procurement officers live lives above their earnings, some even drive better cars than their superiors. It’s easy to tell
Ideally that teacher must be encouraged to become a supplier/repairer of school furniture. This is how entrepreneurship is encouraged. I am sure in Zambia he will be feted even up to the highest levels and then shoved back to his classroom and workshop until he retires…
Moderate my comment and remove it. You are good at that.
Well done Mr Mingochi from an ex Zambian, Nkana though, 1942-1969.