I went volunteering in July for a month, came back on the 30th. It was amazing, I met some great people. Anyway I wrote a few blog entries whilst I was over there thought I better share them here in case you were interested. The culture there was amazing, everyone was so friendly and sweet adults and children alike.
Volunteer Blog
Friday 18th July 2014
Today we are heading to Ngoma School which is the nearest town to Camp Phoenix and is roughly an hour away. We are going to be giving out letters to the children there which have been given to them by the Alexandra Parade School which is based in Glasgow, Scotland. They are one of the schools who form part of the Muzovu Awareness Project (MAP) School Friendship Scheme where letters are exchanged between schools in Zambia and those from other countries. At the moment however they are all based in the UK. One of the main aims of this is to help to increase awareness of conservation. Currently there are only 5 schools which are in correspondence with Zambian schools out of a total number of 40.
There are four of us travelling today myself, Max, Jeni our MAP coordinator and Davison will be driving us. I noticed travelling on the way to the school how many Vervet monkeys there were in sight. They are grey in colouring and are very cheeky little things. They were all sitting on the rooftops of the houses and were looking very photogenic I must say. They were busy preening and moving from place to place. They do also like to take food from the neighbouring houses within the village which not all the children liked as they thought that they were greedy!
We introduced ourselves to the teacher to tell them why we had come to visit, and also to let them know that we had brought donations for the school. We brought with us some stationary equipment and some books for the children. The teacher helped us to organise the children, and gather them, before we all went into the classroom.
When we stepped into the classroom the first thing that I noticed was how everyone was smiling widely, and how open and receptive they were. They really care about their education and are willing to learn.
The teacher helped us to distribute the letters to the children. Some were named and others were just addressed as “Dear Friend”. The letters which were named were called out and the child came up to class to collect it. Photographs were taken of them receiving the letter, and they looked so delighted to have received something. You could tell how much hard work was put into writing these letters by the beautiful colourful pictures that were coloured in and put onto these letters. Some even had the words “God Bless you” and “I Love you” which I thought was very sweet. Anyone who had not received a letter was asked to put their hands up, at first very few did so, but gradually more and more hands went up. By the end of it pretty much the whole class had their own letter. Funny how the smallestthings can be the most rewarding; you could have given them a sticker and they would have been happy, so easily delighted.
We then asked the children if any of them wanted to read their letters out loud or if they wanted us to read their letters. They were very eager to do so, so pleased were they to show off their letters to everyone.
Jeni asked the children some questions so we could find out more the children’s likes and dislikes. I was very surprised at the range of different subjects that were taught and how it compares with the UK. Two firm favourite subjects were Science and Maths. However amongst these there was also English ( my favourite!), Social studies and studying the language of Tonga. Their favourite sports were football, netball and basketball. The children were also very well spoken in English which I found surprising but I think that it is very good.
Once all letters had been distributed and the donations been given we said goodbye to all the children who were all very enthusiastic waving to us even as we were leaving which was lovely.
The next school which we visited was called Basanga where we wanted to provide the school with donations of books and stationary. We were met by two teachers, one of which was acting as a supply head teacher. We introduced ourselves and provided them with the donations that we had brought. They were very pleased and grateful to receive them and recorded it in a book. I was also quite surprised when he told us that there were 600 children in the school. Good amount though impressive. He was also saying that it was difficult at the moment with the school holidays looming in August to ensure that children arrived to school on time.
Jeni and I went to use the toilet whilst Max and Davison waited by the car. When we came back we found that they were surrounded by lots of school children. They found Max’s camera of much interest, inching closer and closer. Seeing photos that that had been taken
of them on the camera screen absolutely fascinated and delighted them. Max asked them all to jump up and down which they did quite happily. I am sure she got some really good pictures.
Our next pit-stop was to pick up the Zambian Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) scouts from where they had been resting and bring them back to Camp Phoenix. Once we had picked them up we also went a short distance to pick them up some more water as they were running low. Once that had been delivered we also went to collect some Maize to be provided for some neighbouring villages who were in much need of it. We then headed back to Camp Phoenix, to shower, prepare dinner and sit by the campfire, which I like as you get a real sense of community and team all working, eating, sleeping in close proximity you definitely build a nice rapport. That’s it for now, catch up with you soon.
