The Journey so far...

Thurs 15th July 2010 9.10pm Wallace House, Kablonga, Lusaka


During the take off at Heathrow I was overcome with a feeling that something spectacular was about to start and I was going to get to be a part of it. The spirit that is inside each and every individual who commits to this project is something I have never felt before in my years of travelling, coaching and studying. Being in a group of peers all with the same hunger to make a difference, an overwhelming drive to not just sit back and let things be, but to bring about change no matter how small, made me realise I was about to share some memories that would last me a lifetime.

The house is huge and lovely. We are all camped out on the floor under our mosquito nets (although they have yet to make much of an appearance) and have a rota up for dinner duty each night. The lady who cleans and looks after the house lives in a shell of a house outside in the garden with her children and although the breezeblocks scream nothing but discomfort and despair to us they are actually fairly well off compared to most Zambians. 50% of Zambians are unemployed and those who are employed 64% earn under 70p a day. The guys the construction team are working with are getting paid 710,000 Kwacha (which is about £100) between six of them, for the whole project, which will take about a month. Can you imagine hard labouring in the African heat, with no shoes on your feet, for less than £20 a month? It is for this reason that over 35,000 educated Zambians leave the country to find work elsewhere which is crippling any chance of development or modernisation that the country might have had from educating its youth.

Some of the other stark facts I have learnt about Zambia have made me feel shame and immense sadness that people in the world live in these conditions. The life expectancy here is just 40 years old. If by luck of the draw, by the same luck that saw me born in the UK, I was born in Zambia, I would already have lived more than half my life. Because of this, 45% of the population is under 15 years old. More than 1 in 10 are living with HIV and 101 births out of every 1000 don’t survive. There are 710,000 orphans from AIDS and 1.2m in total. The impact of these statistics is hard to comprehend and I imagine even harder for those just going about their day millions of miles away. But being here, in the streets, in the schools, in the clinics and orphanages these statistics are a reality that we are facing every day.

Today we have been on the truck ride around all the sites. Stacey and Matt are at Kalingalinga, which is a half hour walk from our house. They mostly teach PE and sports in one school and in the community. Hattie and Sean are at Chawama which is an hour and half bus ride away which sees them leave before 6am each morning. They teach sports and life sessions as well as English in many schools in the community. Laura is at Chipata which has PE in the mornings and sports specific in the afternoon, the main sports are football, basketball, netball and volleyball. Georgie and Sophie are at Fountain of Hope, which is an orphanage and school for street kids and they coach a lot of football, netball and some basketball.

Tue 20th July 2010 7pm, Wallace House

Today is malaria tablet day – yuck!

Yesterday was everyone’s first day on placement and as she was on her own I went with Laura to Chapata. Hayley (our team leader, from Stirling) and Katie (our staff member from Durham) came too. As you walk through the streets every single person you come across waves, smiles or wants to shake your hand. All the children shout ‘Muzungu’ which means white person and come for hugs and to ask you how you are. I have never met a race of people who are so friendly and happy despite having nothing. We had to get 4 buses to get over to the school which was interesting as they are small vw type vans painted blue and white which the conductor hangs out of shouting wherever the bus is going. You squash at least four to a seat if not more as you haggle over the price to pay. It is usually about 20p! Once we got there there was a lot of waiting around, as is customary in Zambia, everything goes at a very relaxed pace and no one is where they said they would be at the right time. But that is just life out here, you take it as it comes and it seems to be working ok judging by the smiles on everyone’s faces.

Speaking of smiles I have never seen such beautiful children as the ones out here. They all want to hold your hand as you play games and sing Zambian songs with them. I am just about learning the words, but I have no idea what they mean or how to spell them! The talent of the kids is immense, much more than I could have ever imagined. If there was proper infrastructure in place this country would be miles ahead in every sporting tournament I can think of. The skills of some of the youngest and poorest children who have no shoes and play with balls made from carrier bags is indescribable.

Sat 24th July 2010, 1.24pm, Livingstone

After our first week of placements I have seen three of the communities, the construction site and sat in on some lessons and life skills classes. I have volunteered my time at the clinic and the maternal wards and I very much enjoyed my time at Mama Stella’s which is a primary school where we went to play Zambian games with the very adorable toddlers. Everyone has worked incredibly hard and after we have had dinner and shared our stories from the day we often fall asleep about 11pm from sheer exhaustion. So this weekend we have travelled to livingstone to see the falls and get involved in some adventure sports and safaris etc. I was lucky enough to be able to go white water rafting on the Zambezi for the second time and it was just as incredible as I remembered. The trek to get down to the river involved a climb down ladders made of tree down the side of the gorge and once in the boats we sang our Zambian songs all the way down the rapids. We all enjoyed swimming and playing games in the quieter sections of the river, until our guide pointed out a crocodile at which point we all swiftly got back into the raft!

29th July 2010 12.40pm EDUSPORT Office, Lusaka

This week I have continued to visit each of my team members on placement and helped them deliver sessions and got involved wherever I can. Luke and I also put together the pod cast which we will be putting online very soon so keep your ears open for that one as it should be phenomenal.

Although I have only been out here for just over two weeks it has become clear that each of my housemates has been on both and individual and shared journey which has remoulded their outlook and attitudes already. I am so very lucky to be able to share these journeys with everyone and as I peer into through the windows of their Zambia experiences I find myself collecting so many touching, inspiring and amazing moments that I am struggling to do justice on paper.