Things that I've learnt so far in Zambia

Having been here now for 4 weeks I've seen and heard a few things that would just never happen in the UK. So here's my findings of slightly abnormal to downright terrifying things I've witnessed in Zambia so far:

• It is not uncommon to see goats travelling on the back of bikes by being strapped to them.

• G. Rutherford seems to be the most well known man in Zambia, other than the President, and you can see massive billboards for his advertising company everywhere. Like actually everywhere. There's a roundabout near us that pretty much has his adverts the whole way around the roundabout. He is EVERYWHERE

• Chickens can be seen either wandering the streets or in massive cages, either on the back of trucks or by the side of the road.

• Minibuses will drive along the road and just pick up people on the side of the road, but they don't seem to have a limit of how many people can get in.

• On the same line as that one I've seen several trucks with open backs that are just full of people standing up. I'm sure if the truck had to do a sharp turn for some reason that some of those people would be in danger of falling out.

• Speedbumps. I cannot put into words how frustrating these things are here. First of all, there are just plonked anywhere, there is absolutely no need for the majority of them and in some places you just have three in a row on a completely clear stretch of road. It makes no sense!

• Driving in the dark is not something I'd recommend in the slightest. There are no street lights as far I have seen and people not only drive more stupidly because the police aren't out but they will also just walk out in the middle of the road, sometimes not looking where they are going. It's a disaster waiting to happen. 

• If you are white you are going to be stared at. Also little children will either be really shy around you or they will want to stroke or touch your skin and hair whenever they can. The amount of times I had little children stroking me at Greater Joy on Thursday was ridiculous. Also the word for white person in Bemba is muzungu which is something I've heard a lot since I've been here!

• Bemba is hard. I'm just putting it out there, these kids can speak Bemba and also bits of English and I'm highly impressed by that. It's nothing like English most of the time so I just can't really get my head round it. 

• Drivers are crazy here. They don't have road rage in the same way the British have it nailed down to a fine art but the way the drive is enough to drive me to road rage and I'm just a passenger. When I've mentioned this to someone here they've said that you can often notice a drunk driver as they are the ones driving straight and not weaving in and out of lanes!

• Some people hold phones the wrong way round when answering calls. I'm slightly confused by this as surely the way phones are designed is so that you hear better if you hold it the right way round. 

So, that's a few of the things I've noticed in my first 4 weeks here. They really have flown by!!

Hope you're all enjoying the wet weather as much as me.

xxx

First days in the schools

On the week beginning 11th of January, the schools officially began again, although in these schools at least that's not always the sign that all the pupils will be back. With many students living on farms or visiting family across Zambia, there won't be as many students as they would like to be in school this past week and maybe for a week or so yet, they come in dribs and drabs. And so because of that the Beyond Ourselves team went to the three schools over the course of three days and did some more teacher days. On Monday we were in Janna Community school which is just 15/20 minutes away and this was the first day I got to try Nshima. It looks like mashed potato and I think it is made up of maize and water. It was surprisingly nice although very hot which makes it difficult to eat when the norm here is to eat it with your hands. But as I knew it was going to be something I'd be eating almost every weekday for the next three months I am very grateful that I didn't hate it! 

In all of the schools we did group reflection on the year just gone and then the hopes and dreams of the year to come for their school. It was really interesting hearing all the things that they were hoping for for their schools as it was slightly shopping list but still included hopes for the good of the children and their results in grade 7 and overall safety of the pupils. After lunch we had some team building which was great because the teachers all got quite competitive and it was really fun getting involved and being part the teams in Kawama and Greater Joy, both the teams I was in won which I think was a triumph!

It was definitely a day that you could tell the staff learnt from and it was lovely to get to meet them more after the first staff training day on the Friday before.

xx

Week one - The one where I'm properly settling in

So as I figured I'm not too great at the writing every thing down I thought I would occasionally do my week in pictures and just tell you all a little about what's happening in it/where it is

This is the view out of the window at Janna school, where I started my week. In the not so distant future that whole area will be filled with children running around and playing at break time.

On Tuesday we were at Kawama School and this is the art work that's been done by the teams from Cranleigh School who are linked with Beyond Ourselves.

Here are some of the staff from Kawama waiting for the session to start.

Wednesday had us at Greater Joy, the last of the three schools

We arrived just before the children were let out of school for the day. They were all very excited to see us and we got a lot of highfives and fist bumps. 

On the way back from the market on Friday we drive down a road that, in late November, is filled with bats. Although it's not the right season for them there was still a tree that had it's complete trunk covered in bats

Today was a day of exciting things as I got to visit a local market and Dan, Tim and I bought Chipolopolo shirts (the football team). We also stopped off at chitenge shop and I bought that delightful material I am sporting on my bottom half. I'm contemplating whether I want it to made into a skirt or trousers but I'll figure that out as I go along.

A line of ants!!

On Saturday we drove to Nsobe game park for breakfast and a game drive before we had to drop Tim at the airport. So we had a quick drive around and saw a few animals - I was most excited by the Zebras even though they were so far away you couldn't really see them, but ah well. 

On Sunday we went to Church and had a relatively lazy day as it was pretty overcast and rainy for the majority of the day so the boys and I along with some of the other children in the families around us watch Toy Story 2 and kicked a football around for a bit outside in the few moments of sunshine we had scattered throughout the day.

So that has been my second week in Zambia, I can't wait for the next ones as I'll start to have more of a routine in the next few weeks and it'll be nice to get properly into the swing of things.

xxx

Staff training day

So turns out I'm not very good at the whole update your blog or keeping a journal but I'm going to try my very best to get better at it.

On Friday 8th January we had a relatively early start to the day in order to get to Greater Joy school in Kitwe, which is about 50 mins away, for a staff training day (of sorts). We got to the school with plenty of time to find the first drama of the day being that no one had bought anything for lunch! So with that Emily hooped into the A team mobil and headed off to the shops with Maureen to get enough for everyone and then we began. It was a day of prayer and worship as well as having the visiting pastor and elder from Restore Community Church, where Dan and Melissa are from, doing some sermon-esque teachings on God's love for us and how we are important to God. It was an interesting day as I got to be introduced to the majority of teachers from the three schools however because they all arrived at the same time it was a little overwhelming and I only remembered a few names by the end of it, mainly because they had stuck out or had been specifically introduced to me by a member of the team such as the headteachers and the directors/pastors of the churches. It was a very hot but successful day with a lot of the teachers saying they enjoyed the things that were talked about.

Sadly I have no pictures of this day other than this, but this was the hall that we were in all day so I don't think that's such a bad one, I just need to work on taking more pictures of things

I found it very interesting as the way they pray and worship here is so very different to anything we'd do at home; the worship part of the day was singing which is lovely and can also sometimes involve dancing and then the prayer involves everyone praying out loud at the same time, which I must say, at first I was a little bit daunted by as it's quite a strange situation to find yourself in but I've got used to it.

I made it!

Well I've had my first afternoon in Zambia now and I must say that I've never been so happy to be on the ground. Turns out, not a fan of long distance travel without company. But to make up for that, whilst waiting in line for my business visa, I had a little face belonging to a Jacob smiling and waving at me from the other side of the customs officers as well as Dan waiting to pick me up  and drive me home. Having that grinning face at me definitely made waiting for a while in the queue bearable. 

Finally making it past the customs officers I was greeted properly and introduced to Jacob who showed me the way to the car otherwise known as “A-Team mobile” and we sat in the back and he chattered away to me about lots of different things whilst we sat and ate our BBQ beef flavoured corn snacks and had very refreshing cold water as we travelled back to their home where I will be spending my next 3 months. 




As we pulled up I had pointed out to me where everyone lived who I would be getting to know. Finally arriving at the house I was greeted by Melissa and then Jacob showed me the house and took me to see where my room is. I have a whole wing of the house, it’s insane! My room is lovely and because there should have been two of us there are two beds but they have made one a sofa which is a lovely little place to sit. My bed also has a mosquito net that makes it look like a princess bed! 

I was then showed Jacob’s room and we looked at his collection of lego. Melissa then very kindly made me a tomato and creme cheese sandwich and a cup of tea and then they left me alone to unpack and settle in. 

It's definitely different being here, although the weather is pretty similar to the UK just  muggier! But I'm looking forward to my sleep as I think I only got about 3 or 4 hours on the plane so I definitely need a catch up.