"A teacheraffects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops."

(Henry Adams)

Nathan, Jenny and Ceri survive Liteta

Hey folks, Nathan here blogging on the Liteta lot.

So Jenny, Ceri and myself spent our 2 week rural visit in Liteta. I can't put into words how much this experience affected everyone. Of all the 3 villages ours had the grubbiest sleeping conditions, we were sleeping in what was effectively a mudhut inhabited with huge spiders and a number of lizards and other bugs far away from any of our placements. Whilst the others walked 10 yards to get to their one school, we had to walk 10 km (there and back!!!) to get to our numerous schools. This did not affect our spirits though, we had a cracking time (even with the weight loss, my smell (i apologise for my lack of showering girls) and the size of the spiders).

We encountered a number of fresh problems in this rural placement as I know the others did too. Notably the language barrier was even greater than in Lusaka. We managed to overcome everything though and left after having a fantastic and highly successful time.
All the kids seemed to want to do with me was football, football and football which has done my tan and hair colour the world of good but I did aid in netball and PE also. Whilst Ceri and Jenny spent effectively all their time in the classrooms (except when walking) holding sessions on life skills, sex ed, HIV and AIDS, hygiene etc etc.... and from what I saw they did a phenominal job.

One weekend the girls held a workshop for the zambian peer leaders and I organised a footy and netball tournie for 8 communities, though 11 turned up and it was sooooo hectic, they both were brilliant!! Along with visiting 8 different schools, the tournament, the walking!!! and the workshop we also visited a hospital, vaccination and VCT programs (in which I embarrassingly fainted), the chief of Liteta (who lapped up his Man Utd shirt as a present) the district commissioner, had a traditional african dance, ate Nshima till we dropped, ate bushrats (B U S H R A T S), termites, goat, silly amounts of rice and beans and made friends for the rest of lives in the peer leaders.

It was a very intense period, very early mornings with pretty early nights too as we were sooooo exhausted each day. The relationships were heightened in this period but Ceri, Jenny and I never had any problems with each other at all, helping each other out whenever we could. I tried to get everyone going with banter when the chips were a bit down but that was about the only struggles with our relationships that we had. There was always going to be low times as we were mixing with children with HIV and a far lower standard of living day in day out and this is very hard to take.

We worked so hard over this period and leave hoping we have had a lasting effect on the children, teachers and peer leaders. I believe we have and look forward to hearing what next years PZ lot have to say about Liteta and what the Liteta lot have to say about us :o)

On a side, after this project we spent 2 nights at a government run project that helps street kids in Zambia (along with Isla and Mel). These kids are delightful and literally everything we provided and did with them they saw as such a privelege no matter how trivial we saw it as. There is so much love between the kids and they look after each other so well. It was very sad saying bye bye to them all but I hope we keep in touch and some of us see them again in the future. "There's no rainbow without the rain" - to have the good you have to put up with some bad and these kids are the best representation of that that I have ever seen.
Over and out for now. Nathan. x

A Little Taste of the Rural

Hey everyone - thought I would just send a wee note out there to say that we have all survived the rural experience, and will all be back home in Lusaka by the end of the weekend. As a group of 12, we were split into three different villages, maximum 2.5 hours outside of Lusaka, and stayed there for 2 weeks in total. Mel, Kevin, Kieran and I were in Twickantane, however Kieran exited early due to a dislocated ankle after a football match. I'm sure he will not hesitate to tell anyone about his ox cart ride to the nearby clinic, and the village doctor who snapped it back into place. More about Twickantane though.

It's hard for me to explain the experience out there, but I can without a doubt say it was the best part of my trip so far. We were staying outside the school, with no electricity or flushing toilets, with a well nearby. Back to basics at its best. The three of us were based at Twickantane Basic School, which had three classrooms, and taught grades 1-9. When we got there, we were greeted by the acting head teacher, the football coach, and the chief man of the village, among over 770 kids all eager to participate in PE lessons and shake our hands.

This was the first time any volunteers from Sport in Action were in Twickantane, and the village elders were more than appreciative of our presence. Mel, Kevin and I spent our mornings teaching the grades 7-9 topics such as self-awareness, peer pressure, drug and alcohol abuse and HIV/AIDS lessons. Our classes were full to the brim with over 60 kids in a class with only a couple of desks, and kids came back for more. In the afternoons, we taught PE lessons to the grades 1-6, and then had football and netball sessions with the village teams after school. Our days were packed, with school starting at 730am every morning, and our days ending at 6pm, but neither the kids or us could get enough.

We could really tell the progress we were making throughout our 2 weeks there, as when we first got there, kids would sprint away from us screaming "MUZONGU!" (meaning white person) as many of them had never seen a white person in their life. By the end of the 2 weeks however, we were friends with the students and the teachers; it truly felt like home. We got to try things like bush rat (can't say I was keen...left Mel and Kev to try those), killing our own chickens and goat for our goodbye party on our last night.

Our last night there was a party in the classroom, with music and light provided by a nearby generator, and speeches all around. Although everyone was thanking us for coming, and helping out in the school and on the pitch, I don't think I could impress upon them that we were equally, if not more, thankful to them. Our confidence throughout the week increased, and we really felt like we had accomplished and changed something by the time we left. Every night we could hear the kids singing the songs we had taught them that day, and coming up to us just to talk.

Overall, the village experience was the rawest, most stereotypical African experience we have had yet. I loved being based at one school and really getting to know the kids and the teachers. I pinky promised the village chief, after an 1.5hr run (in which he very clearly beat me), that I would be back next summer, and I have every intention on keeping that promise.

I can't wait for the rest of the group to come back home now, with only one more week to go. I think we're all excited to be back in the UK soon, but none of us want to be leaving.

Lauren x

Meet the Team - Ali Hardie

Initial Thoughts:
I came from a sports coaching background and I’ve been doing it at home and loved it, so this gave me the chance to do this in a different culture. It was exciting to do it in Africa and I spoke to Kyle and Tom from last year. I had no idea that it would not be coaching in organised sessions, similar numbers per week. I had no idea about the traditional singing and dancing routines, but I’ve had to do classroom sessions and I absolutely love it! The answers the kids give are so much fun.

Impressions of Lusaka/Zambia:
Lusaka is really weird. There’s no centre to speak of. Sprawls of communities and schools. Occasionally I click and work out where I am but it’s a real mish mash of groups of communities joined by bus routes. I imagined I’d be in one place, focussed, but I’ve spent so much time going around in buses and sitting in empty fields waiting for random people to turn up.

Impressions of the Value of the Project:
I’ve got a load of different projects but somehow they don’t join up. I get good relationships with kids, but I have different classes once a week and you get to see them, on average, once a fortnight so it’s difficult to keep things going. My understanding is that we coach and make the connection through sport and then you exploit that to take another message. It’s been important to get to know the kids, chat with them and then sometimes something comes out of that. You can sit and listen but you often feel powerless to help them. You find kids from double orphan families and we offer an hour or two of escapism, but not much else. Is that worthwhile?

I’ve personally gained so much from it. I’ve been in the position of having to take classes of 40 to 50 kids unexpectedly, both in the classroom when I’m not comfortable and on the sports field. I’ve worked out now what I can do, confirmed some abilities I didn’t know I had, but I don’t know how much it has helped the kids. There’s always the argument that there are some areas in Scotland that have a similar life expectancy and we might offer something to them instead. The communication issues are minimised, the mentoring would be easier, perhaps. Maybe charity begins at home? Just a thought……

Impressions of the Team:
I’ve been chucked in with a completely different crowd of people and we get on really well now.

I think it’s been relatively easy because we’ve all come in open minded, determined to bond because we’d be sharing experiences with each other, going through similar challenges.

SIA – I think there’s a lot of very good people, proud of their country and committed to improving it. There’s so much good intention, but so much of it is wasted. The peer leaders often aren’t there or sessions are cancelled. It might be important to feed that back to the SIA.

Meet the Team - Jenny Hall

Initial Thoughts:
I sort of fell into it. I wanted to do something with my summer which was a bit different and, at the same time, something a little less academic. It was important for me to look at life through a different aspect, do a bit of travelling. It wouldn’t burn my boats in any way since I’d been lucky with my first year both financially, and academically. I was determined, however, that I wouldn’t do something just for kicks. The PZ project just caught my eye in the memos of the University in that it seemed something different from the usual university business. Even if I wasn’t sporty this gave me the opportunity to meet new people and see a different side to the world. It gave me the opportunity for a sort of belated gap year which wasn’t something I could afford at that time.

Impressions of Lusaka/Zambia:
I didn’t have too many expectations but I was wary of the traditional image of Africa with deserts, bush, thatched huts, large animals etc. However the first impression I had of Lusaka stayed with me, as simply sprawling chaos. It just seemed to be a chaotic jungle of urban environment that didn’t seem to connect with each other in my mind at all. It’s all over the place! Only today I found a modern, expensive shopping precinct (which I find difficult to equate with Africa) right next door to a really poor area that I’ve been working in for five weeks…it’s impossible to tell what’s right behind you. This city is a sharp contrast between very nice estates and poverty stricken areas; fancy suburb estates with a rubbish tip right over the back wall.

Impressions of the Value of the Project:
It’s introduced me to some challenging concepts. It really gets you thinking about things. For example, I was involved with one of the SIA projects – a really caring project which took street children in for rehabilitation. It gave the impression of a real love for the children. However I also saw one of the children being punished for running away and I found that really hard especially since he was, to me, obviously under nourished and very probably ill at the time. I was aware of my own naivety but I know I’d rather be naïve and try than sit and watch it happen. At the time I was really strong in my protests and my anguish at what I thought was a betrayal of what this really good project was meant to stand for and I felt a bit shocked and embarrassed at having to do that. However, I suppose, in retrospect my reaction did work well for it forced the project to justify its actions and assess if they were taking the right approach. The result has been a possible review of how they do things and so I suppose that’s a sort of success. I think they were quite surprised that we took it that way. Nevertheless, all in all, a real culture shock for me.

I’ve loved being here but it also starts you thinking about how important it is to come to Africa. Part of me, to be honest, now says we also have to think about the fact that there’s so many problems at home in inner city rather than here. I worry that we’re in Zambia to get an exotic twist to it…we’re here because, in financial terms, health terms etc., we can be here.

Nevertheless, in certain aspects we are really needed here – passing on our experiences to peer leaders to boost their confidences to give a fresh perspective, fresh ideas, etc. And there are some project schools that really depend on us and have a long lasting effect for our being here – e.g. Cheboyla and Mutendere. However it’s been important to also be honest and note that there’s some really well established teams in some schools which means we can’t do much in them and we have to be careful not to waste our time focusing on them when there’s a better need along the road.

In terms of University backing, there’s a lot to be learned and it’s a great opportunity, but although I think the University should support it – it shouldn’t fund it. It has the staff, and structure, that’s needed to facilitate things, set them up. The university can offer the training, the preparation, but there isn’t a justification for it to fund it – the students should do that for themselves. The University’s priorities have to be back at home.

Impressions of the Team:
PZ It’s a bit like the big brother house. People should be recruited for the specific placements. There’s a load of potential to get brilliant people to do this, so recruitment has to be maximised. It would be good if, in future, we could combine our training with the Wallace group to speed up the focus when we arrive. We will need time to adjust and use our skills when we arrive, but the better prepared for that, the better.

I was lucky with the teachers in my school and I managed to work out a routine without the SIA team coming into consideration. The clash in cultures can mean it take some time for people to maximise their relationship with SIA. SIA are fantastic people with their hearts in the right place, but if you want something done, take it into your own hands and make it happen – that’s my advice. However – and this is important – we need SIA for their local expertise. Without them we couldn’t do what we’re doing now.

Meet the Team - Stacey Coffin

Initial Thoughts:
I spent a lot of time working with the Athletic Union this year and had heard a lot about Project Zambia. I was interested last year but was not available for the summer. I spent a lot of time this year fundraising and was really looking forward to getting out there and working hard.

I didn’t know what to expect heading out to Zambia which is I think what made me the most nervous. I also felt a bit underprepared. While I think a bit more training before we head to Zambia could be beneficial I also understand that a lot of what we experience could not be explained before hand and it was best to figure things out on our own. Having too many expectations might just leave you disappointed if things don’t work out the way you expected.

Impressions of Lusaka/Zambia:
I worked at Mutendere school which, along with Chibolya, was one of the most impoverished schools. This area, while upsetting, was what I was expecting Zambia to look like: Two classroom schools, no running water, playing netball on a bed of stones without shoes. What I didn’t expect was the areas 1km down the road that you could easily find in Britain: westernized shopping centres, pizza places, petrol stations, hotels.

I think the part of Lusaka that disappointed me the most was the garbage. There are no bins to be found and everyone seems to just dump their rubbish in the ditches. I would have to carry any rubbish I had around in my bag all day until we got back to the house before I could find somewhere to throw it out properly.
I didn’t expect to be the only white people. There are more ‘muzungu’ here but they’re not immersed in the local culture like we are, riding the buses and visiting the local markets.

Impressions of the Value of the Project:
It was frustrating, especially for the first week, to feel like we would be making any kind of an impact this summer. The SIA peer leaders are so good at what they do and there can be such a language barrier that it sometimes seemed as though they would be better off without us. Most things we did had to be told to the peer leaders and translated anyway. Perhaps just training up the peer leaders would have been a better use of time.

However, as you spend more time with the kids you see how much respect they give you just because you’re white and how excited they are just for you to be there. With some kids its more obvious you are making a difference than others. I coached a netball team at Mutendere and at first the girls were always fighting with one another. However a few sessions on team work and they seemed to get along a bit better and open up with us.
I found it difficult because the results aren’t as tangible as I would have liked. In the house at dinner, after a day on our placements, some of the team would get such gratification just from putting a smile on a child’s face for an hour. I found it hard to get past the fact that one of my 14 year old netball girls was 5 months pregnant and there was nothing I could do to help besides be there if she wanted to talk.
I think we make an impact by getting involved with the kids rather than just throwing money at different projects. I got a real eye opener one day at Fountain of Hope. UNICEF was there to visit the project and to look at the peer leaders and make sure they were doing a good job. They were there with all their cameras and nice clothes on and when the cameras were rolling they spent a couple of seconds interrupting our games and songs to make it look like they’d been taking part. They didn’t speak to a single kid though and when the cameras were off they were walking straight across the middle of our netball court in the middle of our game without even noticing. It made me happy that while I may not have the money to donate food to the schools or build facilities, at least I was getting to know some of the kids and giving them someone to talk to.

Impressions of the Team:
I was so impressed with the SIA team and with a few peer leaders in particular. The kids give them so much respect and they have dedicated what seems to be all of there time to the SIA projects.

Meet the Team - Kevin Breen

Initial Thoughts:
I was really looking for a different experience this summer and Project Zambia ticked all the boxes. Being able to combine working with kids and coaching sport, with simply being able to go to Africa was perfect. I didn’t really have a clue what I would be doing, but I wasn’t worried about it and wanted to come with an open mind and get a wake up call from my comfortable life.

Impressions of Lusaka/Zambia:
My impression of Lusaka was very different to what I had imagined. I expected more thatched huts and rural, traditional Africa like you see in the pictures. I think it’s much more developed than I thought, more commercialised. I have loved every minute out here!! Everyone I’ve met has been great and so welcoming. The enthusiasm is just contagious. Someone said we might experience a mixed reaction from the public out here, but I haven’t had any negative experiences at all. I feel like I've been treated like a celebrity, greeted with 'muzungu, muzungu everywhere I go'.

Impressions of the Value of the Project:
I think the project is hugely worthwhile, to Sport In Action, the schools and definitely ourselves. Sometimes you consider the long term impact we’re making out here, and it is hard to judge. I really hope that the HIV lessons I have done will stay with the kids and may help them in the future, but all I know is the kids love to play sport and sing songs, and so as long as I do that and see the kids with a smile on their face I feel I am having a beneficial impact out here. I really do feel we as student gain as much from the experience as we give. The project makes you look at yourself and consider whats important to you. I think I have definately become more confident as the trip has gone on and will definately return to the UK with a different perspective on life. I think the rurals are a critical part of the project – it’s the real core of the project.

Impressions of the Team:
I’ve found living in the house great fun. There is big mix of personalities in the group which is great. In terms of SIA I love their enthusiasm when we go into the office – they really make you feel at home.

Meet the Team - Isla Young

Initial thoughts:
I was attracted to it because it is very well designed. The project was going about trying to fix problems with the right idea – aimed at kids and using sport as a practical tool to do it.

There’s lots of chances to be involved in projects abroad but this one uses skills which money can’t buy. Throwing money at projects in poorest areas of the world doesn’t crack it. Having read about this before I came and was particularly interested in working with children without parents. I’m struck that a life without parents is a life without a childhood. PZ allows children to have a taste of childhood. The peer leaders, the coaches, the leaders, all give children the chance to play, do sports and feel like a child for a little while.

As much as experiencing a childhood is important, by using the experience of PZ even for a summer, the kids get the chance to learn some skills that may mean they will be better parents when they’re older, giving their children a chance to live as children for a while.

From a practical point of view we try to have an impact on drug abuse, HIV spread etc. but I think the most important thing that we do is increase self esteem – both directly and indirectly. The reinforcement of self esteem comes from the sports, from the leaders’ feedback, and the kids respond to that.

Impressions of Lusaka:
It’s a dirty city. There’s a school on every street – and an NGO logo. It’s such a young population. A lot of the stuff I expected to feel harrowed by isn’t necessarily in your face. Today, for example, I saw 12 – 15 funeral processions. There’s children everywhere and few adults. There’s rubbish in the streets everywhere – it tells a story. They can’t organise bins here.

The buses need a completely different perspective to use. Everyone is friendly, but I struggle with being the focus of attention. I have difficulty with the whole “muzungu” thing. The attention is difficult…not feeling threatened is a problem especially from men when some of our male partners aren’t around.

Everyone smiling..But then there’s the school noticeboards…notices outlining who are the double orphans, single orphans, at risk children. The school committees…including the essential core committee, the “funeral” committee. I met my site coordinator last week – he’d had a few days off. He apologised and said he’d had three funerals to attend in the previous week. I’ve attended three in my whole life.


Impressions of the value of the project:
The thing I’m happiest about is that we are in the supporting role. SIA are so good at what they do. We just support them but we are told constantly that we are invaluable in that and that they need us to reinforce them. The SIA staff are so good at what they do – if I can be half as good as the staff are with kids by the time I’m qualified then I’ll be happy. I trust the SIA staff. If they say they need us, then we’re helping.

The project lasts all the year round. If we were here for 10 weeks and we left then I wouldn’t be happy. But we’re not. We give it a boost each summer and keep it going idefinitely.


Impressions of the team:
I’ve learned to live with such a diverse team of people. I’m very luck to work with them all. It’s been a huge learning curve to live with people in such close proximity.

Meet the Team - Nathan Meade

Initial Thoughts:
I was graduating this year and planned to travel for a while. I’d travelled during my gap year and had enjoyed that so much I wanted to do more. However along came the PZ opportunity and I just thought this would be a good start. Where else to kick start my travelling than Africa? I also loved the idea of being able to play football and coach it for a summer. I had never been to Africa but I wanted the chance to experience a completely different culture but also one which had football as such a major part of the core of it. Although I entered on the sports side of things, I was happy to get involved with the counselling side as well because my virology studies at university meant I had a relevant interest in HIV.

Impressions of Lusaka/Zambia:
It’s much more westernised than I thought, even though there are areas of contrast where there’s no obvious western influences and others where it’s really intense. Overall I can understand now why people say there is so much to be done in Africa for it’s about 50 years behind the Western world. There’s lots of examples of that – the sexism, the standard of living, the housing facilities, the education (which takes you right back to the sexism where you see how the girls are given so much less educational opportunities than the boys). They’re working towards improvements in some of these areas, but in some areas they need to start working towards getting better systems, e.g. in the female equality.


Impressions of the Value of the Project:
I think it is just fantastic for our team members on an individual basis. Everyone here has changed since they arrived and I know I certainly have. I am amazed at how much I took things for granted back home – things that I’ve achieved that I thought I’d worked hard to get, I realise now I didn’t work that hard. I was lucky enough to be born into a situation where I had the backing, the support, and the opportunities without a second’s thought and I got things quite easy really. I’m much more appreciative of what I’ve been lucky enough to get now. I also feel more confident – I always was confident in some ways, but I’ve added to that. I’ve loved every minute of working with my boys in the football team in my placement – these guys will give me 150% every minute – they work on that pitch right up to the last second and if we were to go on playing another hour, they wouldn’t slack for a minute. I really admire them, their guts and their commitment.

I think one of the most valuable things I can do for the kids I’m working with is that, especially with the football, we give them the opportunity to take them out of their surroundings, their daily context, and for a little while football lets them escape into another world. We’re all equal, they’re David Beckham in their heads, we’re all in a team fighting forward for one point. And the daily grind, their home lives where they have nothing, doesn’t matter for a while.

They seem to get something out of us coming here too. I know it’s wrong – it definitely shouldn’t be this way – but they do hold up this perception of the “muzungu” (white man) as being in some ways superior to them – in financial, educational terms at least. They are surprised that we come all this way to visit them. But in this project we get the time to get to know them and they very quickly realise that we’re their equal – and, given that we all have different strengths, not as good as them in some ways. That changes their view of themselves and I can see some of them starting now to think in real possibilities of what they can achieve now. Their confidence grows. This is especially true for the peer leaders and the SIA people.

It’s easy to see the short term value of the project every day. What we don’t see is the overall long term effect that we leave behind and I’m sure that that’s there, but we just won’t be here to see it. For now I’m happy enough seeing the short term benefits to the kids, to the peer leaders, to SIA, and to us, day in, day out. I think it’s a fantastic project.


Impressions of the Team:
SIA – Some of the peer leaders are better than others, but I have to say I have really admired the incredible work of the ones I’ve worked with – Staffy, Levi – the way that these guys can go out to a group of hundreds of children and have their total respect, eating out of their hands in minutes – it’s a pleasure to see. I really admire them and want to learn to work with people that way.

PZ - I’ve loved living with these guys. People say I’m the cheery one. I play the role of trying to keep everything upbeat – I just don’t let myself get dragged down into trivia. I think any group dynamics that have caused strains at times have just passed me by. I don’t think they’ve been about important things anyway and the trivia doesn’t matter when you see the situations our people are working in every day so any disagreements pass pretty quickly. I’ve really loved living with the three other guys, sleeping in a room with them. Being an only child I’ve never shared a room with siblings and this has been a right laugh…...the antics, practical jokes etc. have been hilarious.

Meet the Team - Fiona McGregor

Initial Thoughts:
I heard the stories from last year and how much fun everyone had had and, to be honest, it’s just something that fitted with what I do. It involved the four major things I care about sports, children, travelling and meeting new people. I didn’t seem to have many expectations but I did talk a lot to people who’d been here before and so I got a basic idea which satisfied me. I’m the kind of person that just gets on with things and try not to moan. I am very much a person who makes do with the cards I am dealt.

You learn independence during four years at University, but out here you learn what to do with it and really reinforce your own capabilities in the project and as a person.


Impressions of Lusaka/Zambia:
I was really surprised at how dirty Lusaka is. You get used to rubbish at home because you use bins, landfill sites etc. but here it is shocking. It kind of makes me think that our recycling that we do at home is a complete waste of time. They’re not doing it here at all and it – to an extent - nullifies what we do in our own country. We’re sitting at home worrying about our carbon footprint and moan about not putting our tin of tuna in the right recycling box. By no means should we stop our efforts at home but maybe teaching developing nations about the issues of waste would be an effective process.

The people in Lusaka are friendly…sometimes overly friendly. I felt threatened once when one man grabbed me and I tried to get his hand off me but he kept grabbing on. It was a strange experience, something I was not very used to.

I think I’m quite a strong girl and also very independent. I hate the idea of people thinking I am incapable of anything be it because I am a girl, too young or even because I am white. So when a man takes control like that I was quite shocked. But here you have to change your perspectives of your personal space and also the expectations others have of you.


Impressions of the Value of the Project:
I think the project is hugely valuable primarily because it is another perspective. So many people out here have a different view to life, to culture, that it is important that people come to them and they can experience thoughts, beliefs and ideas from differing people and cultures. It is sad to think that people here are not likely to go on holiday elsewhere so we have to come to them.

There has been a lot of time for contemplation out here especially about the project both positively and negatively. This whole project makes you self assess and self reflect all the time and I am not good at sitting down and talking about issues like that. As I said, I am pragmatic so I deal with what I have…I don’t usually self assess but here I have to (and I think I am getting better!!)

The project is definitely valuable to us and we have all learned copious amounts since we have been here. At university you chose to live with certain people you are friends with but here we are forced together with a group of people we wouldn't necessarily know already and, truth be told, I have made some great friends and we have such a laugh together. The group all work very well together too.

The project is hugely beneficial to Sport In Action who just could not do what they do without us. Resources are low in this country but the need for action is huge, and the 12 bright eyed white students from St Andrews are a great benefit to the programme. It is fantastic news when the schools tell us we are having an effect and also the teachers, the children, the peer leaders, all learn from us and we from them.

We need to perhaps to do more at some of our placements including encouraging the peer leaders who are not doing so well or need a bit of a confidence boost. I have met one or two peer leaders who just are not being very productive and we need to help SIA help them achieve more.

As a university we are always told we are an academic university striving for academic excellence but I think that the university community is such a diverse group of people that we ca not just base everything on academics. A project like this shows our willingness to look outside ourselves and do some practical things for others and have a little break from academia. Without that our academics are just a piece of paper or a tick in a box. It is not good enough to learn for learnings sake. I have got so much more out of extra curricular activities at the university than I have out of academics. We are an academically able university but we should not loose all the extras! I have been on a team, I have been a committee member, a team leader – if I had sat in the library all the time I would still have had a degree but I would be much less of a person. Project Zambia has reiterated this - learning is not just about books!


Impressions of the Team:
Sport In Action are bit slow but they do a great job and get it done. Their resources are limited but all work from ridiculous o’clock in the morning till ridiculous o’clock at night.

The university staff have been good. We have always known they are there to help, but we know they are not there to tell us off.

I think we have all got on well as a group seeing as we did not get the chance to get together as a complete group before we came out to Zambia. It has been relaxed and because of the size of the group people can get their own time to chill out and I will definitely stay in touch with people when I get back.

Meet the Team - Ceri Putman

Initial Thoughts:
I knew someone who had been on the PZ team last year, so had heard a lot about the Project and their experiences in Zambia. The mixture of sports and counselling, together with the opportunity to see another culture attracted me to the idea. I had done a lot of work experience and charity work at home and wanted to do something completely different, having interned in a London company last summer, (spending hours commuting). I already had experience working with both UK and international charities so this project gave me the chance to do some fieldwork and see where funds were actually distributed. I also would like to work in NGO management in the future so this was an ideal opportunity to see how an NGO works on the ground.


Impressions of Lusaka, Zambia
Lusaka is a city of huge contrasts. On the one hand there are the areas of extreme poverty, which we had prepared ourselves for, but on the other hand it is really commercial, something I hadn’t expected. I wasn’t prepared for the litter, which is everywhere you look. However I also was quite suprised by the similarities between Lusaka and any western city – the adverts, chains of shops, banks etc. I’m concerned about the obvious monopolies that some corporations have, particularly their control of the small market traders.

The Zambians want the same things as us- the girls lusting after handbags/high heels and everyone looking for the latest mobile phone or electronic gadget etc. Though it is nice to think that wherever they are, people are essentially the same, it is worrying that they seem to idealise our Western culture. I think that if they leave their traditional family culture behind and aspire to what they see in the media, they will have similar problems to us in another 50years.

The culture is very welcoming. Zambian people greet strangers in the street and accept you as part of their family. Their hospitality is truly amazing, as they will invite you into their homes or give you whatever they have without expecting anything in return.

Impressions of the Value of the Project:
We have had some very positive feedback from some of the teachers, kids club/support group organisers and members of Sport In Action staff. However the best feedback is when we can make a group of kids laugh, or try to help some HIV positive women to relax for a few hours in their stressful everyday-life. I have been struck by how grateful the children are for us to teach them what we can, as they all want to know when we are able to visit them again.

However, although we see a lot of positive benefits from the work that Sport In Action do, I also feel that the grassroots levels of aid are limited hugely by the overall infrastructure in the country. It can be frustrating at times, but as a relatively small organisation we sadly cannot help everywhere.

On a personal level, it has been a huge learning experience and has made me question where my time and resources may be able to make the most difference, thinking about which chairitable ventures I may be able to support in the future.

Impressions of the Team:
The team work well together, but it does feel like a large group and may be more effective with a team of 10 or even 8, depending on the structure of next year’s project. Considering the mix of student skills, it would be an advantage to bring some netball/basketball/volleyball coaches in the future, as those sports are currently being developed by SIA. Football is very popular, but rugby is less well known so the children find it harder to grasp. Improvements could be made by combined training in both sports coaching and counselling skills, as there is a lot of crossover in practice between the two sides of the project. However, everyone has learnt rapidly both from each other and on the job to be able to take all types of session in a variety of unpredictable situations.
The SIA team have made us very welcome. There are some cultural differences when it comes to organisation, but we have learnt to accommodate each others’ methods and expectations. Our peer leader workshops have gone very well and I have been impressed by the enthusiasm and maturity of some of the younger peer leaders.

Meet the Team - Mel McNiff

Initial Thoughts:
It would have been interesting going anywhere but I really wanted to go to Africa this summer. One of my friends suggested it. I wanted to join Medicin Sans Frontiers since I was a young kid so this gave me the chance to experience another culture and gain more experience in that direction.


Impressions of Lusaka, Zambia:
I don’t think it’s what I expected at all. I thought things would be a lot less developed. I thought Lusaka would only be a small city with a couple of streets. It was so big when I got here…scary!

The people are what I expected though. I knew they’d be interested in us, asking us who we are and where we’re from. I thought there might be more tourism here so I didn’t think we’d stick out quite so much, but I thought they’d be welcoming and they have been.

I love the random chats on the little blue buses. The buses are the same in Guyana, but they’re louder there so you can’t get conversations going like you can here. The Zambians will start up the conversations no bother. I love all the markets in Lusaka…especially City Markets.. I spend hours walking through them. It’s absolute chaos, but in an organised way, sort of!

Impressions of the Value of the Project:
I think for people who really want to get to know culture and live the life of the Zambian, this wouldn’t be the project for them. If you really want to see the impact you’re making, this is more about not judging what you’re doing but just trying to do what you can and hoping it makes a difference further down the line. Therefore if you’re a goal orientated person then this might be an unfulfilling project.

However, having said that, I’ve absolutely loved it. I was able to go into my placement which was a blank canvas and start up all sorts of things, clubs etc. to help the people there and that was very fulfilling. Being able to make the projects and develop them was, in turn, a huge way of me being able to develop myself. I’ve challenged myself in ways I’ve never challenged before. I’ve learned not to be the outspoken, opinionated one all the time. For example, I was in a street childrens’ rehab centre and I watched a kid being disciplined strongly and physically by the staff there. In the past I’d have been a bit hot-headed and outraged at that, rushing up and stopping it, but now I’ve learned to be more measured in how I approach things. We had to allow the beating to take place. We then got together and adopted a discipline policy which I think made the staff there respect us more and listen to our proposals. In the long run, it worked out better I think.


Impressions of the Team
I think the team has gelled really well this year. There are tonnes of different personalities but that makes conversations more interesting. I think it might be easier to co-ordinate if there were 8 or 10 people but there weren’t any issues with 12. The SIA team have been incredible, the passion and dedication they have towards the kids is so inspiring. I really like the fact that we are working together to spread a common message. I think it is really easy to think of them as disorganised but just looking at what they have achieved shows that it must work somehow.

Meet the Team - Kieran McGrath

Initial Thoughts:
I wanted to do something worthwhile with my summer and it fitted in with my passion of coaching. I’d been to South Africa before but I wanted to come back and see proper Africa without a sheltered life. I expected the accommodation to be a lot worse – nailed by mosis every night - and I thought it might be warmer.

Impressions of Lusaka:
It’s a safe friendly city but it has poor infrastructure. Essentially it’s a tip as well. The streets are rife with rubbish. I went to Tanzania for the East African football cup. I was surprised that even Daraselem – the city there – has a population of 10 million people but it was really clean – although still worse than Britain. But compared to Lusaka it was amazingly clean. And the scenery was very lush and beautiful there.

The kids I took to Tanzania were completely respectful of their elders, their teachers and their parents. Even when I – a visiting student – asked them to jump – they immediately said “How high?” When at home I don’t think we show respect to gap year students or even our parents like that. This whole trip has made me appreciate my parents so much more.

Impressions of value of the project:
It’s two sided. I’ve learned a lot about myself. When you have 40 – 50 kids turning up for a class and two footballs available, you have to adapt and think quickly about how you get people moving. For example, I’m trying to set up new systems, think on your feet, adapt to what you have available. From the other side, I like to think I’ve had an impact on the kids. From the way my kids at Munali (my project school) work now compared to their performance when I first arrived, they’re just developing so much. I put emphasis on their fitness and their getting that now.

SIA – I think there’s different levels of efficiency. African / Zambian culture makes it so hard to plan. With what we call “Zambia time” classes start so late. Nobody cares if people are late. How can you build an economy on people being late? How can the government work if people don’t turn up to work on time. How do you construct a building? We see building projects on our way to work and it’s not often we see anyone actually working on them. So it’s been frustrating trying to deal with that culture. Before – at the early part of our project – I would be worried to be there on time. But you adapt. Now I go with the Zambian time which is kind of nice and it’s stress free. You go with the flow.

Impressions of the Team:
I love living with people and I’d rather be chatting with someone than watching telly. It’s really nice getting to know people that I wouldn’t have given a second thought to if I had been in St. Andrews. But here you get to know the person. I’m quite used to living with loads of people and working with teams in the sports coaching. It might be difficult to say the same for the counselling people who might not be used to working with more than one person at a time. At the beginning we separated into our teams without thinking but it has completely changed now. People are starting to share each other’s ways of working and we’re definitely benefiting from learning from each others’ thoughts – they’ve taught us how to calm and reassure, while we’re showing them our competitive fire.

Meet the Team - Lauren Ing

Initial Thoughts:
I thought Project Zambia was an opportunity that didn’t come around often and once I heard of it, I knew I wanted to take advantage of it. I wanted to see if the coaching programs I was learning in the UK worked in another culture and another country. In the meantime it would be a good way to spend my summer, getting to travel and learn at the same time.
But I wanted to make sure that I was giving something back. I think that through my degree in Sustainable Development, its nearly impossible not to want to experience the world, and try to help in any way possible. We talk about how the world should be, and what needs to change but we don’t put our words into action. Project Zambia gave me an opportunity to put these things into action and practice. Talking will only get you so far and travelling, and with an opportunity like Project Zambia, I couldn't turn it down.


Impressions of Lusaka:
Lusaka is completely different than I thought it was going to be. It's a sprawling city of chaos really. The social infrastructure isn't in place to put bins on the side of the roads, so there is rubbish everywhere. The tarmac is rife with potholes, and travelling throughout the city on their blue buses always proves to be an adventure.

Everybody is so friendly to us, stopping to ask us how we are, and what we are doing in Zambia, but I don’t know if they are friendly because they want something from me. I try to think the best of it, but it’s hard. I always think they want something from me in the back of my mind.

There are also far more language problems than I thought. Today my bus journey was difficult as I knew they were trying to make me pay a higher bus fare because I was white. I knew the whole bus was talking about me, laughing about me behind my back, but the language creates a huge barrier. I had no way to defend myself, and try to figure out what was going on. In the schools, trying to get a message across about HIV/AIDS or even life skills like peer pressure and self awareness is made 10 times more difficult when the kids barely understand what you're talking about. I've started teaching English to some of the kids, and that was something I did not expect at all.

There’s lots of people trying to help get the country sorted like UNICEF, World Food Programme, and the multiple other UN organisations. All of them are much more visible here than I am used to. The UN always seemed like some sort of entity that I could never understand because I never saw it in practice when I was in the UK or in Canada. Here however, it's impossible to miss. There are UNDP trucks in the car park, you pass the UNHCR building on the way to placements, and you drive around in a car donated to SIA by the UN.

However, with all the work that is being done here, a lot of it doesn't seem to co-ordinate. For example, Mutendere, one of our poorest projects, gets bags of maize from the WFP and yet they have no way of cooking it without being able to afford charcoal, so it just lies in store in cupboards. It’s frustrating that so many problems here have only got one step solutions instead of joining up the thinking and get, for example, the WFP to bring charcoal along with the maize.

The poverty is also a lot less evident in some areas than I thought it would be. There’s small dense areas of poverty – but not the absolute poverty I thought it would be. It’s the relative poverty that is the most striking. There’s really rich areas. And it’s the difference that’s hard, everything’s priced for the rich. You have our standard of living with things priced like they are in the UK, but people just don't make the same salaries. It's nearly impossible for people to even afford school fees that are only equivalent to £4/year. It's hard not to give money to everyone; I have to keep reminding myself that it's just not sustainable and doesn't benefit anyone.


Impressions on the value of the project:
The project’s doing really good, but it takes a while to learn the value of it when you first come. You expect a tangible difference in 10 weeks, something that you can see that you left behind, or something that will be drastically different because we were here. But people don’t change in 10 weeks. Because of that I think we’ve learned how to appreciate the small differences. If my kids can pass the ball to each other in our special needs school then that’s a success. But by the end of our time here, I’m so happy when I see sports empowering our kids; when a girl has the confidence by the end of our programme to stand up and talk in front of the boys, then that’s great. There’s no threat that we won’t have made some difference to at least one child – and that’s good enough for me.

I think that the peer leaders working at SIA really need us here to validate them. I have a problem about people listening to me just simply because I’m white. But if that validates what these brilliant peer leaders are saying to the kids, then I’ll do what I can and learn to capitalize on something I can’t change. Unfortunately, I’m always going to be white. These peer leaders are only in their early 20s and they need to know that we appreciate what they’re doing and they’re doing it right. It will be them that makes this project last, and continue when we're not here. So, if we can learn from them, while teaching them, then a difference will be made.

Impressions of the Team:
The group of us have gotten along ridiculously well, and I have definitely made some new good friends. With 12 random people picked from across the university, I didn't know what to expect with living with so many other people, but it's gone really well. I thought finding personal space would be hard, but it’s good to have people going through a similar experience. We talk about what we did that day over dinner, and it's been really helpful having someone know exactly what you're going through and understand how you feel perfectly. It definitely feels quiet when people aren’t around; the house is just so empty. It’s interesting to see people working in their own different way and different styles and it’s been good to see a side to them you never see at University.

The SIA staff are now friends. I’d come back for them. They need to know they’re doing an incredible job and I don't think I could tell them enough. If we were coming for three months and then leave, it would be useless. We’re trying to change norms here and that isn’t going to happen in 10 weeks. We help provide something different but it needs SIA to continue it. I need to know that my peer leader will still be there for the rest of the year. When I come back next year I need to know it’s still going and that it’s making a difference.

Meet the Team - Jenna Leutkehans

Initial Thoughts:
We had a Zambia project in high school and when I came to Uni I missed that connection that I felt to Zambia. I applied on a whim when I saw the advert. I was excited to live in Zambia and understand the culture and the issues that the Zambians faced. I’d worked for US based NGOs focussed on Zambia, but I was keen to see how a Zambian organisation works.

I was a bit nervous about going with a whole bunch of people that I didn’t know rather than the actual work I’d have to do when I got here.


Impressions of Lusaka, Zambia:
I was expecting it to be different from when I’d come before which had only been for 2 weeks a couple of years ago. However the length of time we had to come here seemed more comfortable because I’d been here once before so it wasn’t a completely new place for me. But I was experiencing it in a different way.

Lusaka is dirty and the trash everywhere really frustrates me. It blows my mind. It’s a lot bigger than I thought it would be. It’s a city like any other city in that people are there to do something and therefore are focussed on themselves. The odd thing is the contrast between the slow African pace of people and yet the buzz of the city. There’s also the contrast between the friendliness of the people and yet there’s sometimes an uncomfortable negative attention from the people because we stick out. It’s tiring – a sort of reverse racism.

Every once in a while I feel a bit unsafe, mostly when I’m on my own. You can feel vulnerable because of this white status.


Impressions of the value of the project:
It’s worthwhile but it’s hard to see its worth whilst you’re in it. However I think at the end, and afterwards in a years’ time and two years’ time I’ll see the value in my own development. It will take time to see the impact as well through the eyes of the SIA staff.

Impressions of the Team:
It definitely works. I would probably prefer 10 or 8 because sometimes in a group of 12 you can sometimes get lost in the group. But it does mean that you get variety and do more things. As for SIA, they’ve really impressed me. The staff passion there is amazing and their total competence. They operate well in a third world environment and the impact they have is very visible to us. I think the encouragement factor with the partnership - they say that our presence has validated them and we’ve made it clear that we believe in what they’re doing. They say that gives them the energy and the confidence to carry on. We couldn’t come from the outside and jump in and do what we think then we won’t do what the Zambians actually need. They went to each others’ schools, played with them as children…they know now how to invest in what they need.

UTH - Special Needs School

Visiting the Bush

Teaching Life Skills

Livingston

Signs around Lusaka

Everyday work

The girls join the Lusaka rugby team and visit an orphanage for the day.



Kieran's football team before heading to a tournament in Tanzania. Their kit was donated by Ashley's father.




Answering questions at an HIV/AIDS clinic



A typical classroom




Kids are grouped based on their 'status'.

Pround of himself for climbing the tree!



Ashley and kids



Sport in Action



Peer Leaders in action



Ali & kids

Nathan Drops In!!!

Hi characters, thought i'd drop in to let you know how the experience is sitting with me so far. I'm Nathan, the token englishman mainly focusing on the sporting aspect (football/soccer mainly) but trying to get involved in everything!!

It's hard to convey how an experience like this affects people, in the long term it could have major implications and in the short term i don't feel there's a race like the Africans that can bring just as much joy to us as we do to them. In order to inform you of how it may affect us there's some facts and figures about the community school that I (with Mel) am placed at, which may help everyone to understand. As I understand there are 3 main types of school here in Lusaka - Zambia, these being private, basic and community schools. Chibolya is a community school where I have been working over the period, which effectively means it is one the more deprived schools to be placed at, along with Mutendere. The teachers at Chibolya work voluntarily for the government in order to lower the cost of the childrens education for the year and seeing as this works out at approximately $20 for the year it is pretty staggering. Zambia has a HIV/AIDS pandemic there's no two ways about it, around 20% of people are thought to have the HIV virus but at Chibolya this is believed to be more like %40 and seeing as around %60 of the children (grades 1 - 9) are single or double orphans the chances of them affording or being able to get treatment is pretty low in addition to many of them not understanding that they need treatment the pandemic may inevitably get worse before it gets any better. The problem is heightened in communities like Chibolya, which is very close to a compound that is run by criminals with drugs and alcohol problems, the police do not even enter this compound as they will be overrun. The reason it is heightened is that the children need to work to get money for their family, often families of 4 or 5 are looked after by their eldest brother or sister at just age 12 and the work they do can range from selling charcoal outside their house to prostitution. Prostitution is a massive hurdle that needs to be overcome if the HIV/AIDS pandemic is to be eradicated which is the ultimate goal. It's happened with other viruses so why not HIV??

This is where we have stepped in, there have been so many things going on. HIV/AIDS clinics, sports coaching, PE lessons, peer leader sessions, kids clubs, football matches, coaching, training, counselling, visits to the special needs school and soooooo much more. Sport is a huge tool that we have used out here and it has been made so much better being surrounded by world cup fever!!!!! If in doubt a Zambian will talk to you about the world cup for hours on end, i always start a coaching session talking to my Under 14 Chibolya lads about the world cup. In simple terms they "love it" and we have realised how it brings people from so many backgrounds and races together. Whilst this is indirectly related to the HIV/AIDS pandemic we can use sport to gain the confidence and trust of the children and then when we do inform them of the problems associated with HIV/AIDS they may just take what we say on board which can only be of a benefit to them and their community and possibly even the country and continent in the long run. In addition if we can put a smile on their faces, remove them from their problems in the short time we spend with them, then we know we have an immediate effect in that respect. I don't know about anyone else but i can safely say that it makes me feel amazing too, so much so that I have decided to stay on for a few more months to try and help in other areas. I will be undertaking this at the olympic stadium where the facilities literally are phenominal. This is an example of a project that has blossomed and one in which sport has affected the people of Zambia. If we can use sport along with counselling to affect people as this project has then when we ask ourselves if it is all worth it the only answer is...... "OF COURSE IT IS!!".
Nathan xxx

Dinner Time!

Dinner Time in the house - Kevin, Fi and Stephen



Traditional food sold at the market.



Close up on the caterpillars. We all tried one - very chewy!



Cooking fritters at the market - K500 each.

Workshops and general update

Part of the responsibility of the 'counselling' students is to facilitate workshops for the peer leaders every other week. These are intended to further develop the skills of the peer leaders. We've had 4 sessions so far, 3 in the Lusaka office and one in Liteta, a rural community.

The first session we focused particularly on listening skills and trust. We did a role play of 'active listening' versus 'poor listening', and they got really into it! We have some future Zambian TV stars!

The second session we split into smaller groups and created mind maps of 'the role of a peer leader'. We are daily impressed with the professionalism and passion of the peer leaders, and understanding their perception of the role they play was very encouraging. They absolutely covered their paper with skills, qualities and activities that they need to possess and utilise in order to fulfil the mission of Sport in Action (Development through Sport). They then presented their maps to the other groups in order to ensure that no one missed anything, and it turned into a sort of motivational speech about keeping up the good work. It was great (videos to come)!

The next session we brainstormed all the songs, icebreakers, message games and fun and movement games we could think of and that peer leaders use to run sessions in the schools. We then sang and played them all so every peer leader knows every game and can use them. The majority of what Sport in Action does in the schools here in Lusaka is centred around the PE classes they run. These PE classes are not like a typical PE class in the UK (or US, or Canada!). Instead of focusing on fitness or specific sporting skills, the goal is to integrate important life skills and messages into fun and movement games. So it is important to have a large internal database of songs and games to pick and choose from depending on the age, length of time and topic for the day. The sorts of topics range from concentration, team work, and communication skills to more sensitive topics like peer pressure, drug abuse, alcohol and HIV.

The fourth session we've done was in Liteta, a rural community we took a day trip to. Some of the team will be returning there in two weeks time to stay in the village for a fortnight. We had a great day there. The counselling students took a workshop with a small group of peer leaders from the surrounding villages, in which they covered the role of the peer leader again, and how to effectively integrate messages into games. The sporting students also took a clinic on football and netball drills with students from the area. We will be visiting 2 more villages this week and will be facilitating more workshops and clinics with the peer leaders and students in those areas as well.

We are half-way through our time here in Zambia and although we feel like we've been here for ages because we are so settled, it has also flown by. We have two more full weeks in Lusaka at our placements before we split into smaller groups and go out into rural villages for a fortnight, before coming back to Lusaka for a week to wrap up and say goodbye. We haven't been a full team for a few weeks now, with graduation, Kieran in Tanzania with his U13 football team, a short trip to Livingstone and various sick days. But we're all back and healthy now and are enjoying catching up. Chris Lusk arrived this weekend, and we are enjoying her home cooking! More to come,

PZ team 2010

Chaisa School

Stephen singles one child out to say hello.



Fi starts a game of 'I have the ball' but the kids are easily distracted by the video camera!



Several kids teach Jenna and Stacey how to say 'Hi, how are you?' in the local language, Nyanja.



Finally get a traditional game of 'I have the ball' started.