Meeting the children - Saturday 16th April 2011

Today was the first day of our visit to Zambia where we would really find out why we are here.

Up early for a good cooked breakfast at 7:15 before the half hour walk through the Katondo district of Kabwe, we were ready to get involved with the SIA project for real.

Zambian kids learn to adapt and play with anything they
can get their hands on

The walk through Katondo was a bit of an eye opener, with the housing becoming more and more basic as we went on; walking through the local market, literally everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at us all, but the children immediately started coming up to us and saying hello, before they clung onto us. We had been told that the children would do this, but for most, this came as a bit of a surprise when it happened for real.

The school we worked at today was the Twyfane Community School, which is the focal point for this community. Education in Zambia is not free for all, so only those able to afford it, can send their children to school.

The Twyfane School however, was set up several years ago as an alternative to the normal state school system, with the community paying for the facilities, and children being educated at a lower cost than they would be normally.

One of the classrooms at Twyfane 

The school building itself is a one storey, 'L' shaped building, which has recently been extended, and caters for approximately 850 children from the wider Katondo district. The building is nowhere near big enough to fit all of them in, so the school day is staggered, depending on the children's classes; Grade 1 at 7:30-8:30, for example, and so on throughout the day.

The school headmistress is Mrs Chileshe (whose son Clement, set up Sport in Action, and is now Centre Director at the OYDC), and is supported in the running of the school by governors who live in the community. Having such close links with SIA, the school benefits from the work carried out by the charity, and has also been assisted by other British universities.

With the SIA peer leaders and co-ordinators on site and introductions made, it was time to get started. Ice breakers with all of the students, children and SIA volunteers began with group singing and dancing. It was clear that British reservations about being centre of attention and looking silly would have to be thrown out the window for this week, as the children lapped up the fun.

The activities for the children were split between the basketball court at the school, and the football pitch which was a two minute walk away. The only way that we could know that this was a football pitch was the presence of goalposts at either end of an area of dusty scrubland, badly potholed, and thick patches of long grass.

The facilities weren't important though, as the SIA peer leaders gathered the children around them, and delivered what were to be the staple activities for the week. The games, although accompanied by chanting and singing, could easily be transported to any group of children around the globe, and it was clear that for this age group, games are a universal language.

The reality of Zambian health and social issues began to dawn on us with the SIA peer leaders then sitting the children down in a large circle and asking them questions about the issues around HIV/AIDS. One in six Zambians are HIV positive, or have full blown AIDS, while in Kabwe, it is reported that as many as one in four are affected. Take a look at the video and think about how young these children are, and whether children of a similar age in the UK would ever be aware of such issues. Please take time out to watch the video. The responses to the questions posed show the level of ignorance towards HIV/AIDS, albeit among children, but it goes to show that these people truly need help to get the facts behind it.

The end of the day at Katondo market

The end of our day at the school arrived, and the walk back to Mulubila Lodge; almost every child who had been at the school came with us to the edge of Katondo in a chaotic mass, and said their goodbyes, until we would see them tomorrow.

During the week we were to have in Kabwe, most of us would find ourselves befriending one child in particular. A young lad by the name of Anxious introduced himself to me, so on talking to him, it was soon apparent that he was one of the victims of this country's poor health record. Although he was well, he didn't go to school because he had to look after his sick mother and younger brother. He didn't know his age, but I imagine he would have been about 12 or so. He asked for a present; I had nothing but leftover boiled sweets in my bag from our flights, so gave him them to pass around. I was to see him again though, during the week.