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.

Destination Kabwe - Friday 15th April 2011

This was the day which we travelled to Kabwe, the focal point of the trip as far as our work was concerned. All the preparation had taken place in Preston, with the module delivery completed, and the exchange visit a few weeks before having given the Sport in Action team the chance to give a short induction to the students on the work they were to carry out.

Before leaving the university, we took a walk around the campus, taking in the library, which was very basic, and unlike the UCLan library, where we are fortunate to have the latest technologies, and books and journals available to us. We were the centre of attention, with students stopping to stare at us walking among them. On close inspection at the books in the sports section of the library, we could see that they are in dire need of up to date materials, with books from the 1980s being the latest references to sporting theory available.

The Sport in Action headquarters in Lusaka

On leaving the university, we travelled to the Sport in Action (SIA) head office in Lusaka to meet some of the team there, and view a short video which I think we had seen already back in Preston. While Cliff and Clint met with the management there, we all walked a short distance to a cultural village, to see some local crafts. This was the first chance to take part in haggling and bartering with the sellers, with some managing to get bargains through exchanges for their own possessions.

As yet, we hadn't had the chance to change our cash into the local currency, the Kwacha. Having bought US Dollars to travel with, we fought hard to understand how much we actually had right throughout the visit. At a rate of £1 = K7600, we exchanged Dollars at $1 = K4700. This was done at the local arcade, in Spar of all places. 

The UNZA coach took us all to Kabwe on our first real journey across Zambia. Kabwe is a small town 135km north of Lusaka, and is on the the Great North Road, which was to have been a part of Cecil Rhodes' visionary empire building route from the Cape in South Africa to Cairo in Egypt. 

The OYDC tower

Just before leaving Lusaka, we stopped at the Zambian Olympic Youth Development Centre (OYDC) on the northern outskirts of the city, where Cliff and Clint were to meet the Centre Director, Clement Chileshe.

This facility opened in May 2010, and is the best sports facility in the whole country, with facilities including indoor sports halls, athletics arena, 3G football pitch, and handball, basketball, and netball courts. When we arrived, it was a hive of activity, with the inter-provincial youth games taking place.

Our presence was a bit of a surprise to say the least, and we found ourselves surrounded by people wanting to say 'Hi' and have their photograph taken.

I spoke with a shot putter who had taken part in the games, and he quite plainly turned round and asked "Will you take me back to England?". Normally you might think that this would be a joke, but not here; any opportunities for getting the the developed world are jumped on without a second thought. This wouldn't be the only time that a member of our group would have such a request.

Another example where sport is used to
promote health initiatives in Zambia

As the games were taking place, the schools had their own cheerleading routines in the form of traditional dances. A close look around gave us a chance to see further healthy living messages, with banners reminding people of the dangers of HIV/AIDS, and t-shirts with similar themes being worn by participants and officials.

After a stay of about half an hour, we left the OYDC for a non-stop coach drive to Kabwe, which took about two and a half hours. It was now that we were able to see for ourselves what rural Zambia looked like. We drove past small communities along the roadside who set up makeshift market stalls, selling tomatoes, watermelon, and sugar beet, among other things.

We arrived in Kabwe, staying at the Mulubila Lodge to the north east of the town centre. The road on which it was located was tarmaced, only to the lodge entrance, and from then on, it was a two lane badly rutted dirt track.

Lodge 4B - home for a week

Our accommodation was good, with us paired up to a lodge each, with a front room, bedroom, and bathroom, including shower, with hot water. Meals were either chicken, beef, or sausage, with pasta, and vegetables. 

The bar at the lodge had a good enough supply of the two most common beers in Zambia, Mozi,and Castle. It was interesting to see on the second evening there, that the fridge in the bar was better stocked!!

Having completed our travelling, it was a chance to rest before our first meeting the next morning with all of the local SIA peer leaders and co-ordinators, in delivering play to local children at the Twyfane Community School.