Pirates in Zambia!

Finally on Monday the strike finished and things seem to be getting back to normal. Last week was still seriously disrupted. At Dambwa school there were hundreds of pupils and only a handful of staff. The kids had turned up to just to see if anyone would teach them. Our usual 30 children in grade 6 turned into nearly 100!! It was pure chaos but everyone had real fun. Most of the children went home covered in glitter; even the boys want sparkles in their hair! The head teacher thanked us several times for our presence…it felt like we were extremely welcome.

This week has been dominated by divers, self portraits, lion masks and pirate costumes! We haven’t found any Zambian yet who knows what a pirate is, even the teachers were intrigued, but once the kids read “The Pirate Kitty” they are all extremely excited about making eye patches and pirate hats! Stimulating their imaginations and getting them to think independently is what our sessions are about.

At Cowboy Cliffs we were treated to a lesson in traditional Zambian dance. The children were keen to show us what to do but then it was our turn to move to the rhythm of the drums. It’s pretty hard to dance when you are surrounded by 60 clapping 5 and 6 year olds and you can’t stop laughing. It was a fantastic morning with the product of some interesting videos and photos.

Our volunteer librarian has befriended the workers at the local library and they came and paid the Bookbus a visit. The Livingstone library does not have a children’s section and they were amazed to see the colourful books we have on board. Today 3 of the library students have come to join the volunteers and sit in on some of our sessions, this is good interaction with the local community.

Bungee jumps, seeing a herd of wild elephants crossing the river whilst watching sunset on the banks of the Zambezi, (taking care not to be eaten by crocodiles) and visits to Victoria Falls, coming home drenched with spray are some of the amaZing things we have been up to in our spare time.

Kelly Geoghegan, Book Bus Leader