This is the last entry from Livingstone for a while, and this week we have been busy with the logistics of our big trip up north!! The books are being packed as are the art materials. Yes, even some glitter has found its way into the mix!! I wonder if it will have the same effect in the Zambian Copperbelt as it does in the Southern Province?
(Full story and images after the jump)
The children at the schools are really sad when they find out that it’s our last week for a while but when we tell them we are back in September they start to smile again. And they have 4 weeks of summer holidays whilst we are away but unlike home the children say they would rather be in school.
This week I’ve been looking for a project for the volunteers on the first 2 weeks back in Livingstone before the schools begin again. I was told about a children’s home right next to the colourful and vibrant Maramba market. The home houses 45 children of varying ages and after visiting several times I’m confident it will be a fantastic venue for our project.
At the schools we have been writing some letters to take to the children at the schools in the refugee settlement. All the Zambians I talk to are really interested in hearing about this part of their country and I’ve had many requests for photos and diaries, especially from teachers. A lot of the trip remains a mystery but what I have been reliably informed by almost everybody is that they grow great pineapples there!! We’ve also been doing puppet shows acted out from the books we are reading as well as from self written scripts! There have been some interesting stories!
On an exploratory bike ride of the surrounding area, Kate and I found a fantastic community school & village particularly founded for families with blind relatives. They have an enormous vegetable garden which they cultivate to sell to a large hotel chain. The settlement is right on the edge of Livingstone with no power or running water, but this new district of Mapensa is slowly becoming populated as the council sells off plots of land. I made a return visit to the school later in the week to see if our project would be able to visit them in September, driving back I came across another school with 400 pupils that has only 3 mud huts as classrooms!! I hope very much to be able to visit these 2 schools in some capacity after our trip to Solwesi.The pupils and teachers were so pleased to see us just arriving in a taxi without any books, I can’t imagine their reaction if the book managed to visit.
Also on the bike ride we made a stop at the local quarry where men and women make a living quarrying rocks by hand. It was a true insight into the running of a primary industry in a developing nation. We were even invited down into the quarry to have a go! I don’t think many M’zungos have ventured here and asked the people about their existence, so we were seen as special guests. Other Volunteers went to Chobe National park in Botswana for the weekend and some went adrenaline seeking on the Zambezi by Jetboat! We’ve been to the Royal Livingstone again and watched the sunset on a small beach right next to the river and a very rusty sign saying “Beware of Crocodiles”!!!
