Feedback from some of our recent Book Bus travellers

My name is Helen, I am 29-years-old. I volunteered with the Book Bus in May and June of 2009. The Book Bus is a wonderful project based in Livingstone, Zambia. We visited five different schools in the Livingstone area, one for each day of the school week. The Book Bus is a Livingstone icon - everybody knows the Book Bus!    

Volunteering with the Book Bus is such a rewarding experience. I remember one of my fellow volunteers commenting after my first day that she had never seen anyone smile so much! The children are amazing, so keen to learn and so happy that you have taken the time to help them. They are often packed sixty to a class so any individual attention you can give them is really appreciated.

In a typical day I would take four small groups for an hour each, grades four to seven. The work was also challenging at times as we would work with 8-year-olds who had excellent reading skills as well as 16-year-olds who could hardly read at all. Creativity, flexibility and patience are great skills to have as every group is different. In the lessons we would usually read together, talk about what they had read and do an activity based around the story and themes of the book, usually arts and crafts (srawing, making masks etc) or play games to further their understanding (football, netball, word games etc). Sometimes we would work on little projects together that would continue over into the next weeks lesson! The children especially liked 'The Banana Song'! 

One of the best things about volunteering with the Book Bus for me, was the wonderful people I met. I made some great friends, my fellow volunteers, the teachers and of course the children. The support I had from the Book Bus and VentureCo staff was great, both pre-departure and whilst in Zambia.

Zambia is a wonderful country and in our free time we explored the lovely town of Livingstone and the surrounding areas. There are so many things to do - see Victoria Falls aka Mosi-o-Tunya (‘the smoke that thunders’ - and it really does), go white water rafting and kayaking on the mighty Zambezi river, pet lions and cheetahs, walk to the Devil's Pool, bungi jump 111m from the Zim-Zam bridge, the second highest bunji in the world (if you're brave enough – I’m not), see hippos and giraffes on a sunset cruise, take high tea at The Royal Livingstone and visit Chobe National Park in Botswana, the elephant viewing there is amazing!

I can’t wait to go back again!!

HELEN DAVIES

After spending hours on the internet searching for a volunteering opportunity that was based in Africa I was lucky enough to find the Book Bus. I wanted a charity based project that worked with children and their communities and offered something a bit different.

As soon as we arrived in Ndola the adventure started and we met up with the other volunteers and the dream team of Kelly, Jen and Doc the driver and set out to our final destination Meheba!  Driving along the main road from Ndola to Meheba and going through Kitwe, Chingola and Solwezi gave us the chance to relax, get to know our new found friends and see glimpses of Zambia through the side of our Book Bus truck (which over the next few weeks became a second home, our favourite mode of transport and the place to be for evening entertainment – especially the weekly Meheba quiz night!) We arrived, drove along the main road and saw our first sights of Meheba which looked much like the Zambian villages we had seen on the way and set up camp which attracted lots of attention from the locals and I’m not sure they were impressed with our tent building skills! Once we’d done the camp building we started looking at books, organising the truck into some sort of library and preparing for our first day of work.

Our first school was one of the biggest and our welcome was crazy and a complete mix of children who were incredibly excited and some older ones who were quite wary of the new visitors who were all white. We taught lessons throughout that morning, outside, inside and to groups of children ranging from grades 5 to 9 and group sizes of 6 to 20! It was a great start and really showed me the passion that all the children had for books, stories and learning and that passion was reflected in every child we taught and every school we worked in.

Throughout the month I worked with some amazing children who were incredibly enthusiastic, happy and motivated to learn and experience as much as they could and some great teachers who wanted to learn too. I had a fantastic time in Meheba , it was a privilege to be one of the Meheba pioneers and I would love to return at some point. I still struggle to understand how these children and their communities who appear to have so little and have often harrowing stories to tell can be so welcoming, genuine and enthusiastic.

I would recommend this experience to anyone, the lessons we taught were simple and often unconventional but brought such joy to the children we worked with and gave them a taste of the enjoyment and value that can be found in books and the pleasure and learning that reading and stories can provide. 

RACHEL BRAZIER

“You’re going to spend a month in a refugee camp? Why?” asked the lady at Zambian Passport Control, with wide, questioning eyes.

“Because it’s different to anything I’ve ever done before...”.

I’d never been to Africa, and prior to the trip I was filled with nervous anticipation. Being a trainee teacher, I knew I could handle spreading a love of books and reading to children, but I worried about what the people of Meheba Refugee Settlement would think of our group of western do-gooders.

Entering Zambia, I watched the country roll by, children running and waving, colourful clothing and the dusty shades of orange and yellow. Meheba defied all my expectations. A vast scrubland, dotted with towering termite hills, it was divided into spacious plots for the refugee families. Although we felt every bit the white strangers, everyone was incredibly friendly, curious and welcoming. They came from all over Africa, and though they possessed little, they did not complain. Each had a story to tell. One man, who taught himself English from a dictionary he carried under his arm, had lived in the camp for 25 years, and hoped to write a book about his experiences. A thirteen year-old girl shared her story of pain and violence with me, but ended with her eyes glistening with hope.

During the day, we worked with groups of children in classroom corners or outside in the sun. We shared our favourite childhood books and created hats, masks, stories and drawings. I’ve never met children more eager to learn. Together we chased the Gingerbread Man, invited the Tiger to tea, and bounced my inflatable globe. Even the teenage boys gathered around to hear the children’s stories.

Camp life took some adjustment, with its tents, long-drop toilet, and bucket shower in the trees. We spent the evenings playing games, star-gazing on top of termite hills, watching the local football match, and occasionally battling vast armies of ants. In our spare time we helped build a school kitchen as most of the locals stood by watching. Apparently, TIA (This is Africa).

Working with The Book Bus team proved an incredibly emotional experience. It hurt to leave, and someday I hope to return. Not for the sunsets or the landscapes, but for the people. Meheba was different to anything I’ve ever experienced, but it strengthened my feeling that we are all essentially the same. I recommend the experience to everyone.

STEPHANIE MCCULLOUGH

2 of the most happiest weeks of my life has left me with a lifetime of amazing memories….

It all began on a Monday morning, the Book Bus slowly bounced along the dirt track of the village of Linda, along the way local children ran beside the bus waving and smiling at us through the bus door which we had left open to cool the warm air that had already spread through the bus. We arrived about 20 minutes later at Linda Community School, the local children helped us carry our mats and bags to a small area of shade at the back of the school.

We were separated into groups with 5-6 Year 5 children, these children were between the ages of 12 and 14. We started by reading The Hungry Caterpillar, each child read a page and it soon became apparent the children that were strong readers and those that struggled with the simplest of words, however, the children that could read would instantly help the one that was struggling, this became a standard procedure throughout all the schools we visited. It was lovely to see them almost being protective of their friends. After they had read the book I asked the children if they’d like to decorate the butterfly that the caterpillar turned into, I had already cut out butterflies and folded them in half so they could decorate one side of the butterfly and show them that butterflies are symmetrical. This proved quite hard, the concept of leaving one side blank was clearly unacceptable, these children had paper, glue and glitter in front of them and it was going everywhere! Faces and all!! I even found traces of glitter on me on the flight home.

Each day we would spend an hour with each year group from year 4 – 7 which meant the children ranged from 11 – 17. The children were all so enthusiastic to read, some didn’t want to draw, they wanted to read another book. Being able to read English is such an integral part of their education as it puts them in such a good stead for their future.

Imagination and choices are not something the children are encouraged to use everyday, so being able to provide them with storybooks to read and stationery to be creative with is so important. Every volunteer that boards The Book Bus can be assured that they have made a positive impact on these children’s live’s, I’d recommend the trip to anyone.

ZOE ALLEN