ZAMBIA SPORTS COACHING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROJECT
LIVINGSTONE, ZAMBIA

An exciting and worthwhile project - of particular interest to sports enthusiasts - who can get involved in coaching under-privileged, but often very talented youngsters. Resources are very limited but the enthusiasm and excitement shown by the children more than makes up for the shortage of equipment. Alternatively, opportunities are available to help out in the local community, either working in the orphanage, building desperately needed classrooms or refurbishing older schools - and even a chance to help conserve the elephant population using "chilli peppers". Read on to find out more!

General Information

Sports Coaching

It is our vision to harness the power of sport as a tool through which the quality of people’s lives can be improved by providing a program of Football Coaching, Aids and Healthy Living Education and Community Support.

Through our age-specific coaching manuals you will find an easy and succinct way of delivering our week-by-week coaching program, alongside our Aids/Healthy living Education program.

The Schools of Livingstone

Schools and Sports Clubs in Livingstone cope with a great lack of funds, and as a result, there are very few sports coaches, and a limited supply of sports equipment. Despite this, the majority of children love sports and are eager to play. As a volunteer, you will work at either one of the primary schools in Livingstone, or at our Sports Club, and coach children in various sporting activities.

Football (Soccer)

For those who want to focus on football there is great scope for developing grass roots players, helping them progress to the highest standards. Football (or soccer) is a very popular sport in Zambia and there is much talent waiting to be discovered and channeled. At the academy level the emphasis will be taking young players with obvious talent and directing that in a more serious way.

Working with top professional Zambian and European coaches, our Sports Programme strives to take the best players and give them the opportunity to develop their football skills, attitude and lifestyle with the big aim of progressing these players to the highest level possible. Emphasis is on direct coaching, scouting for talent and match performance and analysis.

At the start of your program, you will be trained as a level 1 coach, providing basic drills and activities that you will conduct with children during the course of the program.

You may be involved in the following activities:

• Coaching
• Organising matches for the teams you’re coaching
• Organising team-building activities
• Playing general games to exercise the children
• Teaching the children about living a healthy lifestyle
• Assisting with scouting, coaching and general operations of our high performance academy

In addition you may be involved developing advanced coaching techniques and working with individual children to develop them further

General Sports

If you choose the general sports option you will be a part of a coaching team dedicated to selecting children with talent, defining the sports where their talent is most apparent and then growing that talent to its fullest potential. Sports that fall into this category include

• Athletic
• Basketball
• Netball

This list is not exhaustive. The general sports programme will suit individuals who enjoy many sports and are open to the challenge of perceiving an individual’s talents and then watering them into full bloom. An exciting blue-sky challenge.

About the Programme

As a coach will be placed in one of the community/Basic schools around Livingstone, where you will deliver a coaching scheme of work to classes that are in your school. You will remain in the same school for your length of stay and will coach Grades 3-7.

About your Coaching Sessions

Your coaching session will be around 2 to 3 hrs long. The first 30 minutes will be put aside to educate your class. This is an essential part of the Sports Programme and the importance of this kind of education cannot be over emphasised. The topic will be different each week and you will be provided with background information on the topic.

Coaching support

We believe that a great way to develop as a coach is to watch others coaching. So every Monday, participatory coaching clinics will take place based on the theme that week. A coach will deliver a session that will include warm up and progressions for set drills based on the theme of the week.

Community Project

You will be combining sports coaching with a variety of projects in the local community. This allows you to make a difference in other areas and not just through sport. You will be able to choose between the following projects:

Mulwani Reading Club

The reading club was set up in order to try to give children within Mulwani Basic School individual attention to improve their general reading and English skills.

Nakatindi Reading club

Nakatindi Community School is given limited government funding and the children do not pay any school fees. The school essentially runs on support from the community and other aid organizations.

Nakatindi Painting and Building Project

It took four years to build the three classrooms that comprise Nakatindi community school, largely due to a lack of regular funding. Therefore volunteers offered to paint the school, the toilet blocks and also the huts that are acting as classrooms until another building can be constructed.

Farming at the Maramba Home-based Care Centre

Home based care provides palliative care for those who suffer from Aids, TB, Malaria or are recovering from recent accidents. These people are often too ill to reach the clinic and vital medical supplies are provided by the home based care team. You will be assisting on various activities, including hoeing, watering, harvesting, grass-cutting and more.

Farming within Linda Community

Linda Community is an impoverished township situated 10 minutes outside of Livingstone. We assist the Linda Home-based care project in much the same way as Maramba Home-based care, however the level of poverty is a lot higher than the Maramba community. Volunteers have created small vegetable gardens in the backyards of the home-based care patients. This provides essential food where it was previously unavailable.

Mwandi Community School, Mural and Building Project

Since November 2006, we have been building a third classroom on the end of the existing two. Volunteers will be assisting with painting (interior and exterior), making cement blocks and various other jobs.

HIV Education – Awareness Affects Everyone

Within the Zambian population, a minimum of one out of every six people are living with the HIV virus. Livingstone has one of the highest populations in Zambia of HIV-infected people.

The HIV Education course is run by African Impact volunteers and aims to significantly reduce new incidence of HIV in the community. It aims to encourage those who have not yet been tested to find out their HIV status and to provide information on available treatment options.

Project typical day

Additional Activity Highlights

These are not included in your volunteering fee, but our coordinators are able to assist you with making the necessary booking arrangements.

• Dinner/Sunset cruise on the Zambezi River
• The world's most exciting white water rafting on the Zambezi River.
• Bungee jumping and gorge swings over the Batoka Gorge which the water cascades into below the Falls.
• Helicopter Ride over the Falls
• Microlight Flight over the Falls
• Elephant back safaris.
• Canoeing Safaris on the Zambezi River above the Falls with experienced guides.
• Game drives in Zambia's Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park or neighbouring Botswana's Chobe National Park.

"I volunteered in September 2006 in Livingstone, and it was the most amazing experience of my life and I only wish I was out there for longer!" Stephanie Keatley, UK.

"My time in Livingstone was amazing, so much more than I could have ever experienced. I was 100% happy, in fact 110% happy with my whole experience" Mandy Beech, Australia. August 2006.

Support

Support and advice is available from your Project Managers whilst on the project and from the UK Amanzi Travel Team.

Find out more about Amanzi Travel support

Orientation

A comprehensive information pack will be sent to all our volunteers upon booking their trip and further advice and information will be provided via telephone and email before departure. A full orientation will be provided when you arrive at the project by your project co-ordinator including information on the current status of the projects and familiarizing you with the local surroundings. Your induction also includes a basic Nyaja language course and cultural familiarisation, as well as a visit to Mukuni Village (a traditional African Village just outside of Livingstone).

Our volunteer co-ordinators will set you a personalized schedule for you each week that will allow you to be involved in the particular programmes that feel you would like to dedicate your time to.

Accommodation and Meals

We have three volunteer houses, that are just 200 metres apart. All houses are very comfortable, and staffed with a cook and laundry/cleaning ladies. The houses all have a large living/dining area, several bathrooms, a large garden, a safe for your valuables, and satellite TV. One of the houses has a big swimming pool, which is available to all volunteers. All bedding is provided, so you will not need to bring a sleeping bag with you. Though sometimes it is useful in the colder months (June – September). Regardless of which house you end up staying at, all meals, laundry and transportation to and from your projects and tourist activities will be provided and organised by your volunteer co-ordinator.

You will be provided with three meals a day. Breakfast is on a help-yourself basis and usually consists of cereals/porridge, toast, tea and coffee. Lunch and dinner are full meals, and will be cooked for you by one of our chefs at your volunteer house.

Note: Sometimes on weekends you will need to cook your own meals with ingredients that will be provided, as our staff will need to be given time off. Weekends are usually good times for tourist activities and exploring the surrounding area, so that is the time that a lot of volunteers are out and about anyway.

Getting There

Fly into either Lusaka or Livingstone Airport where you will be met on arrival and transferred to your accommodation.

If you fly into Lusaka, Zambia's Capital City you will need to transfer to Livingstone by bus (approximately 5 hours) or by internal flight.

(There may be a number of ways to reach your destination airport - for further information or advice please contact Amanzi Travel)

Let Amanzi Travel arrange your flights for you

Project Fees

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