Mosi-oa-tunya’ - The Smoke That Thunders… is the local description of the spray created by the world famous Victoria Falls, the number one tourist attraction in Zambia, and only a stone's throw from the town of Livingstone - the location of the project and the adventure capital of Africa. Here volunteers have the opportunity to gain a unique insight into the Zambian medical field, and to make a positive impact on the local community through a specially structured Medical Programme.
Medical volunteers spend their time providing much needed assistance within the medical establishments of Livingstone. They do not need to be qualified - just need the desire to want to help. They will also spend time in the afternoons on worthwhile local community projects.
This is a great project where volunteers not only play an integral and hands-on part in helping with the health care needs of this Zambian community but will also leave with a real insight into medicine in a third world country. An ideal project for anyone thinking about a entering a medical profession!
Duration & Fees
- £799 - 2 weeks
- £995 - 3 weeks
- £1,195 - 4 weeks
Start Dates
2012: 2 Jan | 16 Jan | 6 Feb | 20 Feb | 5 Mar | 19 Mar | 2 Apr | 16 Apr | 7 May | 21 May | 4 Jun | 18 Jun | 2 Jul | 16 Jul | 6 Aug | 20 Aug | 3 Sep | 17 Sep | 1 Oct | 15 Oct | 5 Nov | 19 Nov | 3 Dec | 17 Dec
Payment
£180 deposit at time of booking – balance payment of project fee due 12 weeks before departure
What's Included
- Financing that goes directly back into the projects to cover items such as building materials, materials etc
- Airport transfers to and from Livingstone Airport on arrival and departure
- Full daily support from Project Managers
- Accommodation and three meals a day, Monday to Friday
- Full orientation on arrival
- Daily transfers to and from projects
What's not included
- Travel insurance to include cover for repatriation
- Personal items eg clothes, travel goods
- Transport by air or bus to Livingstone
- Use of internet (email) and telephone
- Laundry service
- Wines, spirits and soft drinks and snacks
- Visas and any trips undertaken other than in the planned programme
Medical Project
Zambia is one of the world’s poorest countries and as a result health care provision suffers as much as any other public sector service in the country. Whilst structures are in place for an effective health service, there is an enormous deficit in terms of staff and resources. The presence of volunteers offering a helping hand in almost every area of the clinic is more than gratefully received by the staff who are working at an immense pace in an attempt to keep up with the demands placed upon them. Volunteers help during the mornings with the basic medical tasks which enables the trained staff to focus their time on the more complicated work requiring their expertise. Volunteers should supply certified copies of medical qualifications if they wish to work in specialised sections of maternity wards or laboratories. It is highly recommened that volunteers have a First Aid Course although it is not obligatory and volunteers should be aware that travelling to and from patients homes is done by foot.
The Medical Project has four main areas of work:
Clinic Assistance
Medical volunteers will assist in helping nurses in the clinics by checking the blood pressure, temperature and weight of patients (baby weighing is particularly fun!) before they are screened by a medical officer. Qualified doctors may also assist with the screening of patients, and the help of midwives is always appreciated by the staff in the labour ward.
Home Based Care
Volunteers will accompany community workers as they go out to visit bed-ridden and immobile patients across Livingstone. Most of the patients suffer from long-term and serious illnesses such as HIV, TB or Malaria. It is part of the volunteer's duty to provide basic advice, comfort and assistance to those members of the community with little or no access to clinics or hospitals. This might be offering basic first aid or just chatting to patients about personal hygiene or exercise. Home Based Care is also about assisting those incapable of taking care of themselves by making a patient's bed, doing a bit of simple housework for them and generally trying to improve their circumstances in the most basic yet effective way.
Maramba Old People's Home
Medical volunteers will assist by helping the elderly residents with their laundry, tidying and cleaning up the living areas and working in the vegetable garden to provide the food for the residents. This home is poorly funded by the government and few of the residents have any family to look after them. Volunteers assist by taking vitals - blood pressure, temperature and weight - to monitor health, treat bed sores, increase mobility and general health of the residents and address any medical issues that arise. Volunteers will be a "friendly face" to these people who have little entertainment or interaction by going armed with games, puzzles and a smile!
Health Education
Many health issues in Livingstone could be improved with a little education. HIV is a serious problem that continues to grow and the trend can only be reversed through education. Many health issues could be reduced through improved hygiene and nutrition and volunteers will work in small groups to teach about communicable diseases, healthy living and HIV awareness and prevention.
Selective Project: HIV Education in Prisons
Inmates of the local prison are a group who are highly vulnerable and susceptible to contracting HIV/AIDS and as such are an important audience to deliver the message about HIV, prevention and awareness, breaking stigma and living positively for those who are infected by the virus. This information forms an important part of rehabilitating inmates back into society once they are released. Please note, volunteers will be carefully selected for this project at the project managers' discretion based on specific criteria.
Afternoon Community Projects
Having spent the mornings in a clinic or home based care, volunteers will also help with valuable community development programmes during the afternoons and will rotate between the following:
Building, painting and refurbishing schools and clinics.
Schools are very short of classrooms resulting in most children being able to attend one session per day only. Volunteers will help the local builders and community to build as many classrooms as funds allow and will help with mixing cement, bricklaying, plastering and painting. Hard but very rewarding work!
Home Based Care / Farming
There are several home based care projects run by local volunteers in districts of Livingstone such as Maramba, Ngwenya, Libuyu, Linda and Dambwa. The women spend each morning visiting patients with HIV, TB and malaria within the local community who cannot afford to go to the clinic or hospital. They may contribute by way of basic first aid and help with advice on basic health care. The home based care community volunteers rely on government medical supplies or donations but some have their own land that they use to raise money for their work. This is the most sustainable way to ensure the project continues independently and volunteers may assist with setting up more farming initiatives as well as simple farming. The goal is to help in the initial set-up stages by assisting with the acquisition of land, tools and seed and then with the practical work of planting, watering, weeding and harvesting the produce which is sold to raise money for medical supplies. Although visiting these very deprived areas can be quite a shocking experience, volunteers consider that the opportunity to work with this group gives a real insight into the lives of those suffering from terminal illness and a good understanding of Zambian society.
Reading Club
Pupils from various schools attend the afternoon reading club where volunteers help out with literacy skills - encouraging the children to read and helping out with difficult words. Volunteers will go armed with a box of books and offer the opportunity to the children to practice their reading outside the limited lessons available.
Art Club
Volunteers are encouraged to plan these themselves using their own creative ideas to deal with a variety of issues. For example, the art club could produce posters for an anti-drugs campaign or make Christmas cards or decorations, Easter masks etc. The children also enjoy finger painting and making papier mache models.
Adult Literacy Club
This is a very important club and one that is very popular with volunteers - aimed at helping local adults become more employable through improved literacy. There is a structured syllabus with beginners/intermediate and advanced classes, and relevant testing and a certificate issued to those who are successful. The course improves the students' understanding of written and oral English as well as mathematics.
Study Group
Students come from various schools throughout Livingstone for structured study led by volunteers. The specifically designed programme aims to help the children get a greater grasp on subjects taught in class as well as tackle subjects that are not covered in the curriculum. Many of these children are orphans and don't get the support at home. This is a great opportunity to monitor students' academic and personal progress.
Maramba Old People's Home
Culturally, older family member are looked after within their community so old people's homes are not common. Therefore people who come to this home have no-one to look after them and come from far and wide. There are few staff and volunteers help with daily tasks such as cleaning and cooking and also with providing stimulation for the residents.
Project Highlights
- Visit and provide care to sick people in their own homes as well as to residents in the local old people's home
- Help out the sisters in the clinics, taking patients' vital signs before consultation and helping with clinic record keeping and filing
- Train local people how to care for the sick in their communities
- Conduct HIV Education around local communitites of Livingstone
- Get immersed in the local Zambian culture
- Make friends for life
- Work on school refurbishment and building projects in the community
- Visit the Victoria Falls and enjoy some of the amazing tourist activities that Livingstone has to offer
A Day in the Life of a Medical Volunteer
Here is how a typical day in the life of a medical volunteer might take shape. Please note that itineraries may differ from time to time depending on the experience and number of volunteers at the project at any time.
| 7am |
Its time for breakfast. Volunteers spend some time preparing for the day, ensuring they have everything they need in their medical bags |
| 7.45am |
Volunteers accompany a staff member and/or home based care giver into the community to visit sick people in their own homes, providing the attention and care they urgently need.. |
| 11.30am |
Volunteers will be picked up and taken back to the house for lunch |
| 12noon |
Lunch |
| 1pm |
Planning Session – Volunteers are given this time to prepare for the afternoon - this may mean designing and making posters, researching, writing quiz’s or tests or simply gathering supplies. |
| 1.30pm |
Depart for the community project. This may be farming, building, or painting or it may mean an art club or a reading club, or assisting with home based care or in one of the homes. Volunteers may also be involved in planning and delivering a Life Skills Workshop to the children of the local community schools covering topics such as basic first aid, drugs and alcohol awareness, HIV or AIDS. |
| 4.30pm |
Back to the house for supper and a free evening - perhaps for a meal out, or simply enjoying a beer in front of the tv whilst planning for the next da |
The number of volunteers at each project will approximately be 20.
Livingstone volunteers live at a comfortable and secure complex, a 5 minute walk from Livingstone town centre where there is a wide range of amenities.
The accommodation features a dining area, bar, swimming pool and garden and sleeps up to 68 people.
Volunteers from the Zambia Teaching, Sports Coaching and Medical project all stay at this accommodation.
Accommmodation is multi-sex, but with separate bedrooms for males and females, each bedroom sleeping 6 people with three bunk beds in each room and each room has a lockable cupboard for each volunteer's valuables. There are three bathrooms in house which volunteers share.
Bed linen is provided (apart from towels) and beds are made and rooms cleaned daily. A laundry service is also provided for a small fee.
The house has 24-hour security and a safe for valuables. Three meals a day are provided Monday to Friday. Breakfast is on a self-serve basis and usually consists of cereals, porridge, toast, tea and coffee. Lunch and dinner are full meals and will be prepared by the resident chef. They are usually simple but nutritious. Any food allergies or specific requirements should be advised before departure.
Meals are not provided at weekends as it is popular for volunteers to choose to eat out, as weekends are usually good times for tourist activities and exploring the surrounding area. Volunteers will have access to the backpacker kitchen over the weekends if you would like to prepare your own food and their is a volunteer fridge to store your own food.
Soft drinks, tea,coffee,alcoholic beverages and snacks can be purchased from the bar area.
Zambia
Why visit Zambia?
For anyone out to experience the ‘real’ Africa, Zambia is that diamond in the rough. The country boasts some of Africa’s best game parks and shares (with Zimbabwe) some of the region’s major highlights, such as Victoria Falls, Lake Kariba, Lower Zambezi National Park and South Luangwa National Park. South Luangwa National Park is one of the best parks in Africa for night game-drives. More than 60 mammal species and over 400 bird species are found in this Park, which is also renowned for thousands of hippo and crocodiles. Luangwa is the birthplace of the Walking Safari and there is no better way to explore this wilderness. Featuring leafy woodlands, slow-moving river channels and lily-bedecked lagoons, South Luangwa is renowned for the expertise of its guides. It is also excellent for spotting leopards and is home to about 15,000 elephants and the same number of hippo. The Thornicroft's giraffe and Cookson's wildebeest are unique to the region.
The mighty Zambezi River is tamed by the Lower Zambezi valley, becoming gentle as it spreads languidly across the Valley. Islands and floodplains create a densely vegetated habitat for a wide variety of wildlife, elephant in particular. This area is seasonal and many of the lodges and camps are closed from November to March. It is also an angler’s dream as fishermen try their luck on the mighty Zambezi, with the hopes of landing a tiger fish or rare, giant vundu. Avid birdwatchers also flock to Zambia to glimpse its fabulous diversity of birds.
Game viewing along the upper Zambezi River by canoe or cruise boat is rewarding and relaxing. Adrenaline junkies may want to experience the spectacular view while bouncing upside down from the end of a bungee cord off the Victoria Falls Bridge. Intrepid travellers will also be attracted by the white-water rafting excursions on the swirling waters of the Zambezi Gorge. Helicopter or micro-light trips over the Falls, game-drives in the Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park, horse trails along the Zambezi River and a visit to Maramba Market are also available. Most activities are accessible from the quaint colonial outback frontier town of Livingstone.
Highlights of Zambia
- Renowned for its pristine National Parks, including Kafue, South Luangwa and Lower Zambezi.
- It is named after the mighty Zambezi River flowing along its southern border, which is fed by the Kafue and Luangwa tributaries.
- Victoria Falls and the Zambezi River are accessible from nearby Livingstone Town.
- Livingstone is home to numerous activities for adventure seekers, including bungee jumping, white-water rafting and abseiling down the gorge.
- It boasts one of the largest areas of land under the protection of national parks in Africa, featuring abundant wildlife.
- Canoeing, rafting and fishing safaris, upstream from the Falls on the Zambezi River, are possible, as are canoeing trips on the Lower Zambezi.
- Kafue National Park is about the size of Wales or Massachusetts, with exceptional bird watching.
- The country, shaped by three great rivers, is characterised by water, including a trio of massive lakes - Lake Tanganyika, Lake Kariba and Lake Bangweulu.
Climate
| Seasons | Max | Min |
| Summer (November - April) |
30 ° |
26 ° |
| Winter (May - October) |
23 ° |
20 ° |
| Rainfall: April - May (Long rains) November - Mid December (short rains) |
Zambia's elevation on a plateau gives it a moderate climate, despite the fact that it is within tropical latitudes, and the average monthly temperature remains above 20 °C most months.
There are three seasons:
- cool and dry from May to August, when temperatures drop at night but the landscape is green and lush;
- hot and dry from September to November, the best time to see wildlife as flora is sparse;
- warm and wet from December to April, ideal for bird-watching.
The Victoria Falls are spectacular in April and May after the rainy season.
Key Facts
Population – 12.9 million
Capital - Lusaka
Currency – Zambian kwacha (ZMK)
Language – English is the official language, with Nyanja, Bemba, Lunda, Tonga, Lozi, Luvale and Kaonde being recognised regional languages.
Time difference – GMT +2 hours
Telephone – country code 260, international access code 00
This program exceeded all my expectations. It is so well run, the staff are absolutely amazing (THANK YOU everyone!!), and put so simply, the Zambia Medical project is really doing some incredible things for some incredible people. Two weeks is not enough and my time here flew by. But at the same time, I felt like I’ve been here for so long because I felt so comfortable right from my arrival. I’ve gained so much from this, and I’ll really never forget my time here. As a volunteer on the medical project, I really enjoyed Home Based Care, especially my first day of volunteering at Natebe. I also derived so much joy from my interactions with all the children at various afternoon projects, especially at Afterschool.
I came here wanting to provide help in any way I can to a place that I thought so desperately needed it. And in many ways, Africa does need assistance, and that’s why these projects are so incredible. But I also learned that I can take away SO much from Africa to help myself, and hopefully others, back at home. The people here are amazing, so genuinely happy. I was looking to experience the health care system in this setting before starting my clinical training in medicine back at home. I hope to take all that I have witnessed and experienced here on the medical project and use it to help me be a better physician, and even a better person (corny I know, but true!), in the future.
Allison, Canada, aged 23 (Zambia Medical Project, African Dream 26 Day)
I can honestly say volunteering in Africa, and for me personally medical volunteering, were the most rewarding experiences I have had in my life, and reinforced my desire to become a doctor. Providing local people with some respite and relief from their physical and social difficulties was a feeling I don't believe I could have achieved in the UK. The responsibility placed on you as a medical volunteer is much greater than if you were to do work experience in a western country so I think this project gave me a much better idea of what life as a doctor is like than I could have got anywhere else. As for the community projects, such as farming, building and teaching, it was a great feeling to be working alongside and talking to the local people and just helping them out with a couple of ideas and sustainable solutions, demonstrating to me just how difficult life and work is for some people in these countries. The smiles on the kids' faces is worth every penny.
David, UK, aged 18 (Zambia Medical Project)
My daily wake up call…the roaring of lions. Part of everyday life in the beautiful country that is Africa. During my time in Zimbabwe and Zambia I experienced many breathtaking moments. It would be impossible to pick out my favourite part but here are a few memories that I treasure from my time away. Tracking rhino on foot through the African bush. Herding giraffe on horseback. Walking the lion cubs. Seeing all the stars in the Milky Way in the vast African night sky. Tasting the local delicacies (mapani worms!!) Dancing the night away with the local tribal dancers. The emotion I felt whilst helping to deliver a baby in one of the clinics. Enjoying a relaxing massage on the banks of the Zambezi River.
When I look back on all of these experiences they seem surreal, but when in Africa you truly feel that it is normal to be walking besides an 18month lion cub, or eating the local foods. I believe that it is down to the fact that the locals that I met were so welcoming and made you feel totally at ease in their home country.
I spent 2 months in Zambia, Livingstone working on a medical project. Whilst this was a tough experience for me, I feel that it was the most rewarding part of my trip. I spent my time either working in the local clinics weighing babies or working in the out patients department taking patients blood pressure, temperature etc. I also spent a bit of my time in the labs testing for malaria (blood samples) and TB (sputum samples). The lab technicians in the clinics are overwhelmed by the workload and volunteer help is gladly welcomed.
I got a true insight into the way of life in Zambia when I chose to do home based care. This project is run by 30 local women, all volunteers. We spent each morning going into the local community visiting patients. The patients generally have the late stages of HIV, TB or malaria. Often they cannot afford to go to a clinic or hospital. As well as bringing medical supplies we also gave them advice on nutrition and the correct way to take their medication. I created a strong bond with the ladies that I worked alongside, admiring their strength and commitment, as most of them were looking after 5 or more children of their own at home, whilst giving their time to the project voluntarily.
I felt that I gained the most out of my time away, and this was due to the organisation and planning of Amanzi Travel, prior to and during my visit. I was fully prepared to all that I faced, down to the right equipment and what to expect. This was all included in an excellent pre-departure pack (it was my bible!).
Heather and Laura, UK, aged 18 (Zambia Medical Project, Lion Breeding and Release Volunteer)
My friend and I were the only ‘mature’ (post retirement) volunteers in the house, but we really enjoyed working alongside enthusiastic youngster from all over the world (from Alaska, Tasmania, Canada, Germany, Holland and UK). We both felt rejuvenated by the experience! The Zambians helping us were all extremely friendly and we learnt to live by African time, never rushing, always having time for a laugh and a joke! The children we met on our projects were delightful, even if some of the babies were frightened of our alien white faces. I feel I’ve had a glimpse of the real Africa – full of colour, music and happiness, in spite of some extreme poverty.
Our routine work at the medical clinics saved time for the professionals, so I feel it was useful. The home care visits certainly spotted people who needed further help eg transport to the clinic. The old people enjoyed our company, and we enjoyed theirs. We provided manpower on the farm (watering crops and weeding). Overall I think we did provide valuable help where it was needed.
Jane, UK, aged 62 (Zambia Medical Project)
Accommodation and food were above expectations.
Theresa, UK, aged 50 (Zambia Medical Project)
I enjoyed it so much and the actual activities were excellent.
It was a wonderful time which challenged me and gave me a real sense of achievement. It was very humbling to meet so many cheerful people coping with so many difficulties and it reinforces the feeling that we are very lucky even in times of credit crunch. It also saddened me to see the problems that many had, in particular the effect of HIV/AIDS. The project was great with different age groups and nationalities amongst the volunteers but a real community feel as we all had the same objectives and everyone looked after each other.
The activities were varied and I liked the way we concentrated on teaching/medicine in the mornings and then community projects in the afternoon. These gave me the chance to try out new skills such as plastering and also meet the children in the schools, plus the lovely people in the adult literacy classes.
Ruth, UK, aged 62 (Zambia Medical Project)