ZAMBIA TEACHING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROJECT
LIVINGSTONE, ZAMBIA

Situated in the vibrant town of Livingstone, this project - just a stone's throw from the world famous Victoria Falls, allows volunteers make a real difference to the lives of the deprived but very enthusiastic children.  Volunteers will help teach in the ill-equipped classrooms at six schools in the town - keeping the local children off the streets and helping them to have a more positive future.  Volunteers will also be involved in some very worthwhile community development projects including the Elephant Pepper Project, Home Based Care Group and building and painting classrooms. 

	Location:	LIVINGSTONE, ZAMBIA	Dates:	Any date throughout the year.
	Fees:	£895 - 2 weeks £1,345 - 4 weeks	Payment:	£180 deposit at time of booking – balance of project fee due 8 weeks before departure
	Reference:	AV023

General Information

"The Smoke That Thunders" - is the local description of the spray created by the world famous Victoria Falls, the magnificent number one tourist attraction in Zambia. Volunteers will have opportunities to visit the Falls and perhaps take part in some of the fantastic adventure activities on offer at this exciting venue - or they may just wish to immerse themselves in the local culture and enjoy the wonderful scenery that this area offers.

This extremely worthwhile project gives volunteers the opportunity to make a real difference to the lives of the children in this region of Africa. "Hot-desking"  is a system well known in schools in Livingstone.  With very limited facilities, staff and funding, schools sometimes run two or even three sessions per day to accommodate all the children who are keen to learn.  Volunteers work as teaching assistants in the classroom and possibly with sports coaching programmes which keep children off the streets. 

Volunteers will find that most of the schools have ill-equipped facilities, but a wealth of children with a desire to learn.  They will assist teachers and contribute to providing children with a better education.  They will spend most of their time assisting teachers, in order to give children the individual attention they need but hardly ever get.  In addition, volunteers will have the opportunity to organize their own classes. These are the ways in which they will assist the schools:

• Assisting the teachers - while the teacher is in front of the class teaching a lesson, volunteers will go around the room and give children individual help
• Marking test papers
• Organising special needs classes for children who have not been able to keep up with their classmates
• Organising and coaching sports events
• Helping to give the children their meals - each child receives a meal at most basic schools, which is often their only meal that day
• Helping to clean and maintain the classrooms, most of which are quite run down

Many volunteers take out basic teaching books, pens and paper for the children and this is greatly appreciated.  It is also great if volunteers arrive with some ideas about how they can bring lessons to life for the children and brighten up their day!

Volunteers currently work in six different schools in the local community:

Nakatindi Community School 

(300 pupils, 10 teachers, morning and afternoon sessions)

This is a very small school that is still under construction.  Volunteers on this project are currently helping to paint the school (interior and exterior) in the afternoons as well as funding and helping to build a new kitchen.  Some time is also spent coaching the grade six boys in football. 

Mwandi Community School

(250 pupils, 11 teachers, morning and afternoon sessions)

Another small school situated on a hill in Mwandi community overlooking Livingstone. The project is currently finishing off building the last classroom, and following up with painting the rest of the school.  Football and netball coaching is facilitated by volunteers in the afternoons also.

Ngwenya Community School

The school offers local children volleyball, football and netball and volunteers will help to organise sports coaching in the afternoons.

Dambwa Basic School

This school is located in the area of town called Dambwa, and has more than 2000 pupils.  As the school only has 17 classrooms, four sessions per day are held, giving each child just three hours in the classroom a day.  Dambwa Basic School has a large sports field, and is therefore an ideal place to organise sports events.  This school was recently re-painted this school and two murals have been added.

Mulwani Basic School

A mural has been painted at this school and volunteers help with the reading club/teaching in the afternoons.

Linda Community School

Unlike Dambwa and Zambezi, Linda Community School is not run and financed by the government. This school was established and is run by the community in the district of town called Linda and offers education to approximately 150 children who cannot afford the tuition at a government-run school. Due to a great shortage of teachers, classrooms, and textbooks, classes are often cancelled or taught outside, and children often share books and pens.  Vollunteers will find that despite all these challenges, the children at Linda Community School have a great desire to learn, and the volunteers' help is very much appreciated.

Community Project

After having spent the morning at the local schools, volunteers help on a number of local community development projects in the afternoon.  These include:

Elephant Pepper Project (please note that this project is seasaonal)

The Elephant Pepper Development Trust is an organisation that aims to reduce the conflict between farmers and elephants. Particularly in the dry season, elephants raid people's crops, which often causes farmers to loose their whole year income in one night. The elephants are often shot as a result. To save the lives of both people and elephants, the Elephant Pepper Trust has developed ways to use chilli pepper to keep elephants away from people's land, as the animals don't like the taste and smell of chilli. The project gives farmers free seedlings and explains to them how to use the peppers. Moreover, Elephant Pepper buys the surplus of the chilli peppers back from the farmers, which gives the farmers a good extra income. As a volunteer, you will be involved in the project by helping build green houses for the seedlings, setting up demonstration sites around town, and building shops where women can come and sell their peppers.

Home Based Care Project/Farming

The Maramba Home Based Care Project is run by a group of 30 local women who are all volunteers. The women spend each morning visiting patients in different 'zones' in the local community. The patients generally have HIV, TB and Malaria and often cannot afford to go the clinic or hospital. As well as bringing food and medical supplies, the patients are given advice on nutrition and the correct way to take their medication. The support group also sometimes cooks and cleans for patient's who have no family. The women have their own land that they use to farm for the purpose of raising money for the project, which they then spend on food and medical supplies for the patients that they support and visit. As a volunteer, you have the opportunity to join the women on their visits to patients in the community, and contribute to the help they offer. In addition, you will help the women out with the farming.

Please note that as this can be a emotionally difficult experience for some volunteers, this project is entirely optional. This is a relatively new project, but so far the feedback from volunteers who have been taken part has all been positive! We visit some very deprived areas which can be quite upsetting, but all the volunteers so far have said that it's been a valuable experience that offers a deeper insight into the lives of those suffering from terminal illness, and the chance to bring a small glimmer of hope into their difficult lives.

Build and Paint Schools

Schools in Livingstone deal with a great shortage of classrooms, as a result of which most children do not receive the full day of class they need. With the help and guidance of professional builders, we are building new classrooms for as many schools as possible. As a volunteer, you will help with mixing cement, laying bricks, laying floors, plastering walls, and painting. It is hard, but highly rewarding work! In addition, we refurbish and paint existing classrooms. . In conjunction with this we also try and help children who may be struggling or lagging behind in their lessons by aiding them with their English skills. Reading Clubs have been created at 2 schools to help the children read and also be taught a wider vocabulary.

Additional Afternoon Activities:

Volunteers assist with simple farming chores, the produce of which is sold to raise money to buy medical supplies for the Maramba Home Based Care Group. An Adult Literacy Club has recently been started which provides the ladies who volunteer on Home Based Care the opportunity to learn how to read and write. This experience is invaluable for them as it means that they will be able to write proposals to the ministries and government for grants and read the responses. They will be able to share this responsibility if more of them can read and write rather than it falling to one person in particular.

HIVE (HIV Education) is a 4week, 8 session course that educates members of the community about HIV. This is an afternoon project that was set up by volunteers and has been hugely popular. At the moment this takes place at 2 different locations but we are looking at new places to start new sessions

At one of the schools we have an Art Club which runs during term time. A teacher at the school has undertaken this with the assistance from our volunteers to try and teach children art as a skill, which they can hopefully use as a means to survive by selling drawings and collages that have been completed to a high standard.

Sports coaching is also another afternoon activity which volunteers can get involved in. They are able to teach willing, spirited children new games and sports or help them build on their skills that they already have. This does not necessarily have to be highly structured but an interaction with the children who have very little at home.

Highlights

• Working as a classroom assistant in the local schools or organizing sports coaching programmes
• Experience the warm and friendly local culture
• An opportunity to work on the World Food Programme in the area
• Spend the evenings socializing with new friends - you might venture into the town of Livingstone to one of the bars with live music
• The chance to visit the Victoria Falls, the adventure capital of Africa, perhaps partaking in white water rafting, bungee jumping or swinging across the Batoka Gorge
• You might take the opportunity to go on a cruise into the sunset on the Zambezi River or, for the more energetic, a canoe safari above the Falls
• Take the opportunity to go on a safari on elephant back

A day in the life of a volunteer

Here is how a typical day in the life of a Livingstone teaching, sports coaching, community development volunteer might take shape. Please note that your itineraries may differ from this, depending on your own experience and the number of other volunteers on the placement at the same time, and this is simply to give an example:

07:30	Get up, eat breakfast of cereals, toast, tea/coffee, and start getting ready for your project
08:00	Head off on the short drive to your project
08:15	Start work at your school. To make sure you will teach a variety of classes, you will rotate between different tasks and classes.
12:00	Lunch break. You will be picked up from your project, and taken to your volunteer house, where lunch is waiting for you.
13.30	Leave for one of the community projects. You will spend the afternoon playing with the children at the schools, assisting with the Elephant Pepper Project, or building and painting classrooms.
16.30	End of the working day. You will be picked up from your project and taken home where we evaluate the day and discuss the schedule for the next day, or you can opt to be dropped off in town to check emails.
18.30	Dinner at your volunteer house. After dinner, volunteers often go for a few drinks at one of the local night spots.

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 by telephone and email before departure. A full orientation will be provided when you arrive at the project by the local support team.

Accommodation and Meals

Volunteers will be accommodated in a large volunteer house in the town of Livingstone. The houses are comfortable and have basic amenities.  Volunteers will be accommodated in shared single sex rooms for up to three people. Three meals a day will be provided.   Please note that on some weekends volunteers may need to prepare their own meals (all food provided) or go out with fellow volunteers for a meal in town.

Getting There

Fly into Livingstone or Victoria Falls Airport where you will be met by a member of the project team and taken to the volunteer house.  Alternatively you can fly into Lusaka, Zambia's capital city and then transfer to Livingstone, either by bus (5 hours) or local connecting 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

What is included

• Financing that goes directly back into the projects you are involved with
• Airport transfers from Livingstone or Victoria Falls Airport
• On-the-job educational activities and daily support from your Project Managers
• Accommodation and three meals a day
• Weekly laundry service
• Full orientation on arrival
• Daily transfers to and from projects

What is excluded

• Travel insurance to include cover for repatriation
• Personal items eg clothes, travel goods
• Return flights to Victoria Falls or Livingstone Airport
• Transport by air or bus to Livingstone from Lusaka Airport - if you choose to fly into this airport
• Use of internet (email) and telephone
• Wines, beer and spirits
• Visas for border crossings and any trips undertaken other than in the planned programme