Only
a week to go till I officially finish my VSO placement!
The
past month has felt rather long. I have been working mostly for an organisation
called Room to Read, helping out their local Zambia office with fundraising
research and putting together case studies for some of the programmes. It has
been interesting and at times a tad stressful, but more than anything it has
been good to see a clearly functioning organisation with actual beneficiaries and
outcomes. The staff at Room to Read work hard and seem to always have the
recipients of their programmes at front of mind. They are also one of the few
organisations that I would be prepared to assist or give money to in future.
The statistics for education in Zambia are appalling and I’ve heard stories of
students in grades 8 and 9 that still can’t read! And then there’s the wide
gender gap in education, something I’ve become super passionate about. Improving
the situation for females in countries like Zambia is priority and will go a
long way towards its development.
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| Room to Read in Zambia |
Apart
from Room to Read I’ve continued to support my Livingstone organisation and
help out here and there with other VSO partners. It’s been challenging and
great to learn about what others are doing, but also tiring. I’m really looking
forward to finishing up and catching up on sleep!
And
while I’ve been busy at it, Mike has been kicking goals on his National AIDS
Council (NAC) project. For the past week and a half he and Rob, another VSO volunteer,
have been delivering training for a new stakeholder mapping and data collection
system to in excess of 100 NAC staff from all over Zambia. I’ve heard about the
challenges they’ve encountered daily in the lead up to, and during the training
which has made me tired (and frustrated) just hearing about it. However, the
project and training has so far been a success and it is now really up to NAC
staff to make the system a complete triumph by entering data and using it to
its fullest potential.
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| At one of the training sessions for Mike's system |
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| Learning and sharing |
Lusaka
has been a change of pace as well. Slightly crazy, horrendous traffic, rainy
and dirty, I have really missed small and quiet Livingstone. And the begging is
something I’m still not used to. There was a bit of that in Livingstone, but
mostly people just left me alone and if they did ask, if was a half attempt and
they’d walk away as soon as I said “no”. But not in Lusaka; they’re at the
traffic lights, at the shops following me around and worse, at my house. I get
begging when I take the rubbish out or walk down my driveway! And I do feel
bad, but at the same time once you start giving money to random strangers, you
would never stop. I know that begging is something I’m going to have to get
used to as we travel through East Africa, as I’m sure it will get worse. Still,
it’s just something else to have to manage on a daily basis in Lusaka.
Nonetheless,
despite all of the downsides to being in Lusaka, there have been some good ones
too. I have been absolutely loving the coffee shops, variety of cafes and restaurants
(when we can afford them), the abundance of vegetables and I have been able to
stock up on broccoli, a real treat; and we even discovered an Asian shop close
to our house selling curry pastes, noddles, etc. Super exciting! The regular
Wednesday dinners at Mahaks Indian restaurant are also a highlight, giving all
Lusaka based volunteers the chance to catch up and vent over a beer (or two).
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| Mike & I at "Plates" restaurant in Lusaka |
And
in March Mike turned 30, so special treats were in store with a nice dinner at
a restaurant called “Plates” and a bit of a gathering the following night with
other VSOs. Not exactly the same as spending back in Oz, but a temporary escape
from the norm.
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| Red wine and smiles for Mike's 30th Birthday |
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| And dessert! |
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| Cocktail hour |
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| More birthday celebrations |
Planning
for our trip is coming along well, although slowly given we haven’t had much
time to dedicate to it. But Gorilla viewing and our Kilimanjaro Climb are
booked and we have a few fun trips planned in Zambia before we leave to Kaufe
National Park, South Luangwa National Park and a return visit to Livingstone; I
can’t wait!
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| The planning wall for our big trip |
At
the end of next week it’s the end of a topsy turvy 18 months and full steam
ahead as we finally hit the road for the next stage of our Africa adventure.
