Evening at Mackenzie community school

Group 2-day 4

The experience is something that really touches me. Although we have only been here for couple days, the bond I have made with the kids have been something special. The moment they see us walk through the school gate they beam with a smile and rush to hold your hands. They are there 8:30 sharp, don't ask for breaks and never want to stop. Last day of coaching in the north and I can't imagine saying goodbye to the kids. Just to top off my experience so far last night we want to the orphanage school in McKenzie and they welcomed us with dancing ,prayers and a meal and I personally felt at home when I danced and had a once in a life time experience around the camp fire and I never want to leave.

Mo Dabaiba

Group 2 - day 3

Tuesday 27th June

Upon arrival in Zambia, I was a little apprehensive and did not know what to expect. However, a couple of days in I have begun to love the experience. It's a completely different aspect of life and most of the children have little more than a single set of clothes. Despite this they are always full of happiness and can't wait for us to arrive each day. Just the sight of us and their faces beam with smiles. It's amazing how something as simple as a ball can give them so much excitement. The journey continues...

Konstantine Chrisostomou 

Group 1 - day 3

Day 3

Today was our second day of coaching and when we got to the school the kids were waiting for us with the biggest smiles on their faces. They ran straight up to us, shouting our names and asking to start immediately. We started with the warm up games, but we soon moved on to the offside rule, but this did prove to be very challenging as the kids are very new to rugby. Our volunteers helped bridge the language barrier and eventually the kids began to understand - which was really rewarding. After lunch, we headed on to the next school and got the exact same reaction. It’s so hard to describe how it feels to meet people who have so little and yet are so happy. We started teaching the kids again in the same way, and even had time to teach them the ‘Hokie Pokie.’ There was one boy in the second school, Kalela, named Elvis who stood out particularly. Not only was he one of the fastest runners we have ever seen, his English was so good we used him to translate and help us teach the other kids. At the end of the day he adorably said to us that ‘one day that whistle will be mine.’

G. Kindall J

Group 2 - day 2

So all of the pupils are busy watching a film as it is movie night for group 2, so I thought it would be a great opportunity for me to feedback.

Now all the bags have arrived, the pupils seem a little more settled. A bit of luck they turned up as the dust and dirt was epic today!

Today was the first day of coaching the zambian children and the Mill Hill pupils were buzzing on their return to the accommodation. After a long, hot day, they realised this work is not so easy. But all were reflecting on their first real experience and discussing ways to improve tomorrow. 

Many had to cope with the high numbers of children and many commented on feeling like a superstar. The Zambian children wanting their pictures taken with them and wanting to touch everyone's hair.

Our evening finished with a great dinner (we have an amazing chef 'Maurice') and a welcome addition, birthday cake, as it is anoushka's 17th birthday!  All are now chilled out with popcorn and a film. An early night I think, ready for day 3 ahead!

Miss Jakeman

Group 1 - day 2

This morning’s session was a shock at first, due to the fact the welcome wasn’t quite what we expected, especially after yesterday’s events. We arrived at the first school receiving more strange looks than we were preparing ourselves for, almost as if we were aliens which in their eyes we are in all honesty. Yet we didn’t let this knock us down and went into the first sessions buzzing. We finished the session feeling double that. It was the first numinous experience of Zambia for me and hopefully there are more to come. However, there was a strong reality check at the end of the session as we realised how tiring this week is going to be. The second session was as successful as the first but still a great experience. We ended our work on a real high at the Wesley school and were followed by what seemed to be half the school on our walk to Temweni which was our last school of the day.

The welcome at Temweni was a complete antithesis as all the children were screaming and jumping around as soon as they saw our white faces, with every one of them wanting to touch us. The first girl I met asked to touch my hair and said it felt like nappies which personally I wasn’t quite sure how to take it but took it as a compliment. There seemed to be a lot more fascination of us with the Temweni pupils. I never had so many children staring at me at once but then decided to make the most of it. Both Brandon and I were sitting on the steps of the outside of the school and decided to get up and start hoping on one leg, then every other child started doing the same. This got me a tad exited and I stared going in on the dancing, drawing for all the best moves and the kids loved it. My first experience of a Zambian rave. Later, we started coaching but quickly realised there were far too many children even though we explicitly said 40 pupils max but around 75 turned up, TIA. The session was as expected and very hectic but in the end a great time, we left the school in very high spirits getting onto the bus which led us to one of the other groups at a nearby school.

Remy Hart-Badger

Group 2 - Day 1

Sunday 25th June

Nell and Caitlin

Today we went to the local compound and had a humbling and eye opening insight into of the homes and lives of the children and adults of Ndola. We bonded with the children through singing, playing games and throwing around a rugby ball. Their warmth and hospitality towards us really made us feel welcome. Later on in the day we went and met the teachers of the children from the different schools and interacted and taught them how to play tag rugby, ready for the first day of coaching tomorrow!

group 1 - day 1

If you’ve ever wanted to know what It’s like to be famous, spend a day in the rural villages of Zambia. The children flooded the streets following us, holding our hands and even stroking our hair. The feeling was surreal, but humbling. We desperately tried to learn the local language so that we could interact with the kids on a deeper level, rather than just high fives and fist bumps. ‘Muli shani (meaning how are you)’ was about the only thing we could remember, and even then we butchered the pronunciation. It wasn’t just the kids who were so friendly the adults too were keen to meet us. In fact, Remy was asked inside to share a glass of ‘shakey shakey.’ He kindly refused.

In the afternoon we had a practice training session with some local Zambian volunteers. Although this predominantly involved stuck in the mud and bull dog, it became surprisingly competitive and feisty. Even so, it was good to dust off our training boots and learn about communication and the key of demonstrations. I’m looking forward to meeting all the kids tomorrow and seeing them develop their skills in preparation for tournament day on Friday.

Sophie Lewis xoxo

Journey

  

Flights complete, we are finally here!