We arrived in the hot, dusty town of Livingstone on the 6th of July 2014, and met by our 'African Impact' Project staff at the Airport. On the drive to our accommodation, I remember feeling nervous but excited as my eyes darted back and forth outside the window, taking in all the sights of what would become one of my favourite places in the World.
Our accommodation was called the "Livingstone backpackers”, which was a hostel-type complex, which had a bar, pool, sun lounger chill-out areas and a rock-climbing wall. (Definitely not what I had in mind when I imagined volunteering in Africa). A total of 44 volunteers were living together during this time, working on different projects. The property had a ‘main house’, which acted as the main hub for African Impact Volunteers and included 4 bedrooms (one of where I stayed alongside Roisin and two lovely Belgian girls- Jana and Laura), living room/meeting area, kitchen, bathrooms and storage room, which stored our medical/teaching supplies for our various projects.
"Room 2 Gals" (L-r: Jana, Roisin, Laura and myself)
New
volunteers came and went every week, as each person was there for different periods of time, which was quite sad because these people
became like family over such a short period of time. Working and living closely
together with many different people from various backgrounds in such unique
situations has been one of the best life experiences I could ever have hoped for.
Roisin and I were medical and community volunteers and our “uniform” was basically a white t-shirt, dark
trousers and a badge, which was my 'identity'. In the morning everyone would leave for their chosen projects, (African Impact offers teaching and sporting projects in this are also). As Roisin and I were medical volunteers, we'd usually spend our morning working in a hospital, clinic or within the
communities practicing home based care to the people who needed our help and
basic medical supplies, such as paracetamol or ibuprofen. In the afternoons, everyone would be split amongst running different projects within the community, which could be anything from farming, building, teaching clubs like art/maths/reading, adult literacy clubs, after
school care projects and helping out in the Maramba Old People’s home. Working
within the local community was a truly eye-opening experience for me. These are the kind of encounters
that make you re-evaluate your whole life. However, I did find the Zambian people so outgoing; very friendly and
happy, and their love to dance and sing was very infectious!
This is our care-giver, Miriam for the Libuyu district Home-based care, with her
newborn grandson, Oliver
Roisin and I's reading group, Libuyu district
One
of my favourite community projects was working on Linda Farm in the Linda community. In our second week, all volunteers and staff banded
together for the whole day to help build an eco-friendly greenhouse made entirely out of
plastic bottles and wooden panels. This “Beyond the roots” project was to celebrate African Impact’s 10th birthday, with
all African Impact volunteers working in various places all over Africa taking
part in an eco-friendly project. In Livingstone, the idea of the greenhouse was
chosen by our Project Manager, Rachael (who had spent a lot of time on Linda Farm)
and learned from the residents that wild elephants were destroying the farm’s
crops in the open field! (Something a Scottish lass like myself doesn’t hear
everyday!)
Elephants are distracted by light so with the sun
reflecting off the plastic bottles, hopefully it will keep them at bay and the
farm can sell their crops for profit. With the revenue from the crops sold,
this would enable the community to progress with plans to build toilet and shower blocks on
the farm.
It
was a really great day! All volunteers rotated in our small groups around all the
different community activities set-up, from building eco bricks, kids’ art club, sports
games, dancing with the residents, planting seeds and digging trenches to the
actual construction of the greenhouse. There was quite literally blood, sweat
and tears all around, but our hard work paid off and I felt so proud to have been a part of such an amazing, valued project.
We also got to do some pretty awesome stuff on the weekends
when we weren’t volunteering! The Livingstone backpackers staff could book excursions
around the area for us and organise pick-ups to take us on new exciting
adventures in the area.
Travelling
to the neighbouring district of Botswana overnight to go on Safari was one of
the best experiences I will never forget. To see wild animals in their natural
habitat and camp in the bush under the stars by campfire was unbelievable! We
also had the opportunity to ride an Elephant, have a close encounter with
Cheetahs and Lions in a conservation park, and took a helicopter ride over the Victoria Falls (one
of the 7 natural wonders of the World), see the lunar rainbow here and also swam in the “Angels pool” at the
very top and took a few snaps hanging over the edge, (Sorry, Mum!) which was incredible!
Angels Pool, Victoria Falls
Susan, the Cheetah (L-r, Katja, Jana, Roisin, Laura and myself)
Mary, the Elephant
John, the Lion
Also, if you just wanted to chill out by the pool on your days off, then that was an option, or you could go to the various markets around the area to soak up some culture, talk to the locals and admire the artwork and materials made by talented members of the community.
By night, I would recommend taking a trip to Cafe Zambezi to tickle your tastebuds by trying traditional dishes or even take part in a salsa lesson! If you just fancy a few drinks and a "quiet" game of beer pong, then Fez bar is the place to be! With a chill vibe, good tunes from resident DJ and the opportunity to meet more like-minded travellers or volunteers, you will most definitely enjoy Fez. Get a round of mosi's (Zambian beer), relax and enjoy the atmosphere, (or take a few to-go and get yourself up to the infamous, "Rapid 7" at Victoria Falls and admire the stunning sunset).
Rapid Seven, Victoria Falls
Ain't no sunset like an African Sunset
If you are thinking of volunteering on a project like this, I say: GO FOR IT!
I have made some lifelong friends in fellow volunteers and
staff, met fantastic and inspiring locals who have touched my heart and seen
places I will never forget. A month definitely wasn’t long enough to spend in this beautiful place. I miss it everyday and would do it
all over again in a heartbeat.
Stace x
