Zambia encompasses everything magnificent about Africa - wildlife, birds, safaris, lakes, rivers, culture and adventure sports!

This project is based in Livingstone town, a quaint but lively area very close to Victoria Falls. You'll have plenty of opportunities to participate in the multitude of activities that surround the Falls, from white-water rafting and canoeing on the magnificent Zambezi River to bungy jumping or game spotting in the Reserve. 

The school we work with also accommodates permanent male orphans. It is very poor and needs as much support from volunteers as possible. You may be asked to teach anything from English to Maths and Sports to children aged between 7 and 19 years.

Livingstone is a very friendly place and the school is no exception! Although the school is fairly poor, the enthusiasm of the staff and children is remarkable and they have made every effort to make the school look bright and cheerful. The school is quite small and incredibly basic - you will feel part of the family immediately!

There are approximately 250 pupils at the school and class sizes normally range from about 30-35. The school is also a home to 20 permanent male orphans and the children’s ages range from 7 to 19 years. They also run a drop-in educational and feeding programme for the local children in the community where they try to provide a 3 meal feeding programme to all the children at the orphanage too.

Most of the children are very shy to speak English and it’s in this area that the help of our volunteers is needed – to give the children to confidence to speak the language. They ask for your support to help push the children’s’ education forward, and to help improve teaching techniques for the existing teachers, where possible. 

The children and teachers that we work with in Zambia are are fantastic - you will be greeted with huge smiles and a very warm welcome. Usually the children don't want to let you go and may even resort to clinging on to your legs to stop you from leaving. You are sure to enjoy every minute of your teaching experience! The kids are so keen to learn and were without a doubt the best part of the trip! My time in Zambia was perfect. Joseph Sladen

WHAT YOU'LL GAIN FROM DOING THIS PROJECT:

  • An exciting, never-to-be-forgotten adventure into Africa and the fascinating culture in Zambia.
  • The enormous satisfaction of helping disadvantaged children and knowing that you made a difference to them.
  • New skills, more confidence, a greater understanding of a different culture, invaluable personal and professional development.
  • An entry on your CV or résumé that will put you head and shoulders above most others in the job market
  • And best of all ... an unforgettable experience!


WORK CONTENT:
You will normally assist the teachers with informal teaching to start with, but depending on your ability, you may be given complete control of a particular class or group. You will receive a lot of help and support from the teachers and staff at the schools to help you prepare for your lessons and settle you into your role. You will generally be asked to help out with any age groups. You are, in fact, very likely to be in popular demand everywhere - in and out of the classroom. The school is quite small and incredibly basic - you will feel part of the family immediately!

The school needs as much support from volunteers as possible. Generally you will be helping with conversational English, although if you have a specific subject that you would like to help with, then you will more than likely be able to do so with guidance from the teachers. In addition, for those of you who enjoy sports, you will be glad to know that sports are also a very popular subject for the children, and they would love for you to help out with the game periods which the schools have. The facilities are poor, but football and volleyball have quite a following. Some sports coaching takes place throughout the day, but most is after 3pm for an hour or two.

There is also a need for help with administration sometimes, such as helping to mark books etc. As this is part of a Teachers role please be aware that you may also be asked to help with this at some point. Your help is most needed to free time for these hard working teachers to dedicate to other important work, and help supplement the education of these exceptional children. This school also has a feeding programme in place for needy children and they hope to extend this to all children with the support of donors.

They have also helped with funding to build homes for orphaned children. The children here are fantastic and the hard work and attitude of the teachers is heart warming.

SCHOOL HOLIDAYS in Zambia:
Teaching is not available during school holidays, so if you're planning to participate in a placement, please take the above school term dates into account when planning the timing of your project. On the other hand, if a holiday falls during your proposed placement, you could use this time to do any independent travelling and sightseeing.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
If you have some know-how, some initiative and lots of enthusiasm, you can also get involved with teaching Drama, Music, Dance or Arts and Crafts lessons. If you enjoy being creative, then you can share your talents and enthusiasm at the various schools we work with. Teaching Arts subjects is an excellent way of engaging children’s imaginations and encourages them to communicate with few constraints. What’s more, it is very satisfying to watch their confidence grow as they learn and develop new skills.

At some of our schools in our other destinations, volunteers and pupils together have produced plays and concerts, and performances have been put on in the evenings for parents, students and visitors. Because the schools are poor, the volunteers and children have had to be very creative in putting together costumes and sets – but all productions have been a resounding success! Volunteers have found that producing short plays written by the children that address local social issues has been a successful means in educating the children on issues such as AIDS awareness, cultural relationships, peer pressures, and bullying. It gives the children an informal forum and a means of sharing their concerns and learning to deal with issues.

You can either teach one or more of these subjects for the whole of your placement, or you can combine some or all of these subjects with teaching conversational English. 

ACCOMMODATION:
You'll live in a small, modern, and lively hostel situated in the centre of Livingstone. The hostel has a very large private garden shaded with huge mango trees, and a crystal clear swimming pool. It also has a lively, sociable bar area where many activities are arranged. Livingstone has a Colonial feel to it and you will find a wide variety of restaurants, bars, and shops. Your accommodation is ideally situated and can offer excellent trips to places such as Lusaka.

You will be required to share a room with other volunteers or guests of mixed gender. Food and drink is not provided on this placement. There is a local supermarket for you to buy food from and the hostel has cooking facilities for you to use or you can pay for meals at the hostel if you wish. Even better still why not try out some local dishes for a real Zambian experience! At the time of writing, facilities at the hostel include; a swimming pool, recreation room with TV, internet cafe with internet access, a dining and kitchen area where food can be stored and access to telephones.

The hostel also has an in-house booking centre, where many local activities can be booked (wildlife safaris, river cruises, river gorges, bungee jumping, white water rafting, treks, etc). They guarantee to offer the best deals in town and to beat any other lodge or booking centre! Many guests comment on the quality of the Hostel staff. They are their greatest asset and many have worked for them for over four years and some have been there since the Hostel opened. Staff turnover is very low and a family atmosphere has been created that adds tremendously to their guests' enjoyment.

The Hostel is also involved in a number of community projects. Recently they raised over US $2,000 for a local school. They sponsor a local youth football team, the police regatta team, local fund raising events and an annual day out for orphaned children on World tourism Day. They also sponsor Independence day celebrations.

TRAVEL:
You'll fly into Livingstone where you'll be met at the airport by one of our staff. From the airport you'll be taken to your work and your accommodation and introduced to your hosts, including your supervisor and other volunteers and staff.

You have the option to arrange your own flights or we can assist you with your flight arrangements. If you would like us to do this for you, we will liaise with you regarding available flights and dates to suit you. All arrangements for your flight bookings/payments will be fulfilled by Murray Rogers Travel Limited, ATOL No. 6856. Where possible, we arrange for two or more people to travel on the same flight and we will let you have the names and telephone numbers of other volunteers on your flight, so that you can chat to each other or even meet up before leaving for your placement.

VISAS:. In countries where visas or immigration documents are required, we'll send you all the necessary forms and information and make the process very easy for you.

Where possible, all flights we arrange for you have changeable return tickets because many of our volunteers choose to extend their stay once they are in their destination country. Changeable return tickets enable you to do so, within the limits of your visa and the level of your air ticket, of course. If you choose to book your own flights, you should endeavour to get a changeable ticket. We can also arrange your flight dates to give you additional time at the end of your project for travelling around and sightseeing - this is a fascinating and wondrous country!

Feedback

'I know that I would not have felt comfortable making a trip like this on my own. Travellers Worldwide was a good guide to enable me to see a part of the world I likely would not have seen without help and enabled me to meet people that I would not have met otherwise. The experience is one that will stay with me forever.' - Ross Horowitz

'All is well. We arrived safely, if not tired, and were met at the airport. We visited the school yesterday and had our first full day of teaching today. Everyone has been very welcoming and helpful. The students are eager to learn and we hope that we are able to help in some way during our short time here. Thanks, Heather' - Heather Kuta