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Lucy Gait
Zambia Teaching Project
What was your motivation to take a gap break?
I just wanted to do something a bit different rather than just going away on holiday.
How did you feel before you joined the programme?
Very excited, I have been to Kenya before on a volunteer project, so couldn't wait to get stuck in.
How did Real Gap assist you?
They helped set me up with all the relevant information I needed and provided me with easy ways to get my travel insurance and organise my flights and they were always on the other end of the phone for any little queries.
What was the accommodation like?
The accommodation way basic but good. I was sharing a room with 2 other girls. We had a swimming pool at the house and plenty of sitting areas and places to prepare lessons and just to chill and have a chat.
What did you think of the programme?
I loved every minute of it. The children I was teaching were great, they loved the fact that we were there and really appreciated what we were doing. The community projects were a great insight into real life in Zambia and everyone I met was so happy to have us around.
What was the most memorable moment of your trip?
Have so many memories of the trip. My first day at school is definitely memorable as the children were so welcoming. Also the weekend activities were all memorable, standing on the edge of Victoria falls, riding an elephant, doing a gorge swing, white water rafting on the Zambezi and being able to float down river in just a life jacket all feature highly in my memories.
Did your programme meet your expectations?
The destination was amazing, Victoria falls is just stunning. The white water rafting was quite scary but amazing fun and of course the raft was tipped over a few times going through the rapids but that just added to the fun.
In African culture they greet each other with a hand shake, so whenever the volunteers hugged to greet each other it caused them to think that we were somehow married or related and when we explained it was just a greeting it caused great amusement for the children!
As a teacher I had to do a lot of marking. I found out as soon as I got there the only pen colour that will do is red. So I found lots of red pens and that was fine until they realised I had gold stars! It caused such an uproar so I had a brilliant tool for making the children do there best work.
One of the community projects I took part in was HIV education or otherwise known as hive. This way a chance to educate the community about how HIV spreads and how to reduce the spread of it. Because of the nature of HIV, it pretty much ended up being a sex education lesson for a bunch of African adults. As well as this it often just became a general Q &A session about all things related, which could be hilarious and a little embarrassing for everyone involved because of some of the rather honest but difficult questions asked!
What do you feel you accomplished?
I had a great sense of satisfaction when I left. I was teaching a grade 7 class who really struggled with sentence structure in written English and with their Maths so I decided to focus on these as they had their exams coming up shortly after I left. I helped them to grasp a concept in maths called ‘number bases' that they were all struggling with, and in a mock exam set by the teacher the following week, almost all of the children got all the questions right.
I also tried to introduce them to creative writing. They have very hard lives and found it very difficult to think outside the box, so with the help of many simple story books(probably aimed at 4 or 5 year olds in England, I was teaching 15-21 yr olds) as inspiration I helped them to all use their imaginations and write their own stories. They were so proud of themselves. It was so lovely to see.
How have you benefited from your experience?
It was great just to get teaching experience and to know that you've done something that makes a difference to someone else's life. It is a very eye opening experience and makes you feel privileged to be as fortunate as we are in England. It also helps you to realise what is really important in life. |
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What advice could you offer?
Do it!! It is an amazing experience, the culture shock can be quite bad when you first arrive but you soon settle in. Don't be scared of it, the community just embraces everyone who goes to help and being proposed to as you walk down the street just becomes natural!
If you are teaching, make sure you have an endless supply of red pens! Stickers and alike go down a treat, but expect the teacher to want them as well as all of the students, they don't see that just because they are adults they should miss out!
Don't worry about your safety, I did not have any problems walking around town alone during the day and never had any worries about my things going missing at the house or when I had them at school. Obviously you have to be sensible about stuff but there is no need to be paranoid about it. It goes dark early and as a rule we used taxis after dark to get around for our safety but then that isn't really any different to life in England.
 Further information on the Zambia Teaching Programme
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