Zambian Impressions: By Mike & Jan

Jan and I have now been in Zambia for nearly a week, and what a fascinating experience it has been so far. Having recently taken early retirement we were  invited by Beyond Ourselves to visit them to learn more about the work they are doing in the local communities, with a possible view to our living and working in Zambia ourselves.

After a long journey from the UK it was great to be met at the airport by Dan, Melissa and their children. They were so welcoming and friendly that we quickly felt at home, even though it is such a different environment. Meeting Emily, Malcolm and their children on Sunday reinforced our feeling of being welcomed into one big family who are doing so much good for the communities here.

It has been an amazing week with many opportunities to learn about life in Zambia. Even though we have travelled in parts of Africa before there have been many surprises. One of these was just how green and rural the area around Ndola is at this time of the year, and nowhere near as industrialised as we had imagined. We have also been pleasantly surprised with how easy it appears to be to find things we might need in the shops if we were to be living here.

Just to share some of our experiences and initial thoughts.

On Sunday morning we attended our first Church Service in Zambia where we particularly enjoyed the music and singing. The community made us feel incredibly welcome and took the time to talk to us about their lives and the work that they have been doing in partnership with Beyond Ourselves. We left feeling inspired and uplifted by the experience.

We have now visited all three schools that Beyond Ourselves are supporting. At all of the schools we have been met by lots of happy smiling children who can’t wait to shake our hands and tell us that that they are ‘ fine thanks.’ Once again the staff at the school have taken time out of their busy lives to talk to us about their school and their children and answer all our questions.

Schools in Zambia may look very different from those in England, but once you see beyond the simple buildings there are many similarities. One thing we both noticed was how resourceful everyone has to be when there are limited resources. Seeing children use stones instead of counters reminded us that it’s not the resource that matters as much as the learning that is taking place. Everywhere we go we see children who want to learn and not allowing themselves to be limited by the difficulties that they may face.

We have long dreamed of living in Africa and having opportunities to get to know and support local people. We know that this would mean learning abut the way of life first so that we can share some of the knowledge that we have been fortunate to have gained in our working lives. With this in mind we have been impressed with how the schools and communities are developing with the support of all those involved with BOZ

The faces of the children tells their own story.