Week 6- Cultural

Marching on Women's Day

Holy Cross and Zambezi Basic outfits

We had a rather exciting end to this week as we celebrated International Women’s Day with many Zambian women in Livingstone. Our school had been planning this day for a number of weeks and sorted us out with matching outfits of purple and grey. This day of the year sees women from many types of organisations- schools, churches, shops and many other businesses and professions come together and march through the town in an array of patterned dresses and designs. We were told to meet at 8 in the morning but thinking we would be running on African time we only woke up at 8 and as we were clearing away our breakfast dishes in Jollyboys we could hear the beat of the drum approaching. We ran down to the main road only to find a mass of women marching, singing and dancing as they went along. When we eventually caught up with our school, we got to participate in the marching to a huge field where we experienced even more singing, dancing, drumming and acrobats as well as a guest speaker. It was such an amazing experience and great to see all women no matter where they are from unite and celebrate together.  

Ashleigh and I with our class teacher

Teachers from Holy Cross

We have come to discover that there are over 72 languages spoken here in Zambia which are derived from the many tribes found all over the country. Many a Zambian has been teaching us some of the language whether it’s the pupils or teachers in school or shop assistants in the supermarket. We have been trying our hardest to pick up some words and phrases but get very confused changing from one Zambian language to another. Having said this, with the help of the pupils in our class, Ashleigh and I have learnt a full song in Bemba which we are rather proud of but that’s about the height of our language abilities. Although hopefully over the next few weeks we’ll be able to pick up more words and phrases since it’s always nice to greet people in their native language. As said by Nelson Mandela (2013), ‘if you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart’.

Over the past couple of weeks we have been having a bit of trouble with our visas and what we thought to be a simple task of going to the immigration office to renew them turned out to be a completely different story. After many hours spent sitting in the office over numerous days feeling like we had committed a crime, we eventually got our visas sorted with the help of Patrick from the David Livingstone College. It turned out that we had been given the wrong visas at the airport and we ended up getting a study permit after a lot of consultation between Patrick and the boss at the immigration office. This was yet another occasion where we’ve experienced a lot of waiting around for matters to be done and it seemed as though we wouldn’t have had much success if we didn’t have Patrick there to help us.

Our Zambian study permits

Now we know that we won’t be deported anytime soon, we can continue to enjoy the culture, the people, the food and the wonderful sights found here in Zambia. 

Week 5- Cultural

No matter how some may think themselves accomplished, when they set out to experience a new culture they have entered a new realm as if they were a child newly born into the world. (Willard, F. 2013)

Our tailored African dresses

Wearing our Chitengas

Since we have been attempting to fit in with the African culture as the weeks progress, we decided to buy ourselves some Chitengas which is basically a piece of African material which the women wrap around them as skirts. These are worn by many African women and so we thought not only would they be ideal to pull on and wear to school but we would also be embracing the Zambian culture even more so. What’s even better is that we also got dresses made and the locals have been telling us how we look very Zambian. It’s amazing how fast the tailors can piece together four dresses of great quality and were perfectly happy to alter them free of charge whenever we tried on the finished product- something which would probably have a cost          

                                       attached back home in Northern Ireland.

We have made friends with some of the locals who invited us to their house to try some ‘nshima’ which seems to be the staple diet of nearly every Zambian. From what I can tell this food is made from powdered maize and with the addition of boiling water makes a substance which looks exactly like mashed potatoes. It didn’t take us long to master the technique of rolling it in your hands and using it like a fork to pick up some bean stew or chicken. The meal was very enjoyable and it’s safe to say that we’ll definitely be encountering more nshima throughout the rest of our time here.

Eating 'nshima' with our hands

During the week we got a bit of a fright when we came across tear gas being set off on one of the main streets in the town. When at first we saw a mass of people running with their hands covering their heads, we immediately thought there was a shooting taking place but thankfully someone explained to us that tear gas had been set off in the run up to the elections which were taking place a few days later. Due to these elections occurring it meant that there was a bit of trouble happening around the town but this was nothing worth getting worried about since Belfast has seen itself in many a similar situation.

 On a brighter note, our Zambian friends Leonard and Gordon allowed us to experience Mukuni village found on the outskirts of Livingstone which is where they grew up and gave us our own private tour. It was so interesting to see and note how it is a world away from life back in Livingstone. The village is one of the largest in the area and has a male and female chief. Unfortunately they were not around the day we were visiting but hopefully we’ll be able to return again and meet them. The housing in the village is very basic and most take the form of straw huts. There is also a primary and high school where all the children in the area attend as well as some small grocery shops and market stalls.  Even though everything in the village is very basic, the people seem to have everything they could ever need and are rather content with the way of life in their village. I’ve noticed how here in Zambia everything and everyone seems so laid back and relaxed which I am easily getting used to and the stress and hustle and bustle of being back at home seems a distant memory.

Meeting some children in the village

Week 4- Professional

It is hard to believe we are halfway through our teaching practice here in Zambia, the days are passing by quickly. I’m surprised at how much I am enjoying teaching in our class, even though some of the topics in the curriculum aren't very exciting for the pupils and it can sometimes be difficult to incorporate interesting activities into particular lessons.

Children completing group work activities

Ashleigh and I have decided to include a lot of group work activities into our lessons since the pupils have never really had the opportunity to experience this and they seem to thoroughly enjoy working with their peers and are very engaged in their learning. One activity in particular which demonstrates this was when the children made a sound story representing thunder and lightning in groups and presented it to the rest of the class. This was an activity which the pupils had never carried out before in the classroom and it was evident that they enjoyed themselves and were very eager to participate in the interactive lesson.

Some of the pupils work being displayed

As I have mentioned before, the classroom in which we teach is very bare so Ashleigh and I have brightened up the walls with various posters based on what we have been teaching, number lines, photos of the class, reward charts and by displaying the pupil’s work around the classroom for all to see. This has been very beneficial as not only can the pupils feel a sense of pride in the work they have produced but the classroom also seems much more engaging and attractive than before.

Number line in the classroom

There have been numerous occasions when our teacher has left the classroom and Ashleigh and I have had to improvise when finished teaching our own lessons. At times this has been rather challenging but we've been able to manage and have many time-filling activities close at hand. When our teacher had to go for a meeting during one of her lessons on Chitonga, the local language, she asked one of the pupils to teach it to the rest of the class. This was rather shocking yet interesting to see one of the children read in Chitonga while the rest of the class listened and Ashleigh and I sat back in awe.

Vanessa and Soviet teaching Chitonga

Prisoners at sports day

We have also had the opportunity to experience a Zambian style sports day with our school. This was definitely a world away from any sports day we would have back home as hundreds of pupils along with very few teachers lined the dusty roads in order to reach the sports ground (which was right beside a prison). The journey there saw many children walking in the middle of the road, crossing over railway lines and marching through tall grass. When we arrived at the grounds there were prisoners casually cutting the grass as children ran around them- a very strange and quite worrying sight. By the time the races actually kicked off (as we were running on African time) the sun was very strong and many pupils were collapsing on the field, especially after having run 2400 metres with no water to drink!

It’s very interesting to note how different school is here compared to back home. Even with such a lack of resources and poor classroom environments, it’s very rewarding to see the children being so eager to learn and appreciating what the teacher has to say.