My experience in Zambia

My work as a volunteer at City of Hope was focused in a center, within the same complex, called Auxilium Training Center. It’s a school where youngsters from the area can gain new skills, to enhance their future employment opportunities. In the course that I participated, subjects like Communication Skills, Catering, Tailoring and Information Technology were taught. In addition to the core subjects, First Aid and Physical Education were part of the school week.

My duties

I was in charge of the Information Technology class, which was offered to the Catering and Tailoring students and anyone else that showed special interest. The groups were divided as such:

• I.T. group: a group of 8 students (6 girls and 2 boys) aged between 17 and 20 years. Only a few of them have had previous computer experience and almost all of them have finished secondary school (12^th grade). 

• Tailoring Group: a group of 25 students (24 girls and a boy) whose ages were very varied.

I gave classes in the computer lab, which was equipped with 10 working computers. The computers were given to City of Hope by several donations. My first task was to setup the computers and erase previous data. Unfortunately, the computers do not currently have access to the Internet, but still provide a good basis for teaching basic computer skills.

The tailoring group was predominately formed of women of various ages. Many of the women in the tailoring group had little interest in learning computer skills, as they considered it a tool for men, and for many it was also the first time they had seen a computer.

My experience with the I.T. group was very different, as it’s a group that particularly wanted to participate in this class. Nevertheless, it is hard for the students to study after school, as many of the students don’t have any free time due to their family situation. For example, one of the pupils is living with her father, brothers and uncles, and being the only woman at home she has to take care of the whole household, as men don’t typically deal with domestic tasks.

However, it seems that sport and physical education provides a useful tool to transmit values and promote gender equality.

The other activity that the center organized was Physical Education. We dedicated one hour per week to formal PE lessons and I can tell they were greatly appreciated. The PE lessons, which included Volleyball, football and handball, were conducted at City of Hope’s sports facilities.

Each week we practiced a different sport, to avoid focusing solely on football, even though that’s the most popular sport in Zambia. Every class had two parts. During the first part we focused on the technical and tactical aspects of the sport, and then during the second part we played a game, putting into practice what they have learned during the first part of the class.

In volleyball and netball, sports that I have no experience in, some of the students helped me out, preparing activities for the first part. It was a big success given that girls - who were hesitating at the beginning – helped me voluntarily in the implementation of the activity.

On weekends we had different sporting competitions. On Saturdays 20 boys, aged between 13 and 20 years, from the area visit the City of Hope to play football or handball. City of Hope also participates, with great success in championships organized by other teams in the area. 

The football pitch, which has undoubtedly the most demand, is not in the best condition. The pitch has many stones, which can be quite dangerous, as many of its users play barefoot. Nonetheless, the atmosphere was nice and friendly, the boys spend Friday afternoon, Saturday and Sunday at City of Hope, getting to know each other and the girls from center. 

Miguel was a Sport and Cooperation Network volunteer in Zambia, sent by the Castilla y León “Youth Solidarity” program. 

How to help

You can help support the City of Hope project, by making financial or inkind donations. The money received will help supply, sports equipment, footwear etc… 

Landing in Zambia

We are in Lusaka (Zambia), for a 3-month volunteering experience with Sport and Cooperation Network through the Castilla y León “Youth Solidarity” program. 

We still can’t believe we are here, in Africa!

We arrived at Lusaka in the afternoon of the 31^st of December, and we are still getting used to the new habits, climate, language (here we speak English) and work methods.

Sport and Cooperation Network sent us here to impulse the project “Support for education, health, integration and gender equality of the young population of Zambia through sports”, whose main objective is the construction and setting up of sports facilities with a medical dispensary within an area run by the Salesian Sisters of Don Bosco, called City of Hope.

The idea is to have these facilities working as a Sports / Education Center, open to the whole community.

The project has been planned and polished, and while it is awaiting funding, we are here to try and improve it and gather information on how to carry out the activities.

We are already part of the group of volunteers who work here for the Salesian Sisters, and, like the others, we are working on whatever is needed in order to improve the functioning of the center.

City of Hope is a campus that belongs to the Salesian nuns of Don Bosco, in which they run a school for children from low-income families, a training center for adults and a residence for orphan girls, who also attend the school.

It is a beautiful place, very well taken care of by the nuns and other workers, and that, as the name suggests, inspires hope. A vast space full of opportunities. Within it, the nuns have reserved an area for Sport Network and its project.

We have been here just a few days, but they are enough to make us feel part of the City of Hope team (teachers, workers, caretakers, nuns, volunteers…). The reception has been great by both the adults and the girls who currently live here (about 40 girls in the center).

They have put all of their trust and affection without knowing us. The initial language barrier, or the fact that we are still learning how things work in the center, don’t matter at all. They trust us, and it shows.

We hope that we can return this trust and be able to really be helpful here. We will put all of our efforts into making this happen.

Our adventure begins…

Miguel and Lidia are Sport and Cooperation Network volunteers in Zambia, sent by the Castilla y León “Youth Solidarity” program.