The Waste2Toys Workshop

In Zambia there is a lot of waste produced, and limited opportunities for recycling. At Kaniki Bible University College where I live, we have recently started a basic recycling scheme separating food waste and collecting plastic bottles. Since people here have to pay to have rubbish collected, many people burn it which is certainly not healthy judging by how many plastic bags (or 'plastics' as they are known here) are used. Last week I came across some great ideas as to how we could re-use our rubbish in a much more useful way.

Re-using paint tins

I had the privilege of attending a ‘Waste2Toys’ workshop led by two ladies from a South African charity called Singakwenza (meaning ‘We can do it!’ in Zulu), which was hosted by our friends at Beyond Ourselves Zambia. Our Pre-School teacher from Kapumpe attended with me and we had a great day with teachers and head teachers from other schools. We were presented with lots of simple but inspiring ideas about how to recycle waste and use it to make school resources.

The Singakwenza team with recycled display resources

Teachers from a variety of schools in Ndola

I am hoping that we are going to embrace these ideas at Kapumpe, which could bring multiple benefits for the school. Perhaps most obviously it will help to save us money. It could also help us to encourage parental engagement, as children who are sponsored through Arise don’t pay to attend our school but it is still good for their families to contribute in some way. Everyone can collect plastic bags, cardboard boxes and bottles at home to bring in for recycling. Furthermore, if the children see that they can make their own toys with recycled materials then it might provoke them to also do this at home, leading to more opportunities for play and learning. If resources get broken, it will mean they can more easily be replaced so it will also help towards making the school more sustainable.

Very importantly the workshop also taught theory behind early childhood development and clearly explained the reasons for learning through play. It was suggested that teaching a child is a bit like building a house – in the early years the parents and educators build the foundations, primary school teachers build the walls of the house and secondary school teachers put on the roof. If the foundations aren’t good, then it will fall down!

Building the foundation for a good education

Those of us who are passionate about primary education understand the importance of the early years and believe that play is a foundation for learning. Fred Rogers, who was a pioneer in television for early years education, said:

Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. 
But for children, play is serious learning.

Play is really the work of childhood.

Play = serious learning

Children learn to communicate through play, developing their vocabulary and language skills. It encourages them to work in groups which involves sharing, negotiating and resolving conflicts. Play gives children opportunities to solve problems and to learn about numbers and symbols which develops early mathematical and scientific concepts. It also allows children to be active and even to deal with fears whilst acting out situations in role play. In summary, it is during play that children really learn how to learn.

Developing language through play

The workshop that we attended presented us with some practical ideas for making resources that could facilitate play like this. It also taught us about specific skill development. For example, we started off using plastic bags to make balls. These could be used for throwing and catching to develop a whole host of skills. Gross motor skills (control of large muscles) hand/eye co-ordination, 1 to 1 number correspondence (counting the actual number of objects/events), proprioception (knowing where to move your body to/the space it takes up) and laterality (using both sides of the body), for starters.

Number skittle bowling

We tried out some activities which would enable children to develop the fine motor skills (movement of small muscles) that they need to strengthen, before holding a pencil with the correct grip. Bottle tops and rolled up paper balls created little games of flick football. We used polystyrene trays and matches to develop a pincer grip to pick up small items. We used straws and onion bags for threading activities. All of these activities enable children to develop bilateral co-ordination (using both sides of the body at the same time).

Playing 'Flick Football'

Polystyrene trays and matches

The most challenging piece of equipment to make was a skipping rope – this was made from 72 plastic bags! It involved folding and cutting, tying the bags and plaiting them.

Making skipping ropes

My attempt at a skipping rope!

It is interesting that the Zambian curriculum encourages learning through play but it is still extremely rare to see it in Zambian schools. I don’t think this is because teachers are reluctant or unwilling, but rather they have not received appropriate training so are unaware, or they have huge class sizes, minimal space and little or no equipment/resources to make it happen. It seems a shame that teachers and schools here are not empowered to practice what the government preach.

Despite this, one of the key messages from the course was that it is the teacher interaction with the children that is important, rather than the resources themselves.

Our Pre-School teacher with her class

Since the course I have seen our Pre-School teacher trying out some of the activities. She is also going to lead some staff meetings on it to share her knowledge with the other teachers at Kapumpe. I have been delighted to see how keen our Zambian staff are to learn. I expected that people might be more stuck in their ways, but that is not the case. They simply need to be given the opportunity to hear information explained. I hope that the education our team are providing at Kapumpe will empower the children here to keep on learning throughout their lives and empower others along the way. It’s funny how even rubbish can be used to help in this!

Paint pot drums (which we might soon regret!)

Rhi's Zambian Healthcare Adventure

As well as working with one of our pupils, Lawrence, during her time in Zambia, my sister Rhi used her healthcare skills in many different ways. Here she tells us about some of her experiences...

Rhi with Lawrence at Kapumpe

During the time I spent in Zambia I had the privilege of seeing a number of different local healthcare facilities. As a healthcare professional (Occupational Therapist, or OT) from the UK I have been interested to see both the similarities and differences between healthcare offered in Zambia compared to what our National Health Service provides back at home. I also had the incredible opportunity to offer support to a few adults and children with different health challenges of their own.

One of the biggest difficulties faced by so many people living in Ndola is the lack of available health information and education. Coming from a culture with the opposite problem where patients diagnose themselves (often incorrectly) using Google, I loved being able to teach a handful of people from the local community how to look after their own health. In Zambia, many myths are passed down through generations about different causes and treatments of illnesses that we would probably find bizarre, so it has been great to spend some time teaching the physiological explanations and helping the local people understand things a bit better. I expected some resistance to the information that I was sharing, but in reality I ended up being really impressed and encouraged by their enthusiasm to learn.

A very useful book we were able to buy for the Arise Project

My main opportunity for teaching was with the Arise guardians. The guardians have a weekly meeting of singing, prayer and encouragements from the Bible and during some of these meetings I was asked to conduct some teaching sessions on managing common health difficulties. It was a lot of fun teaching the guardians different exercises they could do to help ease pain and strengthen their muscles, and also having to put everything into picture format as many of them are unable to read. I also ran two sessions about food hygiene, looking at what food is good for us and the healthiest ways to cook. These sessions ended with the guardians putting what they learned into practice by cooking lunch for us all to enjoy together (see previous blog post entitled ‘Masterchef – Zambian style’).  We subsequently realised how much this knowledge is needed when I was asked by a local organisation called Beyond Ourselves Zambia (BOZ) to teach the cooks at their four local schools. You can read more on the BOZ blog here.

Teaching guardians how to look after their knees

Running cooking lessons with Beyond Ourselves Zambia school cooks

In June I was grateful to be taken on a tour of Ndola Central Hospital, the main hospital in the city of Ndola. It was interesting to note the differences between this hospital and the ones I have worked in in the UK, particularly in the equipment and furniture that is used until it is beyond repair, rather than being disposed of at the first sign of wear. Perhaps the most reassuring thing was how familiar everything felt with similar hospital departments and layout.

Ndola Central Hospital entrance

Ndola Central Hospital building

During my tour of the hospital I also visited the Physiotherapy department. The physiotherapists there explained that they did not know of any Occupational Therapists working in the whole of Zambia and asked if I would come back to see some patients for them. I returned to visit the department on two further occasions and met a few of their lovely patients. I visited one of their patients at his home as he had been in a car accident 12 years earlier and a spinal injury had left him paralysed from the waist downwards. His biggest wish was to be able to feed and drink independently so that his family did not have to be present 24/7. I was faced with the challenge of finding equipment for him that wasn’t available in Zambia. I tasked the carpentry and maintenance team at Kaniki Bible College to make me a bed rail, giving them the specifications that would be used in the UK, and Charles the carpenter did me proud! I was also able to get hold of a few smaller aids from the UK which enabled the patient to achieve his dream of feeding and drinking independently. Just the smile on his face made my whole five month stay in Zambia thoroughly worthwhile.

Charles and the new bed rail

The patient now able to drink independently

Coming from a culture where you need a DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check before you can work in healthcare, I was surprised how often I was informally asked to get involved with treating people and providing advice. At a local school supported by BOZ, there is a lovely girl in Grade 5 who has had hemiplegia (weakness down her left side) since she suffered a brain injury when she was a year old. Her mother has struggled to find the right support for her, especially since her father died who was the breadwinner of the family. I was able to teach the girl and her mother some exercises to help her muscles, but it was still frustrating for me to see how much her life and education are limited by her disability, as if she were in the UK she would have had a much wider range of support.

Teaching mother and daughter

Another person I loved visiting was a 10 year old boy who lives next door to Kapumpe School. He was born with a spinal condition which has left him with clubbed feet and no sensation in his feet or legs. The impact of this disability has meant that instead of being in Grade 4 at the local primary school, he is still in Grade 1. Because his family cannot afford the aids that he needs, he has had to miss a lot of school. He is a bright, friendly and determined boy who finds very inventive ways to manage even though he is unable to walk. Unfortunately he has developed large sores on his feet, so following the advice of a friend experienced in healthcare in Zambia, I visited him regularly to provide and change dressings. As specialist products are not available here, I have challenged our mechanic (who is also a tailor in his spare time!) to create a special pair of shoes for this boy who has never had a pair of his own. Visiting this boy and his family reiterated to me the lack of education given to patients and their families, as I discovered that nobody had explained to them that his condition would never improve and that he would face these challenges for the rest of his life.

Boy from next door (in wheelchair on right) and his cousins, showing off his wheelchair and hand bike

Being taught about wounds and dressings

During my time in Zambia I also had the opportunity to visit a rural mission hospital and our local children’s hospital, as well as being able to talk to local healthcare staff. I found it interesting to hear about challenges similar to those faced in the UK, although to a far more extreme degree. Lack of staff, resources and funding mean that staff in Zambia are expected to lift, move and treat patients in ways that would be deemed unacceptable back home. The lack of the litigation and blame culture that we face in the UK means that healthcare staff in Zambia do not have the same fear of being sued and are not faced with the same red tape and hoops to jump through that staff working for the NHS so often are. However, this also seems to result in less responsibility being taken for decisions and mistakes that are made.

Mpongwe Mission Hospital

Equipment at Arthur Davidson Children's Hospital

As with the NHS, healthcare in Zambia is generally free to patients. However, patients are expected to pay for more specialist or expedited services. There are so many things we often take for granted as part of the NHS’ healthcare provision that are very different here. In Zambia there is approximately one nurse per ward. When patients are admitted to hospital they must have a friend or family member with them throughout their stay and attend to their hygiene and care needs. These bedside carers are not given their own beds so must either sleep in a chair next to their loved one, or share their hospital bed! As some patients are kept in hospital for many months, this is a big commitment for their friends and family members, who are also often expected to provide food for the patient. Things that we would expect to be a part of free healthcare treatment in the UK, such as anaesthetic for an operation, are sometimes billed to the patient.

The healthcare staff I have seen whilst I was in Zambia impressed me with their ability to do so much with so little. Nonetheless, I also found that the Zambian culture of not sharing knowledge can also apply to the healthcare setting, which was frustrating to watch as I believe that teaching self-care enables people to look after their own health and reduces their reliance on healthcare services. Perhaps the most important thing I learned from my experiences of Zambian healthcare is how easy it is to come to a developing country and think you know so much more than people who live there, but after spending time with them you realise they have far more to teach you than you could ever imagine!

No running water means hospitals have to be inventive!

Kaniki Needs YOU!

As you can probably tell from my blog posts, volunteering in Zambia has been a life changing experience for me. Living in another culture, working in a Christian environment and facing dire poverty can bring many challenges but it also teaches you a lot about yourself, God, other people and the world.

Could you consider coming to live and work in Zambia for a year or more? How about someone you know? We are looking for people who are up for an adventure and would like to come and volunteer with us here in Kaniki.

Arise Orphan Project and Kapumpe Christian Primary School have grown massively this year. In order to continue the work and to further develop the projects and their impact, more long-term volunteers are needed. We are looking for people that could commit to serving at Arise or Kapumpe for a year or more. You can find out further details in the poster below. Please share it with anyone you know who might be interested. 

Click here to open advert in a separate window

Please contact us at arise@kaniki.dk for further details or with any questions you might have. 

Pastor Albert: Empowering a community

My sister Rhi tells us about her visit to one of the communities that Arise is working with.

Children from the Kanfinsa community

I recently made my final Arise visit before returning home to the UK. Instead of visiting individual children and guardians in their homes, we made just one visit to Pastor Albert’s home in a village called Kanfinsa. 

Kanfinsa is a rural community about 9km from Kaniki, with a population of approximately 800 people. The local school, church and hammer mill (for grinding maize) are at the centre of their community. Kanfinsa is surrounded by forests and does not have access to electricity or a working water pump. Water is collected from the well near Pastor Albert’s house, or from nearby streams. Many of the parents and guardians in Kanfinsa have not been to school themselves. This means that education is often not highly valued and children are not always encouraged to attend school. Making charcoal used to be the main source of income in the community, but this is no longer possible due to deforestation, so all families living in Kanfinsa now rely on subsistence farming.

A typical house in Kanfinsa

In May the church at Kanfinsa completed work on an extension, and it now has capacity for approximately 200 people. Pastor Albert is the leader of the community and has lived in the centre of Kanfinsa since 2008. He has five children who all live with him, along with his nephew. Pastor Albert supports a number of children in the community by paying their school fees and ensuring they have enough food and provisions. Pastor Albert is one of a few people in the community with a functioning bicycle. Because nobody in Kanfinsa owns a car and there is no public transport, he is relied upon to transport people and goods or to loan out his bicycle. Pastor Albert is one of a few members of the community who speaks fluent English and is often asked to translate for visitors. Aside from his many responsibilities in the community, he also has to make time to tend to his own farm to provide food for his own family. Some of this food is also given to support others in need.

Pastor Albert

We visited Kanfinsa to meet Pastor Albert and a group of orphans and guardians who are not currently supported by Arise. Pastor Albert has set up a committee within his church to focus on supporting the orphans in their community. When he first shared his vision with us, he explained that he felt it was very important that the community supports its own as much as it can and not just rely on help from outsiders. We were impressed with his attitude and his heart for the people in his community, as well as the responsibility he willingly takes to support those around him.

Pastor Albert and Naomi talking to the orphans and guardians in Kanfinsa

During the visit we were able to see his vision put into action. We met the orphans and guardians taking part in the project, and heard their plans for the work they are going to do. As farming is the main way of earning a living in the region, the church is planning to rent a field and grow soya beans, tomatoes, maize and ground nuts, some to feed the orphans and some to sell. The produce that is sold will help to provide school books and resources for the orphans, and it is hoped that eventually the project will expand to be able to pay their school fees. Many of the orphans that will be supported by the project have never been to school as they are unable to afford the fees.

Some of the orphans who will be supported by the church project

Some of the guardians who will be supported by the church project

At the meeting I met a young mother who looks after four of her own children (ages 8, 6, 3 and 10 months) and her two brothers who are 13 and 14 years old. This young lady took in her brothers to care for them when both their parents died and they became what is known as ‘double orphans’. None of the lady’s children or her brothers have ever been to school before because they haven’t been able to afford it. Pastor Albert’s project will help provide them with some food and may enable them to finally attend school.

The lady we met with her baby and the brothers she has taken in to look after

A few weeks ago we held a sale for Arise guardians and workers from the Bible College. We took some of the leftover clothes and shoes from the sale to Pastor Albert, and during our visit he arranged for these to be sold at low cost to the guardians and orphans who were at the meeting. It was very humbling to see the guardians buying clothes and shoes for the orphans they care for; knowing that the money they paid will be used to support their own community.

Buying clothes and shoes

Trying on shoes

In Zambia I have met many people who are in similar situations to the orphans and guardians in Kanfinsa. I have been continually impressed by how willing people are to help each other and take in children when they need help. Unfortunately the culture here in Zambia is quite passive, with most people being resigned to their situation. This is why it is so refreshing and inspiring to meet someone like Pastor Albert who continually tries to find ways to improve life for those living in his community.

Sharing out maize that was donated by members of the church for the orphans and guardians

Guardians sharing the maize

Working with Arise has been a very eye-opening experience for me. It is easy to see people in need and automatically want to give them what they ask for, but it is also important to understand the bigger picture and to ask questions to find out more about their individual situation. Providing people with a means to work and empowering them to take responsibility for the consequences of their decisions gives them more dignity than giving out things for free. The vision for Arise is very much focused on empowerment rather than handouts, and seeing Pastor Albert starting his new initiative to support the orphans in his community fits in with this ethos. I loved the time I spent in Kaniki and it has been great to see firsthand the work that Arise is involved with. I am now even more excited about the life-changing impact I am sure they will continue to have.