Moving Forward

It was amazing to be able to return to Zambia and Kaniki recently on a two week holiday.

My favourite part of the trip was spending time with the children, staff and guardians

from the Arise Orphan Project and Kapumpe Christian Primary School. Although I’ve now lived back in the UK for a year and a half, in some ways it felt like I’d only been

away a few weeks; apart from the fact that all the children had grown taller!

Smiles from Grade 1

When the children first spotted me walking towards the school there was a bit of a

stampede and I nearly got knocked over! Grade 5 sang ‘Welcome back Miss Crossy’
to me in their assembly. They have a fantastic way of making people feel welcome
and loved.

Assembly at Kapumpe

Just two weeks in Zambia reminded me of some of the difficulties that are easily
forgotten now I've moved back to the UK. There were lots of bugs, a few power cuts
and whilst I was there our car broke down, which isn’t uncommon! Poverty is much
more prevalent and it's hard to articulate the complex issues surrounding it. Whilst I was
there we went to visit one of the young boys who is part of Arise and Kapumpe but has
not been attending school recently. It turned out that during the day he has been
scouring the village for plastic bottles to make a small amount of money from a man
who sells beer.

Despite the challenges, the main impression I was left with was that both the Arise and Kapumpe projects are moving forward. This was clear to me when I spent time with children from Kapumpe, talking to them about school, looking at their work and hearing them read. Children who were toddlers in pre-school when I left Zambia were now able to read me simple sentences they had written themselves, in both English and Bemba.

Grade 5 pupil proudly sharing work

Arise Football Club is run by two sons of an Arise volunteer. They started the club after we took a group of boys who are supported by the project to take part in a football tournament at Ndola Football Stadium. I was thrilled to see that the club has continued, now running two afternoons a week with over 40 boys from the local community attending.

Arise Football Club

In some ways everything looked very familiar to me. Change seems to happen
‘panono panono’ (slowly, slowly) in Zambia. However, there were some notable
developments including building work on the third and final school block, which is well
on the way to completion! The oldest children at Kapumpe have planted their own
vegetables and flowers which they’re extremely proud of, and the Arise farming plot has
been extended.

Classroom block 3

The Headteacher and Director of Kapumpe and Arise are doing a brilliant job in
developing both staff and volunteers, which is one of the things I am most passionate
about. When I first worked with Arise in 2015 it was UK volunteers who interviewed
and made decisions about potential guardians to join the project, with Zambian
volunteers translating for us. This year, the two Zambian volunteers who run the
majority of the day-to-day programme are conducting the interviews themselves. The
Kapumpe school gardener who teaches the ‘Foundations for Farming’ course to Arise
guardians has also been helping to teach other people who are supported by another
local charity.

With two Kapumpe teachers

I am very proud of everyone's hard work at both Kapumpe and Arise, and I am grateful
to God for his continuing provision. Thank you to everyone who continues to support
the work in different ways; be that sponsoring a child, giving financial gifts or praying. If
you would like to become more involved by sponsoring a child or if you might be
interested in volunteering, please follow the links below:

Sponsor a Child

Volunteer at Kapumpe

For me personally it is amazing to see these two projects that I was involved with in
Zambia, flourish and continue to impact the lives of so many people in the local
communities. Thank you for your support and I am looking forward to hearing more about
the great work that is taking place in Kaniki.

Fun times at Kapumpe

A year on...

Since returning to the UK from Zambia last year, I have become one of the trustees for The Kaniki Trust, the charity that funds and supports the work of Arise and Kapumpe. You may have seen on Facebook that building work has recently started at Kapumpe, which means that the third and final classroom block is now underway! I am returning to Zambia for two weeks in October and can’t wait to be reunited with the children, staff and the many friends that I made during my time out there. I will of course be sharing some photos from my trip here on my blog!

Building work at Kapumpe Christian Primary School

I’ve been back in the UK for over a year now and for the past 11 months have been working at Tearfund, a Christian relief and development charity. I am learning a lot, not only because working in an office is so vastly different from teaching, but also because my role is focused on the humanitarian sector. It turns out that the world is a much darker place than I realised; there are disasters and conflict going on all the time, the impact of which last for years. What we see in the media really is just a drop in the ocean.

Volunteering for Tearfund at Big Church Day Out

It is a privilege to work for Tearfund, who work in over 50 countries of the world through churches and local partner organisations to end extreme poverty. And so on Sunday 30th September I’m going to take on my first half marathon in Ealing, to raise money for Tearfund. Every little helps so if you would like to support Tearfund by sponsoring me in my run, you can follow this link.

Thank you so much for your support.