Zambia encompasses everything magnificent about Africa!
Teaching takes place in Livingstone town, a quaint but lively area very close to
Victoria Falls. The schools
we work with are private schools, but these are very poor schools that need
as much support from volunteers as possible.
You may be asked to teach anything from
English to MathsandSports
to children aged between 2 and 16 years. Your help
will form an important part of their educational and
social development. Livingstone is a very friendly place and the schools
are no exception!
You
don't need any qualifications to take part in this programme.
You
will normally assist the teachers to start with, but depending on your
ability, you may be given complete control of a particular class or group.
You will receive
a lot of help and support from the teachers and staff at the schools to help
you prepare for your lessons and settle you into your role as teacher.
Schools can be both
secondary and primary and you will generally be asked to help out with
any age groups.
You will be able to
teach a specific subject of your choice if you wish to, such as
mathematics or science.
In addition, for those of you who enjoy sports,
you will be glad to know that sports are also a very popular subject for
the children, and they would love for you to help out with the game
periods which the schools have.
The facilities are poor, but football and volleyball
have quite a following. Some
sports take coaching takes place throughout the day, but most is after 3pm
for an hour or two.
The
schools themselves are quite small and incredibly basic -
you will feel part of the family
immediately!School sizes range
from 100 to 150 pupils at one given time. This means that class sizes
are also fairly small and very manageable, normally ranging from 20 to 30,
although occasionally you may have smaller classes.
One particular
primary school was established by a UK volunteer and is funded purely by
external donations. There are only four qualified Zambian teachers and
one assistant teacher employed to teach primary classes. Their
dedication and enthusiasm have resulted in fun and lively classrooms
full of interest and activity.
Your help is most
needed to free time for these hard working teachers to dedicate to other
important work, and help supplement the education of these exceptional
children. This school also has a feeding programme in place for needy
children and they hope to extend this to all children with the support
of donors.
They have also helped with funding to
build homes for orphaned children. The children here are fantastic and the
hard work and attitude of the teachers is heart warming.
The level of
education of the children in Zambia does differ, and it will be up to you
and the Principle to find out how best to use your skills.
Most of the children
are very shy to speak English and it’s in this area that the help of our
volunteers is needed – to give the children to confidence to speak the
language. They ask for
your support to help push the children’s’ education forward, and to help
improve teaching techniques for the existing teachers, where possible.
The
children and teachers that we work with in Zambia are
are fantastic - you will be greeted with huge
smiles and a very warm welcome. Usually the children
don't want to let you go and may even resort to clinging on to your legs to
stop you from leaving. You are sure to enjoy every minute of your
teaching experience!
SCHOOL HOLIDAYS 2008 in
Zambia:
Dates for the 2008 school terms (semesters) are given below.
1st Term 7th January to
4th April
2nd Term 5th May to 1st August
3rd Term 1st September to 28th November
Teaching is not available during
school holidays, so if you're planning to participate in a
placement, please take the above school term dates
into account when planning the timing of your project. On the other hand, if
a holiday falls during your proposed placement, you
could use this time to do any independent travelling
and sightseeing.
TEACHING
ARTS, DRAMA, MUSIC AND OTHER SUBJECTS IN ZAMBIA:
If you have some know-how,
some initiative and lots of enthusiasm, you can also get involved with
teaching Drama, Music, Dance or Arts and Crafts lessons. If you enjoy being
creative, then you can share your talents and enthusiasm at the various
schools we work with.
Teaching Arts subjects is
an excellent way of engaging children’s imaginations and encourages them to
communicate with few constraints. What’s more, it is very satisfying to
watch their confidence grow as they learn and develop new skills.
At some of our schools in
our other destinations, volunteers and pupils together have produced plays
and concerts, and performances have been put on in the evenings for parents,
students and visitors. Because the schools are poor, the volunteers and
children have had to be very creative in putting together costumes and sets
– but all productions have been a resounding success!
Volunteers have found that
producing short plays written by the children that address local social
issues has been a successful means in educating the children on issues such
as AIDS awareness, cultural relationships, peer pressures, and bullying. It
gives the children an informal forum and a means of sharing their concerns
and learning to deal with issues.
You can either teach one
or more of these subjects for the whole of your placement, or you can
combine one of or all of these subjects with teaching conversational
English.
Please
email or call us (+44 (0)1903 502595) for more details – we will
certainly be able to find a way to utilise your talents, ensuring a
fulfilling placement for both yourself and your students.
ACCOMMODATION:
You will be accommodated in a
small, modern, and lively hostel situated in the
center of Livingstone. The hostel has a very large
private garden shaded with huge mango trees, and a crystal clear swimming
pool. It also has a lively, sociable bar area where many
activities are arranged.
Livingstone has a colonial feel
to it and you will find a wide variety of restaurants, bars, and shops. Your
accommodation is ideally situated and can offer excellent trips to places
such as Lusaka.
You'll share a
room with 3 or 4 other Travellers volunteers. Breakfast and
evening dinner will be provided by the hostel
but you will need to arrange for your own
sandwiches to take to the school, which can be bought
at a very cheap price from the local shops.
At the time of writing,
facilities at the hostel include; a swimming pool, recreation room with TV,
internet cafe with internet access, a dining and kitchen area where food can
be stored and access to telephones.
The hostel also has an in-house
booking centre, where many local
activities can be booked (wildlife safaris, river cruises, river gorges,
bungee jumping, white water rafting, treks, etc). They guarantee to
offer the best deals in town and to beat any other lodge or booking center!
The hostel also looks
into Community Projects and staff empowerment. Many guests comment on the
quality of their staff. They are their greatest asset and many have worked
for them in excess of 4 years with the longest serving 8 (since they first
started). Staff turnover is very low and a family atmosphere has been
created that adds tremendously.
They are also
involved in a number of community projects. Last year they raised over
US$2000 for a local school. They sponsor a local youth football team, the
police regatta team, local fund raising events and an annual day out for
orphaned children on World tourism Day. They also sponsor Independence day
celebrations.
There are plenty of opportunities to
socialise with other volunteers, and there will more than likely be a group
of you out there at any one time.
TRAVEL AND SUPPORT
You have the option to arrange your
own flights or we can assist you with your flight arrangements. If you would
like us to do this for you, we will liaise with you regarding available flights
and dates to suit you. All arrangements for your flight bookings/payments will
be fulfilled by Murray Rogers Travel Ltd., ATOL No. 6856. (Read more about Murray Rogers Travel Ltd.)
Where possible, we arrange for two or more people to travel on the
same flight and we will let you have the names and telephone numbers of other
volunteers on your flight, so that you can chat to each other or even meet up
before leaving for your placement.
Where possible, all flights we arrange for you
have changeable return tickets because many of our volunteers choose to extend
their stay once they are in their destination country. Changeable return tickets
enable you to do so, within the limits of your visa and the level of your air
ticket, of course. If you choose to book your own flights, you should endeavour
to get a changeable ticket.
We meet you at the airport regardless of whether
you make your own travel arrangements or not.
Support:
You will fly into Livingstone Airport where you will be welcomed by a
member of our Project staff.
He/she will arrange your transport to the project.
You'll be introduced to
everyone, including your Supervisor and other volunteers and staff.
VISAS:. In countries where visas or
immigration documents are required, we'll send you all the necessary forms and
information and make the process very easy for you.
Students from a school that Travellers has been supporting financially for
the past 5 years. Read more...
To see what Support
& Backup we provide in our countries,
please click here.
.
+44 01903 502595
