Drew's African Odyssey - Mwange Refugee Camp, Zambia

My first few days in the camp were very interesting. I didn’t realize the extent of the situation there, but the refugees are very well set up and organized. Each family has their own home and most of the kids are attending school. The “village” is made up of sections, lettered a-z with three streets in each section. The houses are made of brick with thatched (grass) roofs. There is a food distribution centre, a medical clinic and a host of community service offices. Yesterday, I was introduced to the various principals of the 5 primary schools and the one secondary school. We set up meetings that took place today with the various coaches (most of them teachers) that have been trained by Right to Play.

French is spoken in the camp, so it will take me a little bit to get back into the different language, but I'm doing ok so far. My project partner Sophie is taking on most of the responsibility at this time as I get accustomed to the work.

Today we had meetings with the coach committees. We have trained 3 levels of coaches who run activities with the kids. We are hoping that the level 3 coaches will be the ones who take on the task of running the program after we are gone. In the next few months, we will be teaching them skills in leadership, project management, volunteerism and equipment management. This seems to be a daunting task, especially for only two of us, but we will do what we can.

Now, I'm headed outside to play some b-ball and v-ball with the kids in our front yard. Tonight, we’re going to the local restaurant and possibly out for some drinks with some of the other NGO workers….

Posted by: Drew Gardiner / 2:41 PM