Drew's African Odyssey - Mwange Refugee Camp, Zambia

Spent some time in the camp this morning before heading to Kasama (the provincial capital). We had a meeting with some teachers and community leaders who are involved with an evaluation committee that monitors how physical education is being carried out in the schools. It was a tough meeting for me because I didn’t really know the situation of what was going on in these committees, so I didn’t have much to say except to introduce myself. Some of the people asked us if we would be spending anymore time in the schools working directly with the kids, which is something we try to avoid doing because it really disrupts the children and is only a temporary solution to their physical needs. Ideally, we want only local people working with the children. We also stopped by one of the coach's huts to have a meal. It was my first time sharing a meal with one of the refugees, but it was a really interesting experience. The lady, Shelly, served me Nshima and fish; a very typical lunch time meal (actually the only lunch time meal), and she shared with me stories of her family and life back in the Congo.

From there, I caught a ride with the UN (the Canadian field officer) to Kasama and checked into a guest house (costing about $8 US/night) and caught a nice meal of chicken and chips. From there I visited a few friends in town, then called it a night!

Posted by: Drew Gardiner / 12:37 PM