What a way to end!

It would have seemed almost paradoxical to travel all the way to Zambia without doing a little sightseeing, and it was for this reason that we spent our last week seeing the local wonders. Having been working in the community, we were keen to give something back, and so much of what we chose to do was supporting the community either financially or by giving time and resources.

We did a cycle tour around Livingstone, which included cycling through some very rural villages where the children would run after you and high five you as you went by, as well as through the National Park – as much as we wanted to turn the corner and find ourselves face to face with a herd of elephants, this didn’t happen ... probably much to our guide’s relief! We were given many fascinating facts and snippets of information about traditional rural life and the geography of the area, and it was, all in all, a superb tour.

Victoria Falls was definitely a highlight ... and why wouldn’t it be? The smoke that thunders, it is visible from miles away, and is the largest sheet of falling water in the world. Although warned that we would get wet, we weren’t quite prepared to get soaked through and this came as a surprise. The National Park is beautiful, and we enjoyed our visit immensely, and didn’t want to leave! The only thing that drew us away was the prospect of High Tea at the Royal Livingstone Hotel, which was even better than expected. A beautifully tranquil setting, we enjoyed the luxury of cakes, quiches and tea overlooking the Zambezi river. Hippos grunted in the water, and a zebra wandered past, the staff reacting as if this was an everyday occurrence, i.e. ignoring it whilst we’re all snapping away on our cameras. Having seen elephants by the roadside on the way to the hotel, we felt as if we’d already been on safari!

For our ‘real’ safari, we journeyed across to Chobe National Park in Botswana. This was indescribable, and quite simply unimaginable if you haven’t experienced it.  The park has between 40,000 and 60,000 elephants, and it certainly felt like we saw every single one of these – from the youngest calf to the oldest matriarch! The giraffes were also most prevalent, and quite striking with their long, elegant necks. We spent the night in the game reserve, and were treated to traditional songs and dances from our guides, which were hilarious. We were most fortunate on our safari, and altogether saw elephants, giraffes, impala, guinea-fowl, a honey badger, warthogs, Tawny eagles, White-Back vultures, baboons, Fish eagles, buffalo, lions, hippos, waterbucks, a Leopard-Faced vulture, mongeese, Kudu antelope, tree squirrels, Lilac Brested Rollers, Monitor lizards, a Marshal eagle, Sable antelope, Kori Bustards, Saddle-Billed stalks, a Black-Backed jackal, wildebeest, a Grand hornbill, Stenbock antelope, Velvet monkeys, zebra, crocodiles, a wild dog, Hammercops, Red Lechwe antelope and an African Rock python.

A sunset cruise down the river one evening was also magical – the skies in Zambia are mesmerising, and our viewing of them was made even better this one evening, as our crew cooked for us on a barbeque whilst we watched not only the sky, but also the banks of the river for wildlife. Another evening we were taken for a traditional meal, which was ... an experience! However, much to our surprise we actually enjoyed the majority of the food, even if we would never cook it ourselves. It was another chance for us to embrace ourselves in the local culture, and was really interesting. Yet another evening presented the opportunity to take part in a traditional drumming workshop which was highly entertaining. The instruments make such a sound that even those of us with extremely limited musical talent were able to produce a sound that didn’t make our audience of other travellers want to cover their ears! It was amazing!

Being members of WAGGGS (the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts), it would have seemed a wasted opportunity not to have met up with some members from across the globe. The orphanage we had been working at with the Book Bus had their own guide unit, and so we met up for a barbeque (we cooked what we would traditionally eat at such an occasion, and they cooked their own local specialities). Being guides, they were younger than us leaders, but this didn’t stop us having fun sharing games and songs from our own units.

We also spent a night on Bovu Island – a natural island in the middle of the Zambezi, occasionally home to a couple of hippos. This was a great couple of days spent making new friends and exploring the island, sleeping in open-fronted huts under mosquito nets and feeling almost entirely removed from the real world. Many of the people we met there came back year after year to work on a project they had set up in the local village just the other side of the river. They work at a local school, having raised funds to build two classrooms and two toilets so far, but with huge plans to do more, and the ultimate aim of receiving government funding. The work they had done so far was most inspiring, and the Book Bus left them with some resources to continue their good work and make a difference to hundreds of children’s lives.

Although the true aim of the trip was our work with the Book Bus, the sights we saw and activities we participated in drew us closer as a group and taught us about the local culture – meaning we could understand even more the potential for change that we could be involved in triggering. The trip was, however clichéd it sounds, eye-opening and a fabulous experience for us all! For more information, please comment on a post with your questions!

"The best time of my life!"

Although back from Zambia, this is far from the end of the journey for all of us who went. The experience was unforgettable, and I am sure has made us all more empathetic, helped us to understand the extent of the poverty in Africa and provoked us to continue raising awareness of the dire situation, of the work of The Book Bus and of how everyone in our own society can make a difference, however small, in their own way.

It is difficult to express the true value of The Book Bus and its efforts. The children we worked with were so inspirational, full of hope despite what little they had. Many struggled to read, although were competent at speaking English, and it was a real challenge to help these children with literacy skills, but also to give them confidence that they have potential! Some children we worked with told us they only came to school when The Book Bus was present, as this was a highlight for them, almost definitely because we brought resources the school could not otherwise provide – paper, glitter, colouring pens and pencils, stickers, and of course, brightly coloured fact and fiction reading books. This could not demonstrate more clearly the importance of the work of this charity. After one session, a little boy told his fulltime teacher that it had been “the best time of his life” – if this isn’t a reward for all our time and hard work then I don’t know what is! Our sessions were focused around the book, more advanced groups using fact and fiction books both together, supporting a fictional story with information from a factual book. Once we had read through the book, which could sometimes take almost the whole hour, we embarked on an activity related to it. Normally a craft activity, this was equally valuable in teaching children to use scissors and glue and perfect for encouraging their creativity and imagination! Activities ranged from making glittery stars, pop-out penguins, stained glass window elephants, masks (monkeys, ‘wild things’, aliens etc.), puppets, diagrams of the human body, drawings of wild animals, hats, sparkly fish and 3D giraffes, to acting out the planets of the solar system and learning a number of new songs and dances.

The children all came from difficult circumstances – situations that are simply unimaginable in our own culture. One little boy told me of how he had been rejected by his father at birth, and his mother had died just a few years later. He now lives with his grandmother and siblings, but it is a struggle, and at only 11 years old, he has to miss school to help out at home. Although the work of a charity like The Book Bus cannot resolve this situation, it can certainly help. Volunteers can stimulate this child to become interested in reading, a skill that will undoubtedly help him find employment in the future, and brighten his day by engaging him in a fun game, song, craft activity or dance. Children like this need help, and we like to think that however small the impact we had, it was enough to give these children hope.

One of the aims of The Book Bus is to provide the schools with the means to continue providing the children with the chance to read from a range of books. As a result, when it came to leaving the school and orphanage that we had been working at, we, as representatives for The Book Bus, left a variety of books behind, with the hope that these can be used in lessons or even to create a library. The appreciation of this donation was clear on the faces of the teachers, and it was a wonderful feeling to think that even after we left, our contribution would continue to make a difference.

To donate directly to the Book Bus to help support the incredible work they do, please find details on how to donate on their website which can be found using the links on the homepage of this blog. Thank you!