Volunteer Experience
Our volunteers travel to Chipulukusu, Ndola, Zambia, where we live for two weeks. Chipulukusu, is one of the poorest and most deprived townships in Zambia, where poverty, illness, disease, malnutrition and deprivation is rife. Life expectancy hovers between 36 and 38 years. We live in Chipulukusu, in the same basic houses as our neighbours, so we have no showers, toilets, running water or electricity, no furniture and no beds. We sleep on the floor under mosquito nets and our meals are cooked over a charcoal fire.
We could say that we share the same living conditions as our neighbours, but the truth is that we have the advantage of mosquito nets, innoculations, vaccinations and good food, which our neighbours do not.
While living in Chipulukusu, we meet some of the kindest, most cheerful and most welcoming people on earth. We learn a lot from those we meet, as this is a cultural exchange. We go to serve and to learn.
We work every day with our Zambian partners and volunteers. Our Irish teachers typically conduct seminars to introduce literacy and new teaching skills to our Zambian teachers. We give lessons in computers to those who may never have touched a computer before, or indeed who commonly do not even have electricity at home. We provide lessons in financial skills for business and vocational skills training, and we work to improve our libraries.
Our volunteers commonly report that their experience of Zambia has been life-changing, and that they have received more from their participation in the project than they have put in to it.
When we return home, our volunteers have a role in telling the rest of the world of what they have seen. We hope to raise awareness of those others who share our planet, but who remain mostly out of our sight.
If this seems like the experience for you, why not enquire about being an Inspire Zambia volunteer this year?
Before going to Zambia, all I knew about it were the stories I had been told about it.
My dad has been going to Zambia consistently since 2008 and each time he brought back with him these entertaining stories of the people, eet-sum-mor biscuits and music unlike anything I had heard before. Those stories were usually full of whacky adventures, humorous people, and situations that sounded so foreign and alien, that Zambia had been built up into this completely alternative version of reality.
And in truth, it is.
I knew in one sense what I was signing up for, but being there, meeting people, learning dances and songs and an alternative way of life, is still a stark contrast to my comings and goings of daily life. Two things stuck me:
The extent of poverty in the area of Chipulukusu. The lack of electricity, food, a drought that has been going on for years. Children barefoot on the streets wearing tattered clothes and knowing that there is a high chance many of them are orphaned and sick.
The other thing that stood out to me, so much so that the poverty almost seemed forgotten at times, is how happy the people are. Everyone is kind, everyone wants to be your friend. They want to know you and are incredibly open to letting you know them. They are welcoming and good, and despite my brief stint in the village, they have left a lasting impact on my life. Many of them became my neighbours who chatted with me as I walked to the Youngnak school in the mornings. Many of them are teachers who patiently showed me how to cook nshima, stumble through a basic conversation in Bemba or how to somewhat keep up with various dances. And many of them are dear friends I hope to see again.
When asked how my experience was in Zambia, I usually reply simply with “brilliant” or “an experience”. Truth is, I would need hours to even begin to explain what I have experienced, what I have gained out of going to Zambia. I went over to teach computer literacy and to see another side to the world. I have learnt much more than I could ever hope to teach.
I intend to return as it was an overall enjoyable and enlightening experience that won’t soon be forgotten.
-Sophie, Volunteer Trip 2024
