Livingstone Community Projects Updates and Achievements from Q4 2018 - African Impact

Teaching HBC Clinic Health Talks Reading Club Math Club Art Club MOPH AS/YCTC/LDF Sports Holiday Club

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Linda community is a big community just outside of Livingstone. In the past months we’ve seen a lot of new patients with injuries and wounds. Volunteers went a total of 18 times to this community to treat wounds and give education on how to prevent yourself from getting injured.

Home based care has been really busy because we got a lot of new patients. So now we also go out in the afternoon to see more communities so more people receive treatment.

Girl Impact intern Lauren updated the old HIV education with new information and a new test. Afterwards we did a total of 10(!) HIV education workshops in St. Mary’s school, St. Raphael’s school and the Tourism College. Everyone who completed the course got a certificate in the end.

“Khala pansi” in Nyanja

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Our grade 5 girls and grade 6 boys finished the AGEP (Adolescents Girl Empowerment Program). Over the past year they covered topics like selfesteem, HIV and AIDS, relationships and human rights. The last lesson was a big celebration in the form of a graduation with lots of laughter, dancing and, for the boys, football.

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The grade 6 girls which have been in our Girl Impact program since grade 4 finished the leadership course where they learned all about different types of leadership and role models. One of the biggest highlights was career days where they had the chance to ask questions to a nurse, a tailor and a bank manager to prepare themselves for their future careers.

On the last day the girls went home with their handmade graduation hats and leadership certificates.

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On Wednesday mornings, the women’s group have been focusing a lot on self-esteem topics. Everybody made a short presentation about what they learned in the HIV-Course to improve their public speaking and communication skills. Besides the normal lessons the women still do an incredible job hosting the village tours. Over the past 3 months, 31 volunteers went to experience the Zambian culture and tried to make their own nshima (a local delicacy).

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In November we welcomed the biggest group of Girl Impact volunteers ever, mostly from Deakin University Australia. With around 20 GI volunteers we hosted 8 GBV, 11 HIV workshops and 2 women’s health talks besides the normal projects.

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Rainy season has started which is good for our vegetables at the farm: the corn is growing, the eggplants are getting bigger and we can harvest the okra. Rainy season also means the weeds are growing fast, so lots of weeding to do at the farm!

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11 volunteers from 6 different countries worked on the building project the last 3 months.

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We started a new Eco/Waste Management Workshop at Nalituwe School for the grade 6 students. It is 4 sessions including pre-and-post-test assessments, and 47 students got a certificate afterwards.

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We also started a swap-shop system at this school, where students bring in eco-bricks. As a reward, the students get something in return for every ecobrick they make. For 1 ecobrick you get a pencil, for 5 a sharpener and an eraser, for 25 a notebook and you get a piece of clothing when you reach 50! The football shirts are a big hit!

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We finished 2 round benches at Nalituwe school. They are made out of ecobricks collected by the students of the same school.

“I couldn't have asked for a better volunteering experience, everything about African Impact and my experience with them surpassed my expectations, and then some. From the friendly staff, to the cultural experience, organized projects, and everything in-between, it was an adventure that I will never forget. I am sad to have to leave, but definitely hope to return in the future!!”

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This quarter, the volunteers were teaching in Linda Community School for Holiday Club and in Mwandi Community School for the school term. They have been teaching English, Social Studies, Creative and Technological Studies, Integrated Science and Math in the morning. During the school term, we have been working primarily with grades 5-7.

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One of the achievements of our work with grade 5 in Mwandi was creating reading groups that are suitable to their level. We found that a quarter of the students did not have a reading level that is expected of grade 5. The class was split into phonics, beginner, pre-intermediate and intermediate. Working in smaller groups and understanding the student’s needs helps to ensure that no one gets left behind while the rest of the class progresses.

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We have seen huge improvements at Adult Literacy Club. The lessons have become more structured and focused on grammar and spelling. In particular, their reading abilities have improved tremendously. In a short time, we have seen students progress from learning phonics and the alphabet, to being able to read beginners books and speak with more confidence.

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The curriculums for Health Club and Math Club are now more systematic. We have started to build on a clear plan for our aims for Health Club by compiling all of the past lessons and looking at the best ways to progress. Math Club has become a tutorial class that is focused on what the students are learning in school and the kind of questions that come up on exams.

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In this quarter, the sports project focused mainly on grades 5 and 6 in Mwandi Community School and Lubuyu Community School. We had some great volunteers on board who imparted knowledge of their national sports, including American Football and Aussie Rules.

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As part of the sports lessons for Holiday Club at Linda Community School, the students learned how to play volleyball. Prior to this, they didn’t have the facilities at the school to play it, but we were able to set everything up with our own net and poles. It was fantastic to give the students a chance to learn the rules and techniques of a game that they may not otherwise get to play. Over the course of a week, they got really good at it too!

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We have begun to incorporate more stretches and drills into the P.E lessons at Mwandi and Lubuyu. The aim of this is to teach the students the importance of discipline and cooperation in sports. It will give them an idea of what it’s like to be part of a sports team and give them more confidence in their capabilities. They now understand that they get a lot more out of the game when they put in the work and energy.

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After being tested at the beginning of the year and again in the last quarter, there were significant improvements in the performance levels of students at Mwandi. They improved their running time, their throwing distance and their jumping distance. The plan is to keep building on this and instilling the importance of exercise and living a healthy lifestyle in the students.