Day 12

The team are now preparing to leave Fawlty Towers and begin the 6hour journey back to Lusaka. It's been a lovely few days in Livingstone filled with new sights and adventure! 

Day 11

Today's trip was another early rise and off to borders to make the crossing over to Botswana. It was a concoction of boat rides and bus rides to get us to the start of our safari! 

The team divided in team with half starting the day with tea and cakes on the boat and a morning or water safari, whilst the other team had tea and cakes on land and headed off the Chobe Safari park. We all met together at lunch at a great restaurant on the Chobe river where a huge buffet was on display. The river safari identified the main point at which four african countries met - Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and Botswana - an impressive landmark!

The teams then swapped safari tours in the afternoon so both groups got the experience of water and land safari with elephants, hippos, giraffe and crocodiles all in sight!!! 

Personally a very exciting and impressive experience!

Day 10

Monday saw two more birthdays on the trip and a wonderful outing to Victoria falls.

We walked the entire length of the falls as well as walking down to the boiling pot which overlooked the Zimbawe-Zambia bridge where many travellers do the famous bungee jumps! 

One group had the pleasure of a baboon leading us down the trail - a very amusing experience! 

However the climb back up from the boiling pot was an exhausting experience to say the least!!! 

Day 9

Apologies for the major delay in blogging. There has been considerably limited access to wifi the past few days!

Day 9 saw the children rise at an early hour to a full English breakfast. We then set off on our blue spot lit coach to Livingstone. Approximately 3 hours later we took a rest stop where women had to pay 2 kwacha to use the bathroom in comparison to the 1 kwacha fee for men!!!

Another 3 or so hours later we arrived at Fawlty Towers in Livingstone and settled in to our lovely rooms!

We had the luxury of eating out at a traditional African restaurant for dinner with a great BBQ selection and ice cream pudding! Everyone left full and ready for a good nights sleep!  

Day 8

This morning the team headed to Twitti school for the second and final day of the tournament. It was a complete contrast to the setting of the tournament yesterday at St Patricks. The tournament today consisted of each of the teams our groups have been coaching throughout the week. These included, Twitti, Yanos, Lilayi, Grand IQ as well as dancers from Guardian Angels who kicked off the tournament. There was a real buzz to the day with team supporters chanting and dancing around both pitches in support of their team. All teams worked extremely hard to perform to their best and this was very much evident through the tears and laughter that came with games won and lost. Again all our Esher team rocked hard together to organise and run a very successful event.

Georgia Mercer - "Today was tournament day number 2. Today's tournament was very different to yesterday. There were less people in the crowds but much more noise. The atmosphere was really incredible, there was so much passion from the children, the parents and the coaches. The fields were packed with teams in brightly coloured tshirts whooping and cheering. not forgetting the organisers and managers running around with stressed faces making sure everything is running smoothly. All their hard work paid off in the end to make a really fantastic day for the children and everyone else. Well done teams Grand IQ and Yanos!"

Megan Gregory - "The week has been tiring but fun. It was good to see all the training we've done with the children go into the tournament. It was sad to see the children who didn't win upset. But really nice to see Yanos (the poorer school) win against Twitti. The hardest part wasto see St Patricks yesterday, it was far more upsetting to see in person than on tv shows like Comic Relief. But really nice to talk to the families that lived there. Overall it was a really good experience and I won't forget it."

Miah Gayle - "It has been 8 days and I'm still having such a great time in Zambia. It was the last day to see the children and it was the last tournament. I had a lot of fun teaching the lovely children rugby and every time I see the children smile or winning a game, it really puts a big smile on my face. I wish I had more time with them because it made me realise how grateful I am and that I should appreciate that I have a nice place to live, going to school, medical care and people like my family that take good care of me. I really do think this trip has opened my eyes."

Hannah Lumsden - "Today was tournament number 2. We really enjoyed it and it was more exciting than yesterday because the teams that we playing were the teams we coached throughout the week. It was really nice to see all the children together, having fun, and competing against each other. It was also very emotional to say goodbye to them but we are all glad we have made a small impact on their lives."

Charlotte Wilsdon - "Despite the early start, today's tournament was an enjoyable day for everyone. Held at Twitti school, there was a competitive but supportive atmosphere, raising spirit throughout the day. It was great watching the matches as most of us knew the teams or players."

Catie Mackie - "Today was our last day and really put into perspective the difference we've made in the children's lives. Throughout the week, I've really been able to see how lucky we are at one compared to the children over here. I've been really fortunate and visited many of the schools we have been going to as well and it has also been very interesting to see the differences between the schools in virtually the same area. I've really loved being around the children, playing rugby and doing dance. I will never forget this week."

Olivia Koplick - "It was a day we had all been waiting for! The final tournament between the teams we had been coaching. The atmosphere was incredible as all the teams lined up to start the fixtures. The tournament began with the Guardian Angels children performing the dance we had recently taught them. This was a proud moment for all the dancers. Following this, the tournament kicked off with all the teams trying their hardest. To mine, Elisha and Megan's delight the Grand IQ team we had coached in the week got through to the semi finals of the bowl cup. Before the match, me and Elisha gave the team a prep talk and in the first 7minutes our team scored two try's. After winning the semi finals, the Grand IQ team went on to play Lilayi. The final had everyone holding their breath, watching mesmerised, crossing their fingers. Finally after a tense 14minutes, Grand IQ scored the final try and won the game! I felt so proud to see the children we had coached lift the trophy that they deserved!"

Katy Cooper - "Today was the second tournament which was held at Twitti school and had the teams which we had been coaching competing against each other. For the past few days we have been visiting Guardian Angels school teaching them a dance we had put together and today we performed it in front of everyone at the tournament. All our hard work paid off and it went really well. The whole tournament ran smoothly and it was great to see Yanos win!"

Day 7

I can't quite believe its been a week here in Zambia already. Today was the first day of the tournaments with the pre-trained teams competing. These were primarily schools that we visited during the week but haven't focused on as part of our daily tag rugby coaching sessions, as they have had training in previous years. These teams included Sosco, Guardian Angels and Chilanga. During the week, some of the groups have given these schools refresher coaching sessions to prepare them for the tournament today. Today's tournament was held at St Patricks, one of the poorer areas we have visited. Tomorrows tournament will see the schools our students have been coaching all week compete against each other at Twitti school. The atmosphere was fantastic, with crowds watching the games and cheering support. It was the first day out that all our team have worked together in the same place. The team will give you there account of the day from all different perspectives:

Rob Mackie - "Today was the first tournament day and I teamed up with Max to coach/manage an orphanage school, Guardian Angels who turned out to do very well. The tournament was in a small school called St. Patrick's which a leader and and I went to teach at yesterday. It was a dusty field with no grass but turned out to be an ideal location - within a community, as lots of supporters arrived to watch. The children in my team were amazing not only on but also off the pitch. It was a great feeling seeing the children smile as they played this new game and the disappointment at the end showed they really cared. It was a great day and I look forward to getting home to add some of the guys on Facebook!"

Daisy Murray - "today was the first tournament day. We went to St Patricks school and it was really fun. We set up three pitches and there was a total of 12 teams, which meant that only 6 teams could play at a time. When we were there some people were managing the teams and there were 2 managers per team. There were also the four pitch managers who were making sure that everyone was where they were supposed to be. Everyone else was on crowd control and or refereeing but I had my hands full with stopping children walking onto the pitch in the middle of play and trying to keep them a safe distance away from the try line so they wouldn't get hurt by the players when a try was scored. For the tournament we had to leave before 8am so we had to be completely ready by breakfast at 7am. Because we were doing the tournament all morning, we didn't want to eat in front of the children so we didn't have lunch until we were on the bus back to Baobab early afternoon. Today was really fun."

Leigh Heynike - "Today was our first tournament at St Patricks. To get to the field we had to walk through 'Real Africa' with mud huts and grass roofs. We were given teams to look after and Catie and I had Sosco 2. All the children were given matching t-shirts that they would later keep. It was so much fun cheering the children on and seeing the smiles on their faces. They could hardly believe it when they got to the final and then when they won 6-1 they were ecstatic! They ran to me and Catie with big smiles and hugs - it was amazing!"

Becky O'Brien - "Today was the first day of the tournaments. I didn't know what to expect it it was a very enjoyable day and the atmosphere was lively and the children were very excited. I felt proud watching the children play as they had made tremendous progress in the sport we had spent the past few days coaching them in and I can't wait for tomorrow."

Phoebe Eggar - "Today was really good. We ran the tournament. I volunteered to be a pitch manager and so had to go down early. The crowds at St Patricks were crazy, they were following the home team. The pitch was in the centre of a community, most of the houses were mud huts with straw roofs. The children from the community came in their hundreds and got in very close to the try lines. It was crazy hot and everyone came back exhausted!!"

Molly Read - "I had a great day today. This morning was slow because we left the college at 8am so we had to wake up early for breakfast at 7am. We left the college to go to St Patricks School to do a tournament with 12 teams from all the different schools. It was really fun, quite tiring. We were there for about 7 hours. I'm having fun with the children but it was sad when we had to say goodbye yesterday. It's a great experience."

Lara McIllwraith - "Today was the day that all the hours of coaching would pay off. Held by St Patricks school, the tournament took place in a small run down village in which the locals lived in huts. 12schools were involved in the tournament in the tournament and to ensure it ran smoothly we each had a different job. As well as refereeing a game, I had the role of managing a team along with Elisha. This job involved making sure all the subs were swapped in and making sure the team was playing on the right pitch at the right time. The day went really well and everyone had a great time."

Megan Houska - "Today we had a tag rugby tournament that we refereed and managed teams for. It was held at St Patricks school which was in a poor village we had to walk through. Each of us had different jobs. We all stood on the side of the pitch cheering the exams on. It was a good experience and it was great to see the children really happy."

Day 6

I think I can say that today was one of the hardest days of the trip so far. The team had to select their teams for the tournament and with these choices came the bitter disappointment for those that didn't make the team. It was also a day when our team had to say goodbye to many of the children they have been working with which I know is a really difficult thing to do when they have made such an impact on their lives in such a short space of time. Again I've asked each group to write about their experiences from the day:

Group 1:

Morgan Burne - "Today it was our last day at Twitti and to be honest it was quite hard. I was in charge of choosing the grade 4 team and let's say I got a lot of stick for it. Children came up to me afterwards wanting to know why they didn't make the team whilst I was coaching the grade 5 team. Overall it was a good tiring day but worth it as I won a 'BarOne'(Zambian equivalent to a mars bar) for telling the children who didn't make the team. Yay! Now everyone is tired but ready for the tournament."

Will Tonkin - "Today Max and I had to coach the 'elite' team. It was easy because most knew what they were doing. Half way through Max was deciding which player should stay or go and had left me to coach the group on my own. It was tough but at the end I felt good. Later we went to Grand IQ - lots of the children there were very excited. They love to have their photos taken and meeting new people. It was great!"

Group 2:

Megan Hedges - "Today we went to Lilayi. We chose the groups for the tournament which was stressful but fun. It was emotional and the hardest day so far especially to see all the children happy and enjoying themselves. I then made my way to Grand IQ. I have to say it was the funniest day of the week - I met a little boy who sang 'who let the dogs out' which was the cutest and funniest thing ever!"

Mackenzie Wright - "Today group 2 & 3 travelled to Lilayi for our final day of teaching and playing with the Yanos and Lilayi students. It was the most emotional and by far the hardest day so far, as we had to choose from the many students who will play in the tournaments on Friday and Saturday. It was a tiring day of constant coaching and organising, but it all proved of worth by the end of the day (despite frustration through it). It was sad to say goodbye to some of the children but it was still a great day."

Group 3:

Ben Jeffries - "Being the art day of coaching, it's sad to know we won't see some of these great children and teachers again. The happiness tag rugby gives these children is fantastic and it has been nice to see them grow over the week. I've felt I've become a much better coach as well. However today was very difficult as we chose our final teams for the tournament. Having to tell children they are not picked proved to be hard as hey all give 100% every time. It's nice working with children so enthusiastic."

Charlotte Scarfe - "Today was the last day of coaching before the tournaments. As well as it being really difficult to pick the teams and deal with the children who weren't picked, it was also the last time we would see most of the children at the school and after working there all week that was emotional. I have been working at Lilayi in in the morning each day and going in a smaller group to different schools each afternoon. I has been so lovely to meet all the different people and so interesting to see the different areas."

Group 4:

Lauren Gwynn - Today was our last day with a lot of the children and not forgetting my birthday of course! It has been a very emotional day saying goodbye to the children. Some of them made me cards and gave me little gifts that I'll keep forever. I am loving my time here and my favourite thing is making the children happy. I can't wait to see my African friends tomorrow. It has definitely been a birthday to remember!"

Brad Welfare - "For a lot of the children, this was our last day with them. So for all of us, especially the girls, it was very emotional. Another thing that made today very hard for some of us was picking the teams for the tournament tomorrow. Children would be crying and begging to get in to the team. I personally found it extremely hard to say no to them. Particularly ones I have bonded with. I'm looking forward to the rest of my time here, especially the tournaments. Zambia is great and I don't want to go at all."

Group 5:

Daniel Duckham - "Today was the most tiring day at Musvambra. Many of the children had only a basic understanding of the game from the day before. We moved on to Grand IQ where we were greeted by quite a few screaming children! Once through the crowds, we began our goodbyes by watching the main team play and watching the children dance to music."

Lydia Myatt - "Today was an emotional day saying bye to the children we became close to. Even though we may have been upset to leave them, the smiles on their faces made everything better knowing we've made a small change to their lives.  Apart from saying bye to them, I've enjoyed teaching Guardian Angels a dance throughout the past few days which they will be performing on Saturday."

Day 5

Another early rise took the children off to their designated schools for an intense day of coaching. They spent the morning sessions with their first schools and finished with their second schools in the afternoon. Once back at Baobab, the team participated in intensive coaching with the tag rugby coaches, to prepare for the next steps  in their final day of coaching tomorrow. The staff participated in their own mini touch rugby tournament with one team made up of two P.E teachers and a semi pro, verses two complete beginners and a retiree! The latter team obviously won!
Today saw real progress with each of the groups coaching - not only with the children being coached but also with our Esher High students improving as coaches. Each school being coached is very different to one another, bringing with it different experiences for our pupils. So here's a bit of an introduction to each of our host schools and how our students are making such a huge difference:

- Sosco
Sosco is the school we have been supporting for the past two years. During our visit so far, we have repainted two of their classrooms, provided them with donations and completed some tag rugby training. We are now looking toward building a project to put a bore hole on the school site.
Esher High support has been paying half the teachers wages for the past two years without which the school would have closed. It currently has 350 children on roll. This is where we have painted our rugby mural.

- Lilayi
This is the first year Lilayi has been involved on the tag rugby program. There are 1500 students on roll. During our week, there have at times been around 300 children out on the 'field' wanting to take part (and taking part) in the tag rugby games or various outdoor games (dancing/singing/throw and catch).

 

- Yanos
Located a short walking distance from Lilayi, Yanos has 3 basic classrooms with a breeze block construction - we have painted both inside and outside the school building. The school has no flooring and no plaster on the walls; it is a very basic structure. The school fees for primary education are 6kw per month (approximately 75p per month) and yet some parents can't afford it. Some of the teachers have been working on a voluntary basis for the past couple of months including the Head-teacher because donations haven't been made to pay their wages.



- Twitti
Twitti is an example of what can be done with sponsorship and donations. The building itself has been made entirely from donations by a Canadian High School. It has modern classrooms and flushable toilets rather than a hole in the ground. All children have a uniform. You would recognise Twitti as beng a primary school. This will be our tournament venue for Saturday.

- Chilanga
This is a government school drawing in government grants for the education of children there - the primary education is free (Community schools rely on donations). This is the only school in the local area that has a special needs department.

- Grand IQ
Grand IQ charges approximately 1000kw per term (equivalent to approximately £125). It has it's own school buses and the students English is very good from a very young age. Surprisingly, all children wear shoes/trainers to play rugby (unlike all the other schools we are working with who tend to play in bare feet)

- Guardian Angels
Another school we have supported since our first trip in 2009. The school currently has 400 students on roll of which 198 are single orphans, 100 are double orphans and 102 are vulnerable (which generally means their parent(s) are in the hospice next door). It's one of the schools we have always had the dance program in. Not only do our children coach the pupils but they also learn dance from the students there.

- St. Patricks
Situated close to the main road in one of the poorest compounds in the area. To get to the playing surface of red dust you have to walk through the local village where there are no proper houses, no sanitation, no water supply and no power. This will be our venue for the tournament on Friday.

Day 4

Today has been considerably warmer than yesterday with some of the team picking up some good colour. They all set off bright and early to their various placement schools to take part in some intensive coaching! As you will read from the guys today, there was an odd pink pudding following our dinner this evening which I can confirm is an African equivalent of angel delight! (Just to clarify the odd descriptions that will follow!!!) it's been a really successful day and all of our team have come back with smiling faces proud of their hard work. The mural (or memorial as Megan Hedges calls it!) at Sosco is coming along really well with a few new artists in the mix! I can honestly say I have fallen in love with Africa already and I think many of the children feel the same.... Here's today's stories.....

Group 1:

- Ben Carpenter "Today we all continued our coaching for tag rugby with the grade 4 and 5 children at Twitti School. Unlike yesterday, we taught them backwards passing and finished with a mini tournament. Later on we played some games with the students at Chilanga and the girls taught them dance. It was a fantastic day."

- Jasmine Balloch "Today group 1 continued our tag coaching at Twitti. We taught the grade 4 and 5 groups how to backward pass in a game situation. We were given fanta and biscuits afterwards unlike the groups at the other schools which made them quite jealous! Afterwards we got back on the minibus and a few of the group taught more tag rugby at Chilanga. The rest of us went to Sosco to teach tag rugby with smaller groups but myself and Megan H helped Miss Davies with the rugby player mural that we are painting. It was a really enjoyable day!"

Group 2:

- Michelle Oades "Today was amazing. I had so much fun. Me, Daisy and Molly worked together in the morning teaching the children. I think it went really well and the children loved it. They high-fived us and hugged us before we left. We then went to Yanos and taught some more children and that went well too. But I am now soooo tired!"

- Adam Price "Today was an amazing day, unbelievable. First of all I went to Lilayi, one of the poorest school out of all the ones we have visited. Me, Macca and Sarah taught around 40 children. However there were too many children for them to each have tag belts! It was insane the amount of children who were really excited to play, with massive smiles on all of their faces. Doing two sessions, each session being one and a half hours was so tiring, however it was an amazing experience seeing the joy on hundreds of deprived children's faces was amazing. After, we picked some of our group up from Twitti school, a richer private school, and it was unreal seeing the attitude of the children there - the poor-rich gap seems huge. We really do not know how privileged we are. 6 children in the space of 3 minutes asked me for my water, with hundreds around our big water container. Then we went to Sosco school and set up a mini tournament which I led. It was fantastic! They're so good as well - The experience there was just as good. We then joined in a game of football with 10 of the Zambian children our age, which was hilarious. Everyone is so fun and welcoming. 'The poorer the happier.'"

Group 3:

- Paige Griffin "Today we coached in Lilayi. It was hot and busy. Tag rugby started off slower but as the day progressed more and more children showed up. After coaching at Lilayi we went to Yanos and ate lunch with the children looking at us through the blinds of the window, giggling and whispering! After lunch we donated books and posters then got all the children from Yanos back to Lilayi to coach. Once we got there all the children from Lilayi joined in again making an extra 50 children to coach with less equipment. It was tiring but the hard work was great."

- Euan Wickan "Today we visited Lilayi and taught the children their tag rugby for about 3hours. Then we moved on to school just down the road that we had painted yesterday, to eat our lunch and pick up some more children for another hour of coaching. I have to say that it was near to complete chaos as about 50 more children turned up from nowhere, but it was still fun and really tiring!!!"

Group 4:

- Lily Harris "Today was a lovely day, sun shining and everything! We went back to Grand IQ and had the same group of children as yesterday. One of the girls I met was named Nelly and made me a letter and all the other girls in my group. It was so nice I wanted to cry. After we had finished, then we went to Chilanga for lunch and to teach dance. Me and Lara also got to see our friends we made yesterday. We had a dance off and they also braided my hair. I had such an awesome day."

- David Cohen "Today was an inspirational day, especially for me. I consider myself an African, coming from Cape Town. it was truly interesting for me to see how the other half live. A lot of the children came from having nothing, especially compared to our material wealth as westerners. Yet what they lack in possessions they have in soul. Our aim with this trip is to provide an experience for disadvantaged children which includes a tournament. Unfortunately a select few can participate, which makes it harder for us to make decisions to make a difference in people's lives. This experience of the hardship is truly making me reassess my current lifestyle."

Group 5:

- Katy Cunningham "Today we had our second session with Grand IQ. We carried on with our coaching but we started picking the best players to play together. After coaching we had our lunch at Chilanga and once again all the children followed us. Some of the dancers then went to Guardian Angels and we taught them one of our routines. They then amazed us in a freestyle circle. After a long day we all came back and went in the freezing cold pool, well actually most of us got thrown in. For dinner we had a really nice stew and a very strange sloppy pudding. I'm looking forward to tomorrow because I can't wait to progress more with the children."

- George Holland "Today we visited Grand IQ school and taught tag rugby again. We also began to select our team for the upcoming tournament. After leaving there at midday we went to Chilanga school and taught more tag rugby. It was quite challenging to teach them because they didn't speak very good English. When we arrived back at Baobab some of us went for a cold swim. We then had a delicious stew for dinner and a funny looking but tasty pudding. I'm looking forward to bed now!!!"

Day 3

Today has been considerably cooler than yesterday. With each group heading off in different directions, it is difficult to give a thorough overview of the days events, so I've enlisted some helpers to tell our story:

Representing Group 1:

- Lydia Allen "Today was the first day of our tag rugby coaching. We travelled to the private school Twitti and quickly introduced ourselves to the 40 young children. We split them into 4 groups and started off the coaching for the week. After an hour and a half, another group of older and more experienced children came to play. When we finished coaching, a few of us were bundled to the floor, especially the blonde haired girls, by the hundreds of young children. Finally we were introduced to the Headmaster of the school who gave us some nice drinks and biscuits. Overall today's experience was fantastic and I loved how we made a million new best friends and look forward to the week to come."

-Max Fenwick "Today we travelled from our hotel to a private school called Twitti to teach and coach 2 groups of children. We taught 9 year olds to 11 year olds, 10 in each group. We coached the younger children first and they were really enthusiastic. An hour and a half later we coached another group of older children who were more experienced. When we finished we were surrounded by about 100 children asking to hold our hands. I can't wait to see them tomorrow, especially 2 boys who I bonded with quickly."

Group2:

- Louis Clissold (group 2) and Matt Hart (group4!)

The boys have created a video entry but I've spent the past hour attempting to upload it with no success. I will keep trying this evening....

- Laura Dufour "Today we went to some of the poorer schools. I found it hard knowing how much we all have compared to them and knowing small things for us are massive to them. We spoke to the bishop of the school and said "we're human too and no one thinks about us" which hit us all hard. He said that some families have nothing so have more children but then can't provide for them. When we went into the schools we we swarmed by children who hugged us and pinned us to the ground and were amazed by the sight of a camera. I feel like we made a massive difference by painting the school and I just want to do so much more. It makes me sad how we can't help them all. Just knowing how my old clothes, books, pencils and stuff could improve their lives so much makes me extremely grateful."

Group 3:

- Amy Lowe "Today we went to two schools called Yanos and Lilayi. Yanos is one of the poorest schools we a going to work in which made it very emotional for all of us to experience the contrast between their lives and ours. We spoke to the bishop at this school too and he was explaining just how much they were struggling and that they were very grateful for us helping them to teach the children tag rugby and also paint their classrooms and blackboards. We then visited the children in Lilayi and were bombarded with lots of hugs from the children - they were particularly excited to take loads of photos with us on our cameras! We made lots of new friends today and it felt really rewarding to have made a difference to their lives."

- Sam Creasey "We started today by painting the outside of Yanos School, are painting the inside the previous day. After that half of the group went to teach half of the children, whilst the rest of us continued painting. Once we had finished painting, the other half of the group went to the place where the tag rugby was being taught. The children were so friendly and enthusiastic and enjoyed having their pictures taken. At the end of the session the Zambian children formed a dance circle and took turns in going in the middle and dancing."

Group 4: 

- Megan Little "Today I headed back to Sosco school with Miss Davies, Matt and Dan. The boys carried on painting inside the classrooms whilst Miss Davies and I carried on with the mural we had been creating the previous day. The mural is of rugby player's silhouettes and we are painting it on the schools outside wall, directly underneath their school sign. I started off painting the the first player whilst Miss Davies finished drawing the other two. During our visit we were approached by many children who were eager to chat to us and ask us lots of questions! I even got the chance to meet another Megan who lives near Sosco! Once I'd finished one player I started painting another and then the boys came out to help.......that was a mistake! After about two minutes there was red paint splodged down one of the players and Matt claimed it was blood from a players injury......Miss Davies didn't agree! At about 4pm we headed home and we are planning to return another day to finish off the mural for the children."

- Matt Hart (see group 2 with Louis)

Group 5: 

- Matt Wettach "We started off the day by waking up at 6:45. After a good breakfast, we left to our first school to coach. When we arrived (at Grand IQ) we set up our pitches and waited for the children, and you might think England is windy but that is nothing like it was this morning! The children were up for everything we threw at them and seemed to love what we were teaching them. They have got to be the most enthusiastic and happiest children I have ever met. Some of them had played tag rugby before and some hadn't but they all tried their hardest and ended the day with a smile on their faces. I was a bit disappointed when I got out sprinted by an 8 year old, but oh well! In the afternoon, me and Daniel went to Sosco school and put the second layer of paint on the room we painted yesterday. While we painted we had children at the windows asking 'how are you?' For two hours straight - very distracting but it is really nice to have conversation with them. When we arrived back at Baobab, I just crashed on the couch and waited for dinner!"

- Betty Trounce "Today we started off with an early start and headed straight to a school called Grand IQ around 8:30. Coaching the children was amazing! I became very close with these 2 adorable girls Mondanna and Beatrus, one in year 6 I think and the other in year 3. The wind was so strong! The children loved the games we taught them. After, we visited another school to coach and teach dance. Some of the children enjoyed it and understood it so well! Others got confused. Seeing the children smiling was wonderful. So many were constantly wanting hugs and to be picked up. It was so cute. The food here is actually quite nice! We have a common room where we all chill out and talk or play pool, watch tv, or play ping pong. It's amazing to know we are changing the lives of some young children."

Day 2

This morning saw us filled again with a cooked breakfast and the team was divided into two groups. One half of the team headed to Yanos school to paint the classrooms which proved to be a hard task given how uneven and rough the walls were. But it definitely helped to improve the overall feel of the rooms. Our students were supported by local children keen to help too. Meanwhile the other team remained at Baobab for the morning session to do some tag rugby training in preparation for the weeks coaching. This ended with a mini tournament between the four sub groups. A cracking win from team green (!!!!) 

The tag team then headed to Sosco in the afternoon (the school we have supported in previous visits) to repaint the classroom walls and make a start on our rugby themed mural. Similarly to the Yanos team, we were greeted overwhelmingly with local children interested in what we were doing! 

The Yanos team returned to Baobab via Sosco (for a quick visit) in the afternoon to complete their tag rugby training. Like  the morning group this ended with a mini tournament. A win for team blue. 

Late afternoon, many of the team hit the pool again to enjoy the evening sun (although I remain unconvinced that the pool temperature is particularly enjoyable!) 

Tomorrow we will be commencing our official tag rugby and dance coaching with the zambian children; today's events have really created a good buzz and sense of excitement for the week ahead. 

Day 1

The team arrived at Lusaka airport bright and very early this morning at around 6am local time. We were warmly welcomed by the cabin crew upon arrival, with the on-board speaker system commending Esher High Students on their behaviour and wishing us all a wonderful stay. A proud moment for the staff!!
Once finally through passport control we were surprisingly chilled by the cool morning weather! However over the course of the day this has significantly warmed up! We arrived at Baobab College in very good time and settled into rooms. Brunch was served at 11 and we were set for a visit to each of the schools we will be working with over the coming week.
First visit was to Lilayi and then Yanos. Both quite stricken with poverty. Our students were swiftly surrounded by fascinated local children who were keen to high five us! We will be returning to Yanos school tomorrow morning to paint the building with the children's uniform colours.
Next stop was Twitti school, which is comparatively very well built and kept -almost a hidden oasis. The next stop was to Grand IQ, before setting off back to Baobab College, our home for the first week.
A few hours of relax-time quickly turned to shrill sounds of laughter launching into the cold outdoor pool under the afternoon sun.
All are now settling for the evening with mugs of tea and Zambia hoodies!
A fantastic start to the adventure...

And so it begins....

The team are at the airport and ready to board. Zambia are you ready for us?!