It is with heavy hearts that we now have to say goodbye to our two Youth Sport Exchange Program (YSEP) volunteers, Bakari Swalehe and Henry Edvardsen. These two have added a tremendous amount to the Response Network family as well as their host families and the communities they have worked in. We have had the pleasure of working with our two YSEP volunteers for 10 months now and the old adage of time flying when you’re having fun could not be any truer (is that a word?) However, they leave us with many memories of shared trials and tribulations as well as even more memories of laughter and camaraderie. We caught up with Henry and Bakari to give us a few (not so few) words on their experience in Zambia and in the program.
Bakari gave us a walk through his YSEP experience:
Response network has shown full cooperation during my stay here in Zambia by supporting me in all my activities. They have also involved me in the bi-weekly staff meetings and the field activities gave me more experience with the community.
1) SOCIAL LIFE:
When I first arrived at my host village of Simango, I found it quite difficult to get acclimated for a few days because of the language barrier, but the community gave me a lot of support and helped me adapt to the new culture.
2) WHAT AM I DOING?
A) WORK LIFE
In the village, I conduct PE sessions and science clubs and activities such as hosting tournaments such as the anniversary tournaments to commemorate RN’s anniversary as well as participating in workshops such as the volunteer orientation workshops.
B) SOCIAL LIFE
Conducting of training sessions to the seven local clubs which surround the village (Simango).
3. CHALLENGES
A) WORK LIFE
In the beginning, the students at the school didn’t have too much motivation in sports because they did not have the PE sessions at school, but I never gave up and put in even more effort in sports activities and I also asked for support from the teachers around the school.
4. ACHIEVEMENTS
A) WORK LIFE
At the school, students became more motivated in sports activities, and I had very good cooperation with the teachers and parents.
Formation of science clubs at the school to motivate the students to engage in the science subjects, improvements in writing the reports.
My ten-month stay here was a positive experience for me in terms of gaining more experience and making new friends as well as getting to know a new culture and its all thanks to response network.
We also caught up with Henry and he gave us a little snippet of his thoughts and experiences:
When I was first asked to write this post, I had a hard time finding the right words. It can be a depressing task to write a summary of your stay somewhere, especially when you’ve come to love the place. Then I remembered one of the many lessons I’ve learnt during my stay here; keep it simple.
I’m supposed to tell you about an experience, a moment, or the things I’m going to miss the most when I leave Siakasipa. Before I go on to do that, I would like to tell everyone I’ve had the pleasure of meeting during my stay here – everyone at the organization, my fellow YSEPs, everyone at every village I’ve visited the past nine months – you have probably changed me in ways I’m not even aware of yet; thank you.
So what will I miss the most? What will always be at the back of my mind when I hear Zambia? There has been countless of once-in-a-lifetime-experiences; like a very unpleasant encounter with a lovesick zebra, or witnessing total euphoria in Siakasipa as our football team won the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace-tournament (do you still have any breath left after reading that name?).
Still, as departure day gets closer by the minute, I already miss the more everyday-experiences. Like ending a long day with a cup of coffee in the company of my host-family under the truly amazing Zambian night-sky. Whenever I sit like this, I think of a slogan I’ve seen somewhere in town; who needs five-star luxury, when you can have millions of the real thing? It’s easy to get a little philosophical under such surroundings, and I’ve learnt a lot from my late night coffee-talks with the Simusuka-family. Like keeping it simple.
