Be the change you want to see in the world

I’ve had a total brain freeze, trying to write about the Livingstone part of my trip. Not quite sure why, there was just something that didn’t fit right, from the very beginning, which is probably why I had that major breakdown on the first day. (Have I mentioned I’d been 4 days without Internet too?)
What I had anticipated being one of the highlights of the project - being involved in different activities every afternoon and different aspects of the medical project every morning - turned out to be the biggest disappointment for me. I found there was not the time to become really involved with the activities, leaving me wondering what it was all about and unfulfilled. I think these medical and community projects are better suited to the younger generation, they're more use to having things dropped in their laps and being told to 'get on with it' without to much in the way of direction or input from the coordinators. Make it up as you go, is not something I'm use to! The 'kids' as I called them, were all either already in teaching or medical posts, or hoping to get into university using the volunteer work as a stepping stone. Most wondered what and why I was there; what did I think I had to offer, a few questioned. Life experience was all I could answer.



left to right  - Toby, Ferdinand, (back) Rachel & myself, Tobias, Benny, Kristrin, (mid row) Inge, Calib, (front) Sophie, Michelle, Antionia, Megan and Erin



So, please remember this is written from my feelings about my experience and I’m sure not all the volunteers would see things the same. I certainly don’t want to put off anyone from volunteering with African Impact and I might even consider doing so again, but perhaps with different projects. Any and all help that is given through these projects, is I’m sure, greatly appreciated by the locals.

The Sunday that Helen and Chrispine dropped me off, I was greeted by Brie, she’s the volunteer coordinator for the project. She showed me my room, a bit of the volunteer house and pretty well said, there you go, I’ll catch up with you tomorrow! No introduction to other volunteers, nothing! Rather felt I’d been hung out to dry, so to speak. But - Monday’s are their orientation day and when people are supposed to arrive, so I suspect I was considered an early arrival and would be left to my own devises, like anyone else arriving at Backpackers. It was a rather large shock though. I did some unpacking in my cell size room, which happened to contain 2 bunk beds, which I am pleased to say, weren’t in use. Inge (from Denmark) arrived on Monday and she and I had the room to ourselves, thank goodness. I can’t imagine how uncomfortable it would have been with 2 more bodies crammed in!  As it was, we had to wash our own under garments, so they would be strung around the room, most of the week, then there was the consideration of bag storage and not much area to put out your day necessities; to say it was rather cramped, not to mention hot is an understatement. Most of the other rooms were larger and had their own bathrooms, but also had more people, so  it was a bit of give and take, I suppose. Truth be told, after the first night, I took to sneaking out and sleeping in the living room area every night, as it was much cooler and I didn’t have to worry about waking Inge up during my nightly forays to the washroom, or my early rising. I found I liked to get up about an hour earlier than everyone, just to give myself time to wake up and get orientated for the day. Think that’s an age thing, needing extra time to get mobilized in the mornings…the kids seem to be able to bounce up and be ready in no time.

 my bunk bottom right





The African Impact staff consisted of Erin, who I quite liked, but found less than enthusiastic about the projects, Brie as mentioned above, who said less than 10 words to me during my stay, Hannah, an unpaid intern for the Happy Africa Foundation, a very sweet young lady and Rachel, the office manager who stopped and talked with me frequently and tried to make sure I was holding up. What I found a bit disturbing was that all these ladies were from Canada, UK and Australia. There were the cooks, cleaners and drivers that were 'local' folks, but no one in authority was a local. It bothered me that only ‘outsiders’ were running the projects and deciding what projects to take on, rather than the people who actually live in the area who would know better what would help in those localities. I found the 'locals' who worked for the project (Brave, our medical leader, who quickly took me under his wing, was amazing, Benny & Yuyi our drivers and support team, were the best, and then, there were the ladies Sharon & Enest who not only came out on some of the projects with us, but also helped in the cleaning and cooking at the volunteer house) absolutely wonderful and very open to new ideas, but when I attempted to bring up some of these ideas for future projects to the AI staff, they were less than receptive. Also a factor, was that none of the people who work for African Impact, work at that particular project for more than a year and a half (worried about burn-out, which I think may have been part of Brie’s problem), so it must be really difficult to keep the continuity of the projects going.  Different people with different ideas, coming and going frequently, must have quite an impact. Personally, I found the projects (for the most part) poorly run, lacking that overall continuity, under and poorly supplied and generally they had a feeling of (I’m looking for the right word here) dare I say neglect? Uncaring/over stressed, untrained, volunteers, left to make up their own curriculum for the different projects, to me, made the projects have less impact. 

I think most people do volunteer work because they have that want and need to help others, to make a difference, but also because it gives them a feeling of fulfillment;  I had no feeling of fulfillment at the end of my two weeks.   I’m still feeling that I didn’t accomplish a thing, didn’t make any difference in any lives, even my own. Sad to say, but truthful.  I think, perhaps it had a lot to do with only being there for the 2 weeks; a longer stay may have been more beneficial for us all; I was just starting to get the feel of things, when it was time to move on.

The Resource room where we would collect our equipment for the projects

the library



The board that told us our weekely rotations



sports equipment

files for areas visited and medical equipment