Ashley Stevens in Lusaka
Ashley Stevens from Landau, Germany, worked as a volunteer for the Franciscans in Lusaka, Zambia from August to October 2018.
She taught at a variety of schools supported by the Umckaloabo Foundation. Ashley Stevens taught ICT (information & computer technology) at a secondary school in Chipata Compound as a volunteer in a project that is led by Sister Loice Kashangura in Zambia and supported by the Umckaloabo Foundation.
“When I first heard I was supposed to teach mostly ICT, I panicked,” said Ashley. After all, she was not a computer expert; she was studying to become a German and English teacher in Landau, Germany. But her students in Lusaka had basically no access to computers and had so little experience with them that Ashley’s self-taught basic skills and user knowledge were enough to convey the fundamentals at the two secondary schools in the Compound.
Chipata Compound
The Chipata Compound is a part of town in Lusaka which can be compared to a slum. Due to migration from rural areas, the city has grown very rapidly in recent decades. In particular, the settlements of ramshackle housing have expanded more and more along the outskirts of the city.
Ashley herself lived with a host family at the compound, where she gained unfiltered and good-natured insights into the customs and community on site, such as when she wore a kitenge, a colorful wrapped cloth. With the family’s daughters she learned to cook on a kind of grill as the Zambians do. She was well received and quickly learned a few sentences of Chinyanja so she could communicate more easily.
What the day brings
“In the mornings, I usually don’t know what the day will bring other than classes.” For example, Ashley accompanied Sister Mary during her visits to local companies which support the projects by donating money or meals; she also helped prepare material for class. In addition, she took care of the Franciscans’ homepage.
How did a student teacher from Landau, Germany find herself in the poorest parts of Lusaka? “Through my mom, actually,” says Ashley Stevens. Her mother had suggested that she spend her semester abroad volunteering for an Umckaloabo Foundation project rather than studying at a foreign university.
New experiences
Ashley was glad she overcame her initial concerns and pursued this unusual path. She returned to Germany with the warmth of people in Lusaka in her heart, critical views of life in Germany, and a new perspective on the world.
She also learned to improvise. For example, once she found herself in charge of all 140 fifth-graders at the school and was supposed to spend two hours showing them how to use a cursor and navigate – without a computer room. This was certainly a useful exercise for a teacher in training.
Are you also interested in volunteering in Zambia?
To date, Sister Loice has had very good experiences with volunteers from Germany. Have we perhaps stirred your interest? Maybe you too have been thinking about becoming involved in a project related to development aid, such as those run by the Umckaloabo Foundation.