Week One in Zambia: Education

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Hi friends,

For those who may not know, this summer I am in Zambia for my internship. My classmates and I landed on May 12. Zambia has welcomed us with crazy drivers, friendly people, and beautiful weather.

So, what am I doing this summer?

We have the opportunity to work with two different community schools, one with a church and one with a nonprofit named Impact One Initiative. In addition, once a week we are helping at the local Bible University and are preaching at a local church every other week.

This first week has highlighted the immense need in Zambia. While working in the community schools we saw firsthand the education system. There are three modes of schooling in Zambia: private, government, and community schools. Private and government schooling have high fees that most Zambians cannot afford. As result, this encouraged locals to create community schools. These schools are often taught by teachers who themselves have little education. In addition, the schools are not funded and have little to no resources or curriculums. Zambian education looks like teachers copying from a textbook onto the board so students will copy it unto their notebooks. This method of teaching does not foster critical thinking or ensure the students’ understanding.

Our first two workdays were at the community school that is run through a local church. We had no expectations of how the school was structured, how many teachers there were, how many students, or if we were teaching on the first day. We walked into this blind.

What greeted us were 40 energetic kids eager for attention and education. The months we spent in preparation have led up to this moment. We smiled and did our best to share the love of Christ with them.

The kids sit in white plastic chairs facing a wooden board. Their curriculum

comes from decade old booklets with torn or missing covers. As I have previously mentioned,

although the students take notes, they most likely do not understand what they are writing. This absolutely shocked

us. The students may have great handwriting explaining the difference between a proper noun and a common noun but if you ask them what word they have written, they don’t know. These first few days had me feeling overwhelmed and defeated.

I ended the second day in tears. As I read books and pointed out words with the third graders, I realized they did not even know their alphabet. I knew before coming to Zambia that the country has a poor education system but seeing it firsthand absolutely wrecked me. As we said our goodbyes, multiple children looked up at us pleading for us to come back. I looked them in their eyes in awe of how swiftly they loved us. Once we got into the car to leave, I immediately started crying. The car ride back was filled with a swirl of emotions and thoughts:

What am I supposed to do about this?

I am only here for a short amount of time; how can I possibly make an impact on these children?

Am I even skilled to teach?

I would give up so much just for these kids to get a proper education.

It’s hard not to remain constantly saddened by the fact that this one community school, this school that has 40 children, is a normal example of what the rest of Zambia is like. Driving past children and homes I wonder what the chances are they knew how to read… It’s not just Zambia that’s like this, it’s also other countries, not just in Africa, but throughout the world.

I gave all these emotions and questions to God.

I sit in the truth that God knows these people, just as he knows me. Just as he met Hagar in the desert. God knows each and every one of those students more than I ever will. God has a plan for them. These people are not forgotten by God. He has never forgotten anyone.