A week of two halves

My guest coaching appearance in Munali on Tuesday

This past week has been a tale of two halves but both equally as amazing as each. At the start of the week all of the students spent three days on placement, at their sites delivering PE lessons, coaching sessions and workshop to the communities they work in. On Monday I visited the Special School in Chinama, which both the Munali and Mtendre placement students cover. This was definitely one of my highlights of the week as the evident power of sport was visible and the opportunity to work with us was valued more than ever. Often, both here in Zambia and in the UK, sport and opportunities such as those offered through IDEALS are given to able-bodied students and through mainstream education, where it can be taken for granted and under-valued. Yet those with special educational needs are often excluded and missed out and never given the chance to fully enjoy all that sport has to offer. And my visit to the special school further highlighted the importance and value that should be placed on ensuring all individuals, in whatever walk of life are given the chance to enjoy sport. On arriving at the school, we were welcomed with open arms with smiling faces running and jumping on us because they simply wanted a hug. The session we delivered was shaped all around using a parachute and each and every child in that lesson was smiling throughout and loved the chance just to play and do something so simple yet something they’ve probably never been given the chance to do. I have probably never left a place feeling more loved than I did here and I will 100% be making the time to go back and visit.

Victoria Falls in all its beauty

In the latter part of the week we all travelled to Livingstone for a long weekend off and a chance to explore and see another part of Zambia. Although this part of the week differs greatly from what we are all here in Zambia to do, I think it acts as a fantastic opportunity to take some time off, relax, and more importantly experience another incredible part of Zambia; the Victoria Falls. It was amazing to see so many of the students step outside of their comfort zone and do things they had never done before such as bungee jump off Victoria Falls Bridge and white water rafting down the Zambezi. Plus many got to go on a safari in Botswana, walk with lions and go on a sunset cruise. I decided to join in with the white water rafting on Saturday and despite experiencing my first ever genuine near death experience I loved every moment but will probably never do it again. On Sunday I treated myself the opportunity to go and walk with lions and it was amazing. To not only see such incredible creatures so close up but to be able to touch them and walk with them was definitely something I will never forget. Despite looking terrified in the photos I can promise you I was very much enjoying it! This was my third visiting Victoria Falls and it’s fair to say the place still blows me away. It is nature at its very best and

Walking with Lions (I promise I am not as scared as I look!)

I think I could easily sit and admire it all day long.

The IDEALS programme is an international initiative of UK Sport, supported by International Inspiration (IN) and delivered in partnership with the Wallace Group of universities and is designed to provide an incredible opportunity to allow UK students the chance to develop themselves and their employability through a peer to peer sports-based programme and this past week demonstrated two examples of this. Both the tireless work the students do daily in the communities and the weekend in Livingstone have given everyone the chance to gain a greater understanding of Zambia, learn more about themselves professionally and personally and has allowed us as a group to grow closer than ever. We may only be three weeks in but I am already so proud of each student currently in Zambia with me. They give their all each day to the children they work with and they are genuinely changing lives; As they give they are getting so much more back in return, so much they would never have expected and this in itself highlights why IDEALS is such a fantastic programme that I would recommend to all!

The sun setting over the Zambezi River.
This Is Africa!