Week Four and Life in Zambia Continues to Suprise Me

Just like that another week in Zambia has passed and I'm fast approaching the one month mark. To try and sum up this past week would take many words but there are three days and experiences I would like to highlight.

Alice and I with the Zambia Women's U20s National Team

On Thursday I was invited to attend and help coach the Zambian Women's U20s National Team at the Olympic Youth Development Centre. Often our days here are spent out in the communities, working in the schools at the heart of where it's most needed and most valued. Yet I welcomed the chance to get a glimpse of the 'elite' end of sport, not only for the chance to help coach but also to gain a greater understanding of the wider sphere of sport within Zambia. I loved the experience but also found it interesting to see how a national team operated and delivered it's programme. In addition to this, my Bristol Academy teammate Alice Evans also attended the session simply to observe but on arrival found herself introduced to the Head Coach and directed to the goalkeepers where she was expected to deliver a session for at least 90 minutes. Suppose if you're ever going to pushed outside your comfort zone that was it, thrown in straight at the deep end but a session she will never forget.

Cooking Shepherd's Pie on the BBQ at British Night

On Friday evening we hosted our British Night. This is always a highlight of IDEALS when we invite all of the Peer Leaders and Sport in Action staff over to our house for a traditional British meal. We opted to serve Shepherd's Pie, sausages and mash, jacket potatoes with cheese and beans, pasta bake and vegetables. For dessert we made jelly and ice cream and apple crumble. The food was prepped, house tidied and all that needed doing was a few last final bits and re-heating of the food. However Lusaka had different plans and a power cut from 2pm until about 8pm meant we had to wing it and cook most of it on the BBQ... Who knew shepherd's pie could be reheated on the BBQ?! It probably shouldn't be but we did and we've yet to hear any bad stories of food poisoning or dodgy stomachs so all in all it was a success :) hosting 20 plus guests in addition to the team of 15 was challenging but overall I would say we nailed it given the situation!! 

Katy in the Millennium Radio Studios in Lusaka

Alice's and my visit to the OYDC on Thursday generated quite some media attention and we featured in Friday's Zambia Times newspaper. Also today I spent the morning at Millennium Radio for an interview. On arrival at Findeco House we ventured to Floor 23 and found the home of one of Zambia's radio stations. Through football I've attended quite a few radio interviews but nothing quite like this; the presenter turned up at 10am when the show was about to start, a brief introduction followed as we explained IDEALS, UK Sport and why we were in Zambia and soon we found ourselves in the studio. Although rather make shift with foam insulated walls, I was pretty impressed with the set up and the presenter's genuine interest about why we were in Zambia. Katy, one of the student volunteers, accompanied me to the studio and soon found herself on the Saturday Sports Panel alongside myself and an athletic's coach. A half hour interview about IDEALS, Sport in Action, football, coaching, sport in England, Zambian food and music, my football career and even the Women's World Cup followed as we chatted LIVE on air. Hopefully it's helped raise the profile of our work in Zambia especially as this is the tenth year and will further helped generate a wider interest in all of the fantastic work Sport in Action (one of our partner NGOs in Zambia) do. 

The presenter was that impressed with us that we've been asked to attend his sports show live on Zambian TV tomorrow evening which was more than quickly agreed too. Opportunities like this, although a great experience for us, will hopefully only help generate interest in all the sport for development work happening in Zambia highlighting the valuable impact UK Sport, International Inspiration and Sport in Action have in the communities throughout.

I can't believe I've nearly been here a month but as you can tell I am absolutely loving it. The weeks are jam packed full of memorable experiences, and I have plenty more to share already so watch this space.