Ruben bloggar frå turar, innland og utland: My first week working!

A Zambian course participant suddenly said something in Norwegian!

Finally I got to do some work!! And it is meaningful and fun. This week, from Monday to Thursday I've been holding a 4 day course at Olympic Youth Development Centre here in Lusaka, our participants are peer-leaders working for NGOs (Non-government organization) like EduSport, Sport in Action etc. I, Ralph and another German called Wilfred was the course leaders. We are holding the course about Kids’ Athletics, without making it specialized. It was a fun week, and the peer-leaders had their “exam” today arranging a sports day for kids where they made competitions without using bought equipment (so they had to use things they find in the streets and in the bin). The most interesting day was, without doubt, today. We had to meet up at 10AM and the peer-leaders had to bring 50 kids, which of course was at some extend delayed. The plan was that they had 2 hours to set up the 5-6 events with the sticks and boxes they had found and prepared the day before. The field was ready, but the kids weren't. We didn't start until 1 PM, and there were a few big confusions in the beginning. The sand storm which went through the equipment didn't help either. After an hour of activity, we had seen 30 minutes of chaos and 30 minutes of well-organized activity for the kids. Afterwards we had a dinner and a ceremony for the kids who participated, and the peer-leaders who completed the course.

Next week we will do the same course, but for PE teachers in Lusaka. The plan is that I will travel to the Copperbelt (North), Eastern-, Western- and Southern- Province to do this course for other sports leaders. I am very excited about this, and I hope I will see a lot of Zambia, as well as teaching the leaders how to train the kids in a fun and varied way without fancy sophisticated equipment. There is a lot of raw talent in Zambia, so maybe, with these competitions we had today, we will spot talent and give them better opportunities for the future.

This course is also good to organize a competition for kids who got nothing (no stadium, track or equipment) who maybe normally would stroll the streets instead of doing sports.