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"I never knew of a morning in Africa when I woke up that I was not happy"

Ernest Hemingway

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Day 17 - Last Day

Hey folks,

Today is the last day! I can't say it's welcomed, but I have missed the dogs and everyone back home. Our plan for today has been very loose; we just had to go into the Edusport office to say our final goodbyes and pick up the Alive & Kicking footballs.

I had arranged to meet Godfridah in the morning, so that I could say thank you for the experience and opportunity to work with her & just say goodbye. It was really nice catching up with her, seeing as we had been away all week so far. We went down to Kabwata Cultural Village, which is just a little area of tepee market stalls; selling art, crafts and chatengis. It was really nice in the village and it's completely different to the feel of the markets in the towns. The stall holders are more relaxed, although there were still a few who tried to usher you into their space to show you their crafts. It's hard to explain the crafts to you because everything is so individual to each stall. The majority have little wooden figures of rhinos, hippos, elephants and the occasional giraffe. These always look really well made, especially the smaller ones as they are so intricate.

From the Cultural Village we went the opposite direction, past the Edusport office and into Kabwata market. We were just coming in to get some frittas for everyone back at the office. We started our time in Zambia with some frittas, so we decided to end our time in Zambia with some frittas. We actually got fresh ones today; straight out the cooking oil. They were awesome!! Back at the office everyone had some, then we did our goodbyes. Godfridah left before we did, so I got to say goodbye to her but plan to keep in touch on Facebook. How awesome is the internet?! Brilliant!!! We had to say goodbye now to two amazing Go Sisters; Sharon and Annie. They both said see you soon, which I think is awesome because who wants to say goodbye? And I totally will see then again!!

We came back to the hostel to chill for a bit, before heading into town. We had to meet Sharon and Annie to get the Alive & Kicking balls as they were being delivered to Edusport. In town we were picking up a t-shirt from a shop that Lyson had ordered it in & searching for a Zambian football top for me.Kingsley came with us and negotiated with the stall holder to get my football shirt! It looks so smart! Just need to get Coach Bupe on the back now and I'll be good to go! We had no luck getting the t-shirt Lyson had orderd, but we did catch up with Annie & Sharon again before leaving town. These ladies are just amazing. Both said see you next time, hope it's not too long and thanked me for visiting their country. The hospitality of this country and these people is amazing. It still surprises me and makes me feel really priveledged to have had the opportunity to be in such an awesome country.

Tonight we chilled out at the backpackers, with Kingsley and with Greg. We played a few games of pool... all of which I lost & we played a game of team chess. Fiona and Greg (Greg can't play) and Kinglsey & me... and neither of us can play. Somehow Kings and I ended up winning- crazy eh?! Was a brilliant night & a great way to round off this undescribable experience.

The flight is early tomorrow morning, like 8am so that's me signing off until I'm back in the UK.

That's all folks!

Coach Bupe :) x

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Starting with the National U17 girls team training, then the hand over of books, some fun in Bauleni & then in the pool.

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Day 16

Hey folks,

We’re now into our last few days in Zambia, so today we had a few things to get through before leaving! We started at the Edusport office before heading out to OYDC! We were taking 400 books out to OYDC for their literacy program. There was some confusion regarding the time we were to meet the director, so we got to sit & watch the under 17 national ladies train! They were really good! The squad was massive because they were doing trials, so the efforts of the girls were top class! There was one player who was not only particularly striking as a player, but she was also a Muslim! It was amazing to see a Muslim girl getting the opportunity to be involved in the national squad! It was easy to see why; she was scoring goals, pushing back down the line to support the defence & pushing the ball up the park completely unselfishly! She was a fantastic footballer and an even more inspirational role model to other Muslim women and girls! When we met with the director he had organised a team of young people to receive the books & the media were there to get an interview & some photos for the paper! Fiona was interviewed by Movi TV, as were a few of the young people with their books. The young people who spoke were so appreciative of the books we had given them & really seemed to be enjoying reading them. After OYDC we were heading to Bauleni to see the BUSA team for one last time. I wasn’t looking forward to this because Fred & the rest of the team had made us feel so welcome! Having had my team in Bauleni for the football tournament I felt quite attached to Bauleni. It’s such a welcoming place. While there there was some corf ball going on with a peer leader, there were majorettes practising and there were some kids playing football; both with leather balls & chimpombwas. We said our goodbyes to the guys there & came back to the hostel. Me and Fiona were in the pool for a little bit; just for a photoshoot for Educate, Empower, Inspire! It was really cold in the pool!! We just chilled here tonight and contemplated our final day tomorrow!

That’s all folks!

:) x

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Day 15

Hey follks,

Today we were leaving Livingstone to come back to Lusaka. Our bus was booked for 13hours, so we spent the morning in the Curio Park Market bartering for a good sale. I'm pretty good at this whole bartering business. I could have probably sold the market holders some stuff! the market was really nice; they always have hand crafted figures of animals and some of the stalls have paintings. We actually seen a guy painting a canvas as we walked past. This one was different from the rest- it was more modern and didn't have the usual landscape or animals theme. The little hand crafted items are really well done. Must take ages though as some of the designs are quite intricate.

We stopped and spoke to one stall holder who asked where we were from. He started talking about money and we got onto the topic of the £1. This is equivelent to about 8kwacha. I had a £1 with me, so I showed it to him and he was really intriuged, so I gave it to him. You know when you produce a £1 from behind a child's ear?... You'd think I'd done that to him. He was so surprised.

After the market we went back to Jollyboys and chilled out, having some lunch before going for the bus. The bus was like an hour late on leaving, and we didn't get back to Lusaka until after 21hours. The journey itself wasn't too bad, except the bus seemed to stop at every little place! It almost felt like we were on a little blue bus & them things are crazy!!! I was sitting on my own on this bus because there had been a mix-up. It wasn't bad because I just listened to my music, watched the sunset and the stars come out. I could see venus, jupiter & saturn all in the one area. How awesome?!!

Eventually got home and checked back into Lusaka Backpackers, had some dinner and went to bed! Next 2 days are going to be crazy, making sure we say bye to everyone. I'm just going to say see you soon... because I will be back! 

That's all folks!

:) x

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What an amazing day!! This is just a small selection of the photos. The falls were outstanding!

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Day 14 - Victoria Falls

Hey Folks,

Today we went to the amazing Victoria Falls. There is a free bus that runs from Jollyboys over to the falls, so we jumped on that at 10am this morning. When you’re on the main road in Livingstone heading towards the falls you can see the mist from like 3 miles away. That in itself was cool, never mind actually being at the falls.

When we arrived we paid 100Kwacha each entry then you walk into the national park. Literally outside the office were some baboons, just wandering about. It was actually pretty scary because they are so unpredictable. Some of the baboons had babies attached to their belly; this looked pretty cute but still they freaked me out.

We walked through the park and there were areas that you could see right onto the falls; the first few areas were dry, but the closer we got to the falls we started to get showered with the mist from the falls. It was cold, but the day was hot so it balanced out. As we started walking down the path towards the bridge over the falls there were people coming back from there, some of them were dripping wet; like I thought they had been in for a swim fully clothed!! Then I saw some older people coming back up with Victoria Falls raincoats on. Seriously you’re basically going there to get wet so just get on with it, you know? I loved it! Sometimes I could look at the falls and there would be no spray, then from nowhere BOOM it was like I’d stepped in the shower fully clothed! It was awesome and I had this waterproof camera with me so I could take photos at the same time!

We walked over the bridge over the falls, which I think must have been the wettest point. By the time I had walked further into the falls park though I was getting pretty dry though. We stopped like just at the top part of the falls and sat down on the rocks to dry off! Such an amazing view, but the whole time I was wondering how many people had fallen off. It must happen eh?!

We walked the opposite way after this to see the bungee jumping bridge. I had been thinking that I might do it, but then I thought about the girl who’s bungee snapped on that exact jump so I panicked! Seeing the height of the bridge actually made me feel a bit sick too so probably best I didn’t. Maybe one day I will face my fear and make the jump. Just wasn’t meant to be this time!

When we got back to Jollyboys we just chilled out for the rest of the afternoon and into the evening. That hostel is such a diverse place there was always something going on; we even heard a girl having a job interview over a Skype call. Insane!!! She totally duffed it up though poor girl was getting all flustered! The guard on duty at the hostel got knifed! We just heard this through conversation of the staff, no one panicked though so it can’t have been too bad!

There is a little hideaway chill out zone at Jollyboys, where you go up the stairs into a little comfy areas that looks into the sky. Was up there tonight and I could see all the stars! It was so pretty!

  That’s all folks!

  :) x

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Sunset Cruise on the Zambezi River. Amazing experience! Seen 2 crocodiles, 5 hippos, some monkeys and a couple of antelope.

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Day 13 - Sunset Cruising

Hey folks,

We got picked up for our sunset cruise on the Zambezi river tonight around 4pm. We drove over to a 5 star hotel right on the river, where our boat would depart from. There weren’t too many people on the boat, which was nice as it felt quite a personal experience. Generally the company on the boat was good, but it’s been a while since I’ve been around so many white people.

The cruise came with dinner and a free bar, although I didn’t take advantage of the bar- I stuck to soft drinks instead. We headed up river on the Zambezi, in search of some animals that usually are found by the banks of the river. At first we didn’t think there would be much to see as the river is quite high right now. We were however lucky enough to see 5 hippos, including a little baby one, 2 crocodiles, some antelope and some monkeys. Spotting the hippos was difficult as they were only putting their ears up at first, but eventually we got some proper sightings of them all. Further down the river we spotted a crocodile that looked like it was stalking a bird as prey. It remained perfectly still at the shallows of the water, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Unfortunately the wee bird walked further down the banking so the crocodile didn’t go in for the kill. There was another further downstream again, but it was just slinking through the water. It looked really big actually.

We got snacks brought to our table on the boat before dinner which were all really good too. It was really chilled out just watching the scenery change up the river and looking for the different animals. When it was time for dinner we were just approaching sunset. This was quality, seriously the coolest thing. At one point the sun was sitting really low and up to the right corner was the moon!! Literally watching the sun disappear off the horizon on a Monday evening- WOW! We took some cool photos of the sunset, instead of eating our dinner.

The boat turned around pretty soon after and we headed back to the dock. Once back it had already gotten pretty dark and we could see stars and the moon. The bus came to collect us from the hotel we docked at and brought us back to Jollyboys.

That cruise has instantly made the 7hour bus journey worthwhile and we are still to see the falls properly. Does it get much better than this? I really can’t decide!I'll tell you tomorrow because I'm going to visit Victoria Falls!!!!

  That’s all folks,

  :) x

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Day 13 - Travelling

Hey folks,

 This morning we were travelling on the 7am bus from Lusaka to Livingstone. We had to be at the bus station for 630, so we left the Lusaka Backpackers at 6am! There wasn’t a long wait at the station before the bus arrived and once it did we boarded and the bus left on time- What a novel experience for me, both in Zambia & for back home!!

The bus was to take around 7hours, so I had my iphone all charged up so that I could listen to music for the journey. I had my iPhone on for about the first 3hours, then we made a stop. There is only one stop for passengers on this bus, and that was it! So we took the opportunity to stretch our legs and go to toilet. It was a really quick stop and we were off again. It was so hot during the afternoon but the air conditioning and the windows that open on the bus made it a bit better. I fell asleep for a bit, but was awake for the latter part of the journey.

When we arrived in Livingstone we were only like 5 minutes’ walk from Jollyboys, so we got our cases and walked up. Jollyboys looked awesome as soon as we got to the gate; which was a heavy metal gate with a big gecko across it. There’s a massive seating area in the centre of the hostel and our room is just opposite it. The room we have sleeps 4 people, but I seriously don’t know how that is possible with luggage too. It’s a nice room, but quite small really. There are not mosquito nets here, but the rooms are sprayed completely instead.

We are going on a sunset cruise tonight, so expect some photos!

  That’s all folks!

  :) x

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Day 12 - Sunday

Hey folks,

Today we were going to Sharon’s house in Chawama for the famous ‘Sharon Soup!’ It’s not actually soup, but a sauce that accompanies meatballs. We went to the market up at Arcades before going over to Chawama. It was nice and there were lots of stalls selling different things. Some stalls had wooden animals in all sizes; there was even a giraffe that stood pretty tall. There were stalls with artwork; mostly landscapes and animals, and the majority of stalls had chatengi material; which is the material used to make African skirts among other things.

The market stall holders were all very friendly and encouraged us to have a look at their stalls! Quite often they would tell you “it’s free to look!” From the market we made our way to Chawama in a taxi. It didn’t take too long, maybe around half an hour. When we arrived we had a bit of a way to walk to get to Sharon’s but it wasn’t too bad as 2 of Sharon’s boys came to meet us! Arriving at Sharon’s we were greeted by her youngest child Baby David, who is 3 and super cute!! Sharon had put on a cracking lunch for us, there was; nshima, rice, meatballs, beans, Chinese cabbage and sweet potatoes! It was a seriously amazing lunch!!

We had arranged to see the Chawama CSEE land today, so Sharon had organised a bus ride in her brother’s bus. The roads in Chawama are not tarmacked, so everything was super bumpy! It almost felt like being on a roller coaster – except it wasn’t fun!!

At one point I cracked my head off the roof of the bus because we flew over a bump in the road. This bus journey was even crazier because we managed to leave Chawama and goa all the way back into town at Libala High School!! By the time we got here I was green, so we decided we wouldn’t be visiting the land as it meant going all the way back to Chawama. Instead Sharon got her brother to take us to Inter-City bus station to get our tickets for going to Livingstone, then they dropped us back at home.

The rest of the afternoon was a chilled out one, just getting things organised for our early start in the morning. We had dinner at the hostel with Cath and Vince came over too. It was really chilled out and nice.

  That’s all folks!

  :) x

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Some of the action from the Skjeberg football tournament in Bauleni on Saturday. The girls were awesome! Left is Naimo who got most disciplined player & left is Maureen who was most commited to the team.

Amazing girls & amazing day.

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Day 11 - Bauleni Tournament

Hey folks,

Today was judgement day in Bauleni as it was the annual Skjeberg football tournament! The Skjeberg guys are from Norway and have students that come over to Zambia annually! The tournament had like over 60 teams sign up to attend! Fred from BUSA has organised for me to have a girls under 14 team to coach at the event, so I was pretty nervous on Saturday morning! It was a really early start to get up to Bauleni in time for the marching band and parade to kick off the tournament! We arrived and I got my team registered for the day! The teams lined up and marched to the market and back to the football ground with the marching band. The teams then dispersed around the pitches and did their own songs and dances! It was an awesome way to start the tournament and the really cool thing about it was that the young people direct themselves; no coaches were telling them what to do during the opening of the games. The girls had a wait before their first game so we got some team photos and sat down talking with them about our football club back home. They were totally intrigued about the girls, so Fiona showed them a video of the Jeanfield girls. They were all laughing and talking about the jerseys. The girls gave me a Zambian name during this time also. They named me Bupe, which means gift. It was so nice of them, and when the girls began warming up for their first game I could hear in their chant the occassional Coach Bupe being thrown in. Seriously felt proud!!!

At kick off time I was seriously freaking out! I mean I had to put the team together without knowing who plays where and their strengths and weaknesses. Despite this I chose my starting 7 & evaluated by making substitutions through the first half to see the players in action. To make matters worse I couldn’t remember anyone’s names! This game was against Sport in Action and was a really tough game! This girls held their own through the game and it ended 0-0! There was a mix up with fixtures, so the girls were back on the pitch in a matter of minutes. Their next game was against a team called Young Girls. This game was less challenging for my girls, with them comfortably winning 7-0. The passing was brilliant, which is mental for the uneven ground, and the precision of the passes too! It truly was amazing to be involved in. Despite the great result for the girls the referee for this game was totally not with it. The ref wasn’t paying attention to the game and missed a good few injuries from both teams. This win put us top of our category, so we went to the semi-finals and were drawn to play the Blue Bullets. These girls were very physical and gave the girls a real challenge! The challenge proved too much and we were knocked out of the tournament losing 1-0 to Blue Bullets! This goal came late on in the game, after the girls defending the challenges well all game. A strike came and caught my keeper off guard, she made the save but there was a bit of jostling and the ball ended up in the back of the net- after the keeper scrambling to get the ball. The girls felt defeated and were really down hearted after their loss. Through the tournament me and Fiona had identified players who showed; most discipline & most commitment to team! We chose 2 girls who showed this and they were awarded a Jeanfield tracksuit top each! The girls were really grateful of the tops, which was really nice! The tournament was still going on when we left to come home! It was a seriously long day, but it was all worth it! I got really burnt though which wasn’t too nice! For dinner we went to Rhapsodys at Arcades again, was good as usual!

That’s all folks!

:) x

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Football session with the BUSA queens. Good laugh and I even had a success pass with a cheeky back heel.

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Day 10

Hey folks, Started off today a little more chilled than previous days! Had a few things we needed to do today, so we started with a trip into the Edusport office briefly to drop off some kit and medical supplies! The office was quiet this morning & only Sharon was around! We headed up to Libala High School to get a letter from the librarian about how the library was being accessed and the impact of the books for the young people! This letter will be given to the school in the UK who helped with the library project. On our way up to Libala we had an interesting debate with Kingsley, our friend & personal chauffeur, about gay rights! There was a news report on the radio regarding gay rights activists in Lusaka, so we asked Kingsley what he thought on the subject! It turned into quite a large discussion, with me & Fiona playing devil's advocate to provoke a reaction from kings! Kingsley told us that being gay was against the constitution of Zambia, and religiously a sin! Zambia is founded on a Christian view, so it's not only illegal to practice homosexuality but it is also morally and religiously wrong! Kingsley's views are probably not too far from some of the people in the UK who are against gay marriage, although Kingsley presented his argument positively and with respect to his country and traditions! This conversation took place while waiting for our letter at Libala! Unfortunately the letter was not ready as it was last day of term so things were all a bit hectic! We decided to leave and come back later in the morning, so we went over to Sport in Action to give them a set of strips we had got from people in the UK! They were so appreciative and instantly had a use for the strips! Next stop was the Edusport office to drop in before heading to Bauleni for the football! Some of the young Trainers of Trainers were in doing bits and pieces before the weekend! We got a bus over to Bauleni today, stopping at cross roads to have a fanta before going for our football game! I was beginning to get more nervous about it! The BUSA Queens have players that are part of the national team for Zambia! Playing a friendly game with them seemed a big deal! We got up to Bauleni and there was already football and Corf ball going on! Corf ball is like a cross between netball & basketball! It is a mixed gender team sport and the hoops are wicker baskets up high on the posts! The girls explained how to throw the ball and kept telling us to jump!! It was quite a fun game, but a little confusing too! Fred appeared and ran through the schedule for tomorrow's football tournament! He had been preparing all the paperwork for tomorrow and told us he is expecting 60 teams! Fred is awesome- he is always so organised and has things under control! We eventually got to game time and Coach T took us through a warm up before beginning! This warm up, in the hot afternoon sun totally kicked my ass before we even got to the game but I gave it my best! The ground is so uneven that it's hard to predict the ball's movements. Despite the uneven ground and the roasting hot sun I successfully managed to back heel pass the ball to a team-mate during the game ensuring we kept possession! Coach Tobias had decided there was a 2 touch maximum, so this encouraged everyone to control and pass the ball quickly! It was a very good game, but equally hard going! The girls were all really really good & patient with us on the field! We rounded off today with another interesting conversation with Kingsley, regarding sexual health and relationships in Zambia! Zambia is just poles apart to the UK, with Zambia being further behind with contraception and early intervention! Kingsley said that on the compounds young people are having sex very young because they have no other opportunities and don't know any better! Not really much different from parts of the UK where opportunities are few and far between! It was a chilled out night tonight because we know it's going to be a very long day tomorrow, so on that note... That's all folks! :) x

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At my coaching session with BUSA yesterday! Just casually juggling photos!

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Photos from today at BUSA. Was a great day seeing more community libraries and training the young BUSA Queens ahead of Saturday's tournament.