I landed in Zambia on Monday and was greeted by Frankson Mushindu and George Kakomwe from Sport in Action, with whom I will be working for the next two months. This week is a week of introductions: meeting the rest of the team at SIA; meeting Clement Chileshe at the Olympic Youth Development Centre; meeting the team of UK students here with UK Sport’s IDEALS programme, etc.
Yesterday, I visited the Fountain of Hope, where SIA run sports programmes in basketball, football, netball and volleyball, and which offers an education, and sometimes a home, for boys living on the streets in Lusaka; some photos can be found here – Fountain Of Hope Zambia. It was a good insight into the work that SIA do as well as to understand why it makes a difference to those who experience the sports programmes. It was pretty humbling at times, for instance seeing where the extremely vulnerable children, who are often found without any known relatives, live. The roof, food, education, sport and love that the children receive here gives these children a chance, sometimes a first chance.
Whilst not typical I am told of the work that SIA generally does, it is clearly a place that chimes naturally with the values that SIA promotes; of particular interest to me, having finished a sporting session, the children often sit down to discuss an aspect of sport that they have learnt and the context for their wider education – for instance, the importance of fair play on the field is then discussed with reference to other aspects of their young lives. As I said, pretty moving stuff.
I am off to see a different type of programme entirely today and then some competition involving teams coached by SIA over the weekend in Livingstone. By then, I hope to have enough background to have a better understanding of where my assistance will help during the next two months. Should you wish to support these programmes, please use the link below to donate to the Perfect Day Foundation.
@perfectday123 @zambiaprojectuk @INt_INspiration
http://www.justgiving.com/Mark-Scholey
Posted in 2013
Scholey.com 