Today we left Lusaka to move onto Livingstone marking the end of our time in the capital. So far the trip has been absolutely amazing. There have been so many incredible days and experiences. For me the most influential part of the trip was the visit to the Chitikuko school. The school was a building with two tiny rooms and 80 students. Seeing the faces of the children when we arrived at their school was definitely one of the most touching moments of the trip for me. We taught one of their classes and the class I was in was a maths class. The teacher set up a quiz on the board and had the kids answer the questions. One of the girls pulled out a huge number of bottle caps and used them to find the answer. Seeing how proud she was of the bottle caps and when she got the right answer was so incredibly touching. We later went outside and played a number of group games. Kate and I sat down at one point and a swarm of 20 or so girls came and started playing with our hair. They were so entertained and absorbed by our “white person hair” and had clearly never touched it before. Another girl grabbed my hand and I held it for a while and even 10 minutes after I let go, I caught her staring and holding her hand tightly. To see this 7 year old girl, who most likely had HIV/AIDS, so amazed by my holding her hand touched my heart. The event that definitely had the most impact was the girl’s group we visited in a Chicumbuso teachers home. Unfortunately I was unable to attend this because I was in bed sick but from what I’ve heard the activity was so incredibly amazing. The LearnServe girls came back and some had even sponsored a child’s future education. The girls that didn’t sponsor a child gave the girls so much hope by telling them stories and persisting telling the girls that they had the ability to continue. So far trip has been absolutely amazing. Every single experience has been worth while and has made the trip what it is. Even the days that appeared a little slow, still changed me as a person.
Lilli W., Washington International School