Friday, June 29 – Today our group visited an amazing Zambian organization called Daughters’ Vision. Daughters’ Vision was founded by Gladys, an educator from Chikumbuso who decided to create a stepping stone specifically for younger girls to get them back into school after dropping out. Young women in Zambia tend to stop attending school due to family problems, teen pregnancies, and poverty. Gladys’ goal is to make a free education option for the girls who are unable to attend other schools for various reasons. At Daughters’ Vision students are being taught English, Math, and Life Skills to either transition them back into school or to get a job and support themselves.
Before arriving in Zambia, our LearnServe troop leaders directed us to break into small groups and pick a subject to teach while we are at Daughters’ Vision. The subjects LearnServe taught were English/Writing, Mathematics, Art, and Outdoor Activities. My group was directed to teach the English and Writing class, for which we had to create lesson plans. When we arrived in Zambia we realized our lesson plans were in a Google drive, which we had no access to so we had to rethink our entire plan for Daughters’ Vision. My group members and I decided to split our lesson plans up to accommodate the different reading/writing skills that children had.
When we first arrived at the organization the kids were very excited and greeted us with a beautiful song led by one of the students. After a few minutes of greetings, we toured the facility, learned about the background of Daughters’ Vision, and jumped right into teaching. The English group and I started off with a simple icebreaker. We stated our names, ages, and cool facts about ourselves to get the kids to loosen up. After everyone learned names, my team members and I broke off into groups and figured out what each of the girls knew by asking them if they knew the alphabet and if not then how many letters they did know. We used a repetitive style of learning to get the kids to obtain and memorize the material, and they responded very well to it. Most kids understood and absorbed the material like a sponge, while others struggled at first but eventually understood as well.
At the end of the class I had this unbelievable rush of happiness. We were working with kids who don’t have the best shot at an education, and we left them with very important information that will further their education. I realized this about midway through the second class, after working with a little girl who barely spoke English and only knew the first two letters of the alphabet. It was very exciting to teach someone something that they will later use on the headings of papers, college applications, job applications, etc. This experience at Daughters’ Vision has not only humbled me but also changed my whole perspective on the importance of education. I already had an idea before the trip of how important education was, but now I value how good most Americans have it when first starting their academic career. As children growing up in America, we are fortunate enough to often have decent teachers, learning materials and strong family support systems to encourage us to attend school. I am looking forward to going back to Daughters’ Vision and learning more things about myself that I can bring back with me to the US.
Danyelle D., Cesar Chavez Public Charter School