TRT News

Hurstmere and Welling School TRT Tour – Zambia 2011

on Jul 21 in News, Tour, Zambia tagged by RuckinRugby

After a 10 hour flight from Heathrow to Lusaka, the 2011 TRT Lusaka tour group touched down safely and were met at the airport by the ever reliable Mr Jon Turner of Boabab College. 2011’s tour party consisted of 7 boys and 3 girls from Welling school together with 3 teachers and a parent, 11 boys from Hurstmere school with their 3 teachers and also Natalie and her 10 year old son, James. They were to be joined that afternoon by tour leader, Huw and photographer, Celi whom had just flown in from a highly successful two week tour in Uganda.

The first day, Saturday, was spent acclimatising to the local conditions, which were cold, catching up on a bit of sleep and taking in a local rugby match. The Red Arrows were playing at home and demolished their opposition so didn’t make for much of a game. More entertainment lay with watching the fanatical home supporter constantly chanting ‘Arrows, arrows, arrows’ while cart wheeling across the ground. The man was well into his sixties and fueled by alcohol, and proved to be very entertaining.

Sunday was an eye opener. Firstly, the children and adults tried out their bartering skills at the local Sunday handicrafts market at Arcades shopping centre. Some bargains were struck, mostly by the children who swapped their socks for wood carvings of lion, rhino and giraffe. The next part of the day was a sobering reality of how some people live in Zambia, from the begging on the street to the classrooms in the local schools. Literally, a real eye opener for the boys and girls of Welling and Hurstmere.

We went to visit the schools that we would be teaching in and the atmosphere was amazing, all the kids wanted their pictures taken and were so happy to be in our company. The classrooms were so small which made me think how lucky we are at our school…
Becky (Pupil – Welling School)

After getting back to Baobab on Sunday afternoon and sorting the kit to use for the week, the children enjoyed a hearty meal, the food was excellent all week, were prepared for the week ahead and had an early night, in preparation for Monday morning.

The Monday of a TRT tour, whether it’s a school tour or an adult tour, is always a nervous one for leaders. The schools SHOULD be expecting us, they’ve been given enough warning but one or two always seem to surprise us and 2011 in Lusaka was no different. One school refused to release their children so the group joined another group and went to their school, good job really as there were so many children and just the one group would have struggled, things seem to always have a way of working themselves out.

A group’s first day at a school is very hard to describe as there are so many emotions. For the vast majority of the volunteers this is their first time in Africa and certainly their first time in such a community. Being surrounded by happy, grateful, smiling children can be quite something.

The community is vital here, they relay on each other. I have never seen such a happy group of people in my whole life.
Harry (Pupil – Hurstmere School)

We went to Guardian Angels (a community school) to pick up their kids for the afternoon session. Hungry kids who have very little, if anything to smile about. Guess what? They smiled all the time, entertained themselves and appear not to have a care in the world.
Andy (Teacher – Hurstmere School)

Today was overwhelming to see how happy the children got when they were given the rugby balls and tags.
Becky (Pupil – Welling School)

After the shock, excitement and initial hard work of Monday, the children settled into a coaching routine for the rest of the week and between Welling and Hurstmere visited 9 schools and coached in excess of five hundred boys and girls Tag rugby. It’s not all hard work though and there’s plenty of time in the late afternoon for relaxing, swimming (yes, some children did!) and visiting the small safari park across the road, there’s plenty of Impala and Zebra but nobody spotted the Elephant!

Tournament days come around quickly so by the Friday the children have to choose their teams of 5 boys and 5 girls per team and also decide who’s confident enough to referee. It’s not easy as these local schools really want to win the cups on offer and a ref needs to be firm, consistent and fair. A big responsibility but and even bigger opportunity to do something quite unique.

The singing, excitement, smiling faces and commitment from the local children on Tournament day has to be seen to be believed; it is something else. The coaches walked their teams to the tournament pitch, singing the whole way and were greeted by local supporters. The day ran smoothly with 160 children playing tag rugby on four pitches with the whole show being run by the boys and girls from Welling and Hurstmere, with help from Natalie, James and David (Jon’s 10 year old son).

Sadly in a competition like this there have to be losers as well as winners and some of the schools were very disappointed but they all tried their best. The winners on the day were:

Spoon Competition – Chillanga 2
Bowl Competition – Guardian Angels 1
Plate Competition – Musamba 1
Cup Competition – Mount Mukulu 2

A truly memorable day that I’m sure both sets of children, both from the UK and Zambia, will remember for a long, long time to come.
The evening was spent at Boabab enjoying an excellent Brai (local BBQ) and packing bags in preparation for the relaxing part of the tour, 3 days down at Livingstone.

The Livingstone bus departed promptly at 9am on Sunday morning but did take slightly longer than usual due to an ‘engine malfunction’. This was soon forgotten about as later that day, the children feasted on excellent pizza and looked forward to an early morning safari and their first glimpse of ‘Musi O Tuna’ the smoke that thunders, more commonly known as Victoria Falls.

Early Monday morning was cold, and even colder when you’re sat in the back of a safari vehicle. The sight of Impala, Zebra, Buffalo, Hippo, Monkeys and Elephant soon warmed people up and the morning sun shimmering on the Zambezi river was a sight to behold. Even more impressive sights were to come and Victoria Falls does not disappoint – it’s awesome. At this time of year it’s impossible to not get wet, the water seems to not only come down but come up too! You soon dry off in the sun though with the sight of one of the seven wonders of the world firmly implanted in your memory. There’s so much to do in Livingstone and most of the group enjoyed the falls from the air, flying over them in a helicopter, again, amazing.

Café Zambezi and Olga’s provided us with great food while in Livingstone and the rooms and swimming pool at Fawlty Towers (yes, it’s really called that) were great. A trouble free bus ride back to Lusaka on the Wednesday morning and more superb food that night at Chit Chat restaurant. Speeches were made, awards given out, laughs were had and also a relatively early night for the early morning flight back to London.

The people we have met have been the most inspiring of all, I already feel that they will be giving me an experience that will change my life and give me some unforgettable memories.
Maria (Teacher – Welling school)

An unforgettable tour, well done to all the boys and girls, teachers and parent from Hurstmere and Welling schools and also to Natalie and James who added so much to the tour. A special thank you to Mark (Robbo), Theo, Jon and all the staff at Boabab College, their broad smiles will stay with many people for a long time.

Huw and Celi (Tour leader and Photographer)