February 9, 2012
Two days ago, Amanda, Julet, Denee,
Esther, Sylvia, and Joel visited a school in a nearby town to speak about the
importance of post-secondary education and the benefits of nursing.
Our trip was put into motion during
our first week in Mongu. While picking up our new ZamBikes, Amanda
serendipitously met a woman by the name of Chi-Chi. Seeing a group of Makuwas
in Mongu isn’t a terribly common sight and so Chi-Chi was curious. Amanda
explained that we are a group of nursing students from Canada and that we were
staying for a few weeks. Chi-Chi, as it would turn out, is a guidance counselor
at a secondary school and so she asked Amanda if she would bring a group of us
to her school to speak to her students.
A few weeks passed before Chi-Chi
contacted Amanda again. Details were set and, before we knew it, we were
whisked away in the back of a van. Rocking (slamming) back and forth, we zipped
along the pockmarked road on our way to the school.
Prior to arriving, Chi-Chi
explained that this was the oldest school built in Western province. For an
ancient school, we were surprised by how well-kept it was and the stunning
location in which it was situated.
We stepped out of the van and
Chi-Chi ushered us into the staff room. She set out to gather the students and
to prepare the lecture hall. As we sat alone, we began to wonder exactly what
we were getting into. Amanda had implied that she had been invited to speak and
that we were going to support her. Chi-Chi, however, had other ideas.
She returned to the staff room soon
after and inquired about our lecture plan. Although we were planning on having
a casual conversation with the students, Chi-Chi wanted to have set introductions,
speaking points, and conclusions. Hesitantly, we all signed up for topics while
secretly shooting daggers at Amanda.
Satisfied with the plan, Chi-Chi
took us over to the lecture hall. A dull roar of voices could be heard more and
more with each step and we quickly realized that we would be speaking to more
than just a class. The doors opened up and some hundred students became
visible. Amanda! What have you gotten us into?
Our group took to the stage and sat
down in front of our (very large) audience. Chi-Chi took some time to introduce
us and sat down. It was all us now.
Before going any further, I should
probably mention the heat. And the sweat. Even with the windows and doors open,
the ventilation was next to nil. We sat in front of our audience, glistening,
with sweat dripping down in places never before thought possible.
Denee stood before the group to
explain the importance of post-secondary education. (“Anyone can… dig a hole.
But nobody can take your education from you!”)
Next, each of us stood up and
shared how we had all found our way into nursing. Joel then spoke about
post-secondary education and how to apply internationally.
A question-answer period followed
in which the boys asked questions (Chi-Chi: “Girls! Ask a question! This looks very
bad on you!”). Julet, disturbed by the girls’ lack of questions invited (told)
all of the grade 12 girls to approach the stage (“Education before babies!
Education before babies!).
Before we knew it, the talk was
over and the students stormed the stage to hear their heartbeats with our
stethoscopes. The students were very engaged and brought up many good
questions. We took plenty of snaps (photographs) and the students were excited
to see their faces on our cameras.
And with that,
we headed out to the van and traveled back to Mongu.
Although it was
an after work experience, it ended up being entirely worth it. We were
exhausted upon arriving but were pumped up by the students’ enthusiasm and the
very idea that they had stayed late from school to hear from us.
We had a
fantastic time at this school and we hope that this opens up new possibilities
for next year’s group.
By Joel, Esther, Sylvia, Amanda, Denee, and Julet
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