First Aid Teaching

This week we taught a first aid course at the "save a life" feeding centre. At first this week seemed like a lot of work and not a whole lot of fun. Now looking back at it it definatly was a lot of work but with that came a great amount of accomplishment and a tremendous amount of laughter and good times. We will forever have a new respect and appreciation for all of our teachers as it takes an amazing amount of prep time to teach lessons and a lot of energy while in the classroom.

Our class was filled with 12 Zambian students of various ages, backgrounds, and professions.  Each one of them had their own story and reason for being in the class. Some were there because they were asked to be others were there because they wanted to know and teach their children all about first aid. Over the four days we taught first aid we developed friendships and were able to learn more about the culture and traditional beleifs these people have especially surrounding first aid treatments. We had some extra challenges teaching here in Africa. These included the language barrier and limited resources (as always is the case here).  We tried our hardest to present the information in a fun and interactive way. Through hands on activities, posters, games, and scenario playing we were able to engage our students and develop a first aid program that fit with their needs. 

On our last day we had a review and a practical quiz where we role played different scenarios and students had to demonstrate how they would respond. It was a lot of fun and giving out the certificates was a great ending ! 

Looking back at this experience we feel privileged to have been given the opportunity to teach.  Not only was it a great review for our upcoming outreach trip it was also a challenge that was well worth the rewards!

---Anna & Amanda---