It was officially our fourth day in Zambia and MATZ was heading back to high school to experience “A Day in the Life” of a Zambian Student.  School starts bright and early at 7am and finishes at 1.20pm with a short recess break in the middle.  Two years out of high school, I never thought that I would feel excited to wake up early and head to school again, but on this day I’d never felt more ready to learn!

First up was English, which my host student Micara, and all the other students, impressed me with their good knowledge of English – even surprising me with a few things that I didn’t know about my own language! Next up was maths, a lesson which reminded me why I was glad to leave school! But the students didn’t seem to mind seeming endless equations.

Micara and her two best friends (Dorica and Prisca) gave me a wonderful tour of the school, showing me all the different facilities, including science labs and a computer room! Micara also took me to her dormitory and graciously allowed me to see her sleeping area. I was amazed that she shared the small room (with a curtain door) with two other girls, but was even more amazed when nearly 10 girls appeared over the top of the cupboards to see who the visitor was in their school.

I enjoyed sharing pictures of my home with all the girls and they were eager to learn about Australian animals too! We went back to the classroom to have a snack before the next class. I felt so welcomed by Micara, Dorica and Prisca when they shared their food with me as we chatted; it reminded me of all the good times I had at school at recess and lunch!

That afternoon lessons continued with a double lesson of history taught by one of the students when the teacher was strangely absent. When the students grew bored of the makeshift lesson, I drew a poor artist’s impression of Australia in my notebook and described all the major cities and locations. I was shocked when the students hadn’t heard of a shark – it never occurred to me that sharks aren’t a concern in a landlocked country! My long day at school ended with an energetic biology class, in which the teacher scolded me for not answering questions in my book! But after some team work with Micara I got 100% on the assignment and could finish my day feeling that maybe school wasn’t so bad after all!

Celia (MATZ Member)