The whole of Tisamale we (the Zambian students) were called ‘Dingoes’ as there were 30 in the conservation club at Chipembele and just only 14 spots for the trip to Australia. The remaining students who weren’t able to travel to Australia were called ‘Wild dogs’ – just to differentiate the two groups. First, we hosted the Australian Mentors from Zoos South Australia in 2018, which was called Tisamale part 1. In April 2019,the time came for us the Dingoes to go overseas to Australia for Tisamale part 2.

For most of us it was our first time ever to board a plane and it was amazing cause I never thought I would board a plane in my life. We were warmly welcomed by the MATZ and YATZ at the airport, though we were tired, we still sang and danced like no man’s business.

The day after our arrival in Australia it was the opening ceremony at Glenelg beach. We had a ‘get to know each other better’ game, did heaps of other activities and games. We also got to swim in the ocean for the first time and go down the water slides at the Beach House.

The three weeks in Aussie was amazing, we did so much and learnt a lot. Hopefully the Australians also learnt from us too. We were hosted by five families during our stay and it felt we were at home. We worked alongside zookeepers for the whole day at Monarto Zoo and I remember  learning an interesting fact about Emus – that they have a brain as small as a pea! We got a chance of sharing our Zambian staple meal which is Nsima and they all loved it. We did a number of hands on activities like collecting paddy melons, pulling out coastal daisies (invasive weed species), Fox baiting, cleaning the Chimpanzee’s enclosure and loads more.

The time for tears came when we had to say bye to everyone and return home. Many of us cried because we made unending bonds and we became one big TISAMALE FAMILY and it was the saddest moment of Tisamale.

Cetwayo
(Chipembele Student, Dingo)