Zambia 2025

On Thursday 23rd of October our journey to Zambia began, with an afternoon flight at 3pm to Doha airport. After a short layover in Doha we boarded our flight to Lusaka, following this we arrived in Nsobe game camp after 27 hours of travelling, where we were greeted by Fiona and her incredible team.

During our stay in Nsobe game camp we completed painting multiple classrooms and getting the opportunity to leave a mark on this incredible school community, although we weren’t made for the heat we pushed through and got the job done. Everyone pulled together as a group and learned to work together creating bonds with each other.

We were presented with the opportunity to immerse ourselves in the daily life of the locals, getting a true insight into a very different way of living. One of the groups favourite activities was the Baptist church service on Sunday morning, during this we got the chance to see the importance of religion in their life and their passion for singing. It was a truly breathtaking experience to see the community come together to celebrate something so important to them. We got a chance to exchange culture when we were invited to say a prayer and sing an Irish song “Tóg amach mé” and a hymn although we were not the best of singers, they enjoyed learning about Ireland and the difference in church services. On Tuesday we split into groups and visited different villages where we were welcomed greatly. Each group got the chance to meet the family and an opportunity to see how they make a living. We also got to visit their farms and were given a chance to help out in preparation for winter.

One extremely important part of our visit was when we visited the secondary school to see the girls safe house which houses 36 girls, these girls are taken care of by two mother carers. These girls came from tough backgrounds but showed incredible resilience.

One of our final days at the camp was a much awaited day (the football match) that the lads had been building up to. The team consisted of the 10 lads alongside Kerry champion Mr Hassett. Each team lined the field and sang their anthem with pride, the nerves were starting to build up and it was soon time for kick off. David’s lads started strong, Mr Hassett and James covering the backline well but unfortunately they fell short and it slipped from the gasps of their hands as the strong Zambian team came up with a win. After the defeat we managed to claim a bit of glory after winning the penalties with incredible saves by goalie Aaron. During the football match the girls had a chance to learn a new sport and to mix with the secondary school girls of their own age. The secondary school girls were extremely patient and took the time to make sure everyone understood how to play netball before starting.

After the physical side of work we got the opportunity to meet the children at Nsobe Community Primary School. The children welcomed us with open arms for the first time to their school on Saturday 25th, we got the opportunity to learn about their culture and some of their favourite dances and joined in with their football game. All students immersed themselves in the opportunity to connect with the kids. We were all stunned by the kindness and inclusivity towards us and also their passion and drive to learn. Each day after school the children would walk home with us and they left a forever lasting impact on the way we see the world. So many kids inspired us to look at the world more positively.

As a group we reflected on our experiences each evening in the circle of love in which we had a chance to voice our thoughts about the day. It opened up ideas and made us all reflect on how lucky we are and the incredible opportunities we have.

After our eye opening time in Nsobe everyone was really excited for the holiday aspect of the trip, after a joyful 15 hour bus ride we arrived in the beautiful town of Livingstone. During this part of the trip we visited Victoria falls and local shops around Livingstone. The following day we crossed the border into Botswana for our safari where we spotted an array of animals including lions, elephants, hippos and giraffes.

As students we all have experienced something completely out of our comfort zone and completely different to what we are use to in our everyday life, and this opportunity to travel to Zambia would not have been possible by the amazing and incredible planning by Mr Carey, and the three incredible teachers of Ms Noone, Mr Hassett and Ms Courtney.

Reporters: Ella Andrews & James O'Farrell