SeekTeachers.com is delighted to receive feedback from a teacher we recently recruited in Lusaka, Zambia. Owen placed Shelagh in January 2013 and she is delighted with her experience. As previously blogged, teaching in Africa is FAST on the rise. Shelagh is a well seasoned international teacher who has experience of working in Africa also.
Well read the below experience of a candidate that Owen placed in the capital of Zambia in January…
“In December I was hired to teach in Zambia, a much welcome change from Saudi Arabia. So after a three-week fight with my employer, I received my exit visa on December 30, and I left KSA on January 3, 2013. New Year, new country, new start (again)!
When I was interviewed, I did not know anything about Zambia, but, then again, I didn’t know anything about Bahrain or Ethiopia before I went to live and work there. I was very happy to be offered the opportunity to become head of the department and learn another curriculum (this time, IGCSE national British curriculum), so I barely thought twice before I accepted. After being here for two months, I am very happy that I made that decision.
Zambia is a beautiful country – although I have only seen Lusaka so far. The rain, and many other things, remind me of Ethiopia, but it is very different in so many other ways. This is my first ever experience in the Southern Hemisphere.
The school, Lusaka International Community School (LICS), is small in enrollment, but the campus is large and open and beautiful. It is nice to have a garden outside my classroom again. In the secondary school, each year level has only one class, and I am teaching 9, 10, 11, and 12; my colleague (and only “underlingâ€), James, teaches years 7 and 8.
I have been living in temporary housing – a small studio like apartment, but in a separate building. It’s a little house with a hotel room inside (bedroom to tiny kitchen and a bathroom) BUT – this Friday I am moving into a house that has just been renovated. It’s in the plot just next to the school campus, so I can walk to work in 2-3 minutes It has two bedrooms and two full baths, so anyone is welcome to come visit and stay with me!
During the week I am busy with teaching and marking and helping out with the school play (Comedy of Errors). I have spent the past two months getting comfortable in my “IGCSE skin.” Learning a new curriculum has been a bit consuming, and intense. Students took the mock exams two weeks after I arrived, so I had to learn the objectives and standards quickly!
Weekends – there are a couple malls, shopping centers and cinemas. Every Sunday craftsmen, artists and other local merchants come together in one of the shopping areas to sell their work – there are also plants and other non-crafty things.
Last Saturday I went to hear a colleague of mine (Oliver, the Art teacher) sing in a concert that included two other local singers and then went for pizza and drinks with some colleagues, then on to a club. This past Friday after school, some colleagues invited me out for drinks, and then later I went to an internations event. (Internations.org is a website that joins people in an area, especially expats, so when you are new to an area, or just want to meet new people, you can go to events that are planned, or just chat and connect with people.) That night was a “Pizza Party” and I had a chance to meet some people, face to face, with whom I have been chatting. While my colleagues have kept me busy on weekend evenings, and sometimes inviting me for dinner in the week, it will be good to be living within walking distance of the pool at school and be able to get in some workouts as well as being able to relax by the pool.
I am planning to join the Hash run (read: walk) soon. They meet every Saturday in different places around Lusaka, so I will get to meet people, see more of Lusaka, and get some exercise. Luckily, one of my colleagues is a member, so I will know at least one person there.
As for safety – I wouldn’t walk alone anywhere here at night, but I have a very reliable taxi driver who has been driving me to the shops when I need to go, and I am thinking about getting a car. But that will have to wait until I get my shipment here – one costly thing at a time.
Sorry it has taken so long to write to you, I hope you will write back and let me know what you are up to, and how you and your families are doing.
Take Care!
Shelagh”Get your next teaching job in Zambia!  Contact Owen for more information or register FREE to start “educating the world!”