Waste Reduction & Ecobricking Volunteering in Zambia

I came to African Impact for 10 days and I have loved everything about my experience. Staff are so unbelievably friendly, always greeted with a smile and a laugh. I loved being out on project and interacting with the community, I feel I really got out of my trip what I wanted and am so grateful to have been able to experience this. There were lots of opportunities to engage with local culture and the weekend activities such as the trip to Chobe National Park have created memories I will never forget. I highly recommend anyone who craves adventure while being able to give back to consider African impact!

I absolutely loved my time here in Zambia, from the day I arrived everybody was extremely friendly and nice. I got a great mix of project work from eco bricking in the mornings to after school activities in the afternoon. I would definitely like to come back and will be recommending to all of my friends.

This experience was the first of its kind for me, therefore it is especially valuable. While you won’t be able to experience the hardships of living in Zambia first-hand very much, you can gain an understanding of local life through teaching kids, playing with kids, talking to staff, and doing things such as a village tour and a “cultural afternoon”, which included a detailed talk about local life and tradition, local food, and a wedding with traditional dancing. Aside from the cultural education, the emotional and spiritual fulfillment that comes with helping the community is huge. I’ll never forget all the smiles on the the kids’ faces from playing football with them, or building a bench for them, or even just waving to them. The community at the accommodation is also fantastic. I wasn’t expecting to spend so much time with other volunteers and like-minded people. It has allowed me to hear many different life stories, gain new perspectives, and make great friends. All in all, these 3 weeks have been some of the best of my life, and I couldn’t be happier about my decision to do this.

The Staff here were extremely welcoming and were always on hand to help if a problem or question occurred. The food here was of very high quality and plenty of variety. The people here were very friendly and there were plenty of social opportunities to get involved with, which made the integration process a lot easier. There was also plenty of cultural exposure - something that I particularly enjoyed, including a cultural day and visits to markets etc. The project itself was clearly popular and appreciated by the kids here as our bench was used straight away, the being part of sports was something I also enjoyed. The house and amenities are of good standard with showers etc. all clean and give plenty of privacy. The house is also very safe with no issues. Overall, this project is something i would definitely recommend to someone who wants to try something new and wants to be a part of an organisation that is clearly trying to make 1000s of families lives and futures much better!

I was really happy with the structure of the project and how we worked with the communities. Although the accommodation, food, transportation etc. were great, it would've been nice to see more of where the project fee went towards.

Hi I liked my time here in Zambia. The group I was stationed with here was incredible. The overall experience was life changing and I feel like I have learned alot from working and living here. Special shoutout to Subba, Justin and the Machine for making the building project alot of fun. Cheers to all.

I opted for the ultimate project as I was restricted to 2 weeks because of work. It was a great project with variety getting involved in all the projects in livingstone, building, teaching, sports, adult education. A great mix, but also the chance to see people 2 weeks running at the different activties providing some continuity for them. A great bunch of staff at African Impact and all the other volunteers also made it a memorable trip. At the weekend we were able to go on safari at Chobe in Botswana which was definitely a highlight for the non-project activities. This was my second volunteer project with African Impact and would reccomend them to anyone.

After spending two weeks on the Ultimate volunteering experience in Livingstone I can say that it is a great program to give yourself a great variety of projects in different areas of Livingstone.

I really liked all the people from African Impact, I liked to morning projects, to be honest I didn't really enjoy the afternoon projects. Backpackers was great with the pool and bar. I had a nice room as well.

I was partaking in the Eco Bricking project where we used eco bricks made by students to build some bench seats at their school. Each morning was spent at the school building, then the afternoons saw other activities. For me, teaching English through the Adult Literacy Program, teaching Environmental Impact and Sustainability in the school we were building at, Sports and farming to rattle off a few. The Program Co-ordinators were very helpful whenever anyone had any questions and also put on some great post project activities to keep our evenings fun. I had one of the most amazing experiences and can't wait to go back :)

It was a very fun time here. The hostel was really good and mama Lisa took good care of us. ik heb adhd. The people here are very nice and it was a nice experience to come to Zambia. The food was not as bad as i thought.

Zambia is one of the most beautiful countries i ever visited. The people are very friendly.

I had the best month volunteering with African Impact in Livingstone. The staff at African Impact and the staff at Victoria Falls Backpackers were incredible and made me feel so comfortable at home, and I made amazing friends with the other volunteers. I learnt so much about the local culture and saw immediate results in helping the communities with my building project as well as the afternoon community projects. I absolutely loved it and could not recommend the experience enough!

I was here for four weeks in total, and it was a great experience! I met lots of new people, saw lots of things, and learned about the work of a lot of local NGOs. This is something that I would definitely recommend.

Overall, I had a positive experience during my internship with African Impact. The internship started off a little bit slow as I spent the first week exclusively building but it quickly adapted to more of an engaging internship experience. Meeting with different NGOs and learning about what they did was definitely a highlight. In the future, Interns might benefit from working directly with an NGO on their projects in the future in order to get more of an office-like experience. Additionally, working directly with the building project manager would be helpful.

African impact is a great project. All the staff members are lovely and the backpackers is a beautiful stay. The eco building was a fun hands on activity. I loved my time there and will definitely be back in the future

African Impact is very organised and all the staff are helpful. I really enjoyed my time there volunteering and making an Impact.

I had a wonderful time. When I arrived I was roomed up with 3 other 17 year old British boys so I felt very much at ease. I worked on the building project in the mornings (eco-bricking) which was very hard work (but incredibly rewarding!). The leader was really good at teaching us how to do it all as none of us really knew what to do at first. In the afternoons I took part in sports, art, maths club and the "eco-bricking workshop" where we teach the children at local schools how to make eco-bricks and set up competitions as to who can make the most. I really do feel like eco-bricks (however time consuming to make) are the best current way in Africa to clean up the streets and get rid of the waste (as current ways include burning, throwing in rivers, throwing in pits and leaving it on the street). My group of about 6 helped to make 2 benches at a local school which were made completely from eco-bricks (the best eco-brick benches I've ever seen) and I really do believe that we helped the school out, because the day after we had finished one the kids filled it, sitting out of the sun under the shade of the tree it was built around. There was nothing in terms of outdoor seating there before. I feel like the afternoon activities were just as useful to the community like painting a new school block, and the eco-workshops led to us getting 180 eco-bricks from one class (which take an hour to make each)! At the weekend I visited Chobe safari park which was absolutely incredible and I also visited Victoria Falls, which was similarly awesome. The food here is great, plenty and super duper tasty. The backpackers itself is wonderful to, the campfire is my favourite part as we often sit round it and talk in the evenings. I definetly think my one of the best parts of the experience is the people I met at the Backpackers where we stay. Everyone is very welcoming and really interesting as pretty much everyone has been to places I've not even heard of. It's fantastic how you're surrounded by so many people the same age with the same interests, I've never been anywhere like it! I do feel quite stupid when almost everyone speaks good English and they're from all over the place. Overall I feel like I've done a lot of good for the community and that my perspective has changed seeing how different life is here and how the kids are so happy when they have so little compared to us. I've loved the experience and will never forget it nor the people I've met, which makes it tough to leave, it makes me want to come back next year. I'll start saving!

The eco-bricking project was very well organised and the results of our work are incredible. The African Impact team made my three weeks trip amazing by their professionalism and kindness.

I volunteered in ecobricking project and I had a great experience. Staffs are friendly and helpful. The hostel location was convenience. However, there was very loud music every night and without earplug, I couldn't sleep.