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News from our Livingstone community programmes, where giving is really living… (yes that's corny I know but read on and tell me if you don’t get goose bumps…) Newsletters » Oct/Nov 2006 » Livingstone community programmes Jackson’s birthday at the orphanate, and an update on the Elephant Chili Peppers project from Marleen Lammers, one of our Livingstone community programme project managers. Jackson stared at the envelope in his hands. The 15-year-old orphan had never received a birthday card before, or any card for that matter, and wasn’t sure how to open it. One of the volunteers rushed over to help him out, and he read the birthday messages of all the volunteers. His presents, two shirts and a pair of sunglasses, were still sitting on his lap, unopened. He was so blown away by the whole thing that he could only stare at his gifts. Never before had anyone paid any attention to his birthday, and the surprise party the volunteers organised for him, which included cake and drinks for all the boys at the orphanage, was overwhelming. And not just for Jackson – it was a humbling and emotional experience for the volunteers to see how something that seemed so small to them, was so immense for this boy. Even Alvin, the manager of the orphanage, was visibly moved. The boys' orphanage and community center in Livingstone has, from the beginning, been one of the most rewarding places we work at. It is amazing to see how quickly and deeply the volunteers bond with the orphans, which seems to make as much of an impact on the volunteers as on the children. We continue to entertain dozens of children every afternoon by teaching them, playing games, drawing pictures, and playing sports. It’s a very stable, and much loved factor in our quickly evolving programme. The projects are just absolutely booming! With the rapidly growing number of applications, we are greatly expanding our community programme in Livingstone. We are currently sending volunteers to four different clinics, a hospital, three schools, and the orphanage/community center. In addition, we rotate volunteers between different community-based projects in the afternoons; we are building a classroom, painting schools and orphanages, and offering people suffering from diseases like AIDS help and support in their own homes through a community care initiative. One of the latest developments in our afternoon-projects is our involvement with the Elephant Pepper Trust, an organization that aims to reduce the conflict between farmers and elephants by using chili peppers – elephants hate the smell and the taste of chili! The trust hands out seedlings to farmers, and educates them about the different ways in which they can use the peppers to keep elephants away. A very simple, yet extremely effective solution to a problem that has caused a lot of farmers to loose their crops and income, and killed a great number of elephants. Moreover, Elephant Pepper buys the surplus of the chili peppers back from the farmers, which gives the farmers a good extra income. With the peppers, they make a spicy sauce called Elephant Pepper Sauce, which is sold throughout Southern Africa. It's an amazing project, (it was the runner up in the BBC World Challenge!), and I'm so excited to have our volunteers involved! At the Elephant Pepper's base here in Livingstone, we are currently helping to fix up a building that will serve as accommodation for people who will be trained in the project. In addition, we're building a little shop where women can come and sell their peppers and buy food at the same time, which is to prevent their husbands from spending the money on alcohol if the women bring it home. Apart from this construction work, we will mostly be involved in setting up demonstration sites, building shops and green houses for the seedlings, and educating local people about the project. Read more about our Zambia volunteer work projects. News from our Livingstone community programmes VOLUNTEER PROFILE: Sean Crawford's experience on our Kenya Expedition 2006 FEATURED PROJECT: Cape Town Street Kids and Community Programme Signing of the Dambwa Forest Agreement for the lion release area in Zambia Pathfinders Bush Awareness and Survival Courses News Snippets Subscribe to our free newsletter Africa volunteer opportunities     print this page | bookmark this page (CTRL-D) | send to a friend back to top