Short-term (2 to 4 weeks) "heritage protection" project in Zambia

YAZ Zambia

In 2009 the Victoria Falls (shared between Zambia and Zimbabwe) was celebrating its 20th anniversary after being declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO. In commemoration of this event we hosted the first World Heritage "Patrimonito" camp in Zambia celebrating the Victoria Falls and the area surrounding it. In 2012 we will work at the Victoria Falls educating tourists on the importance of maintaining the Heritage Area clean and sustainable. The project is hosted in the city of Livingstone

The project will place emphasis on educating tourists on the importance of respecting the Victoria Falls and maintaining its place as a World Heritage Site. The project will also help the local school paint its classes and have heritage lessons with the pupils.

The participants will be hosted at Palm Grove Basic School, which is the local school where the other half of the project will take place. There are adequate sanitation facilities and the participants will prepare their own meals.

Since the project is done in partnership with the National Heritage Conservation Commission, we look to them to provide alternative areas of interest we might go to. In 2011, they arranged for the participants to visit areas of interest and also organized a boat cruise, game viewing and a guaranteed visit to the Victoria Falls every day. Livingstone is the tourist capital of the country and there is plenty to do in the free time.

The work camp participation fee is 210 Euros per participant, which covers simple work camp meals, arrangements for the whole work camp preparation in terms of communication, electronic mailing and transport for meeting with different stakeholders. Travel expenses from Lusaka to work camp places and back are not covered in this 210 Euros camp fee.

The orientation for all camps is held on the day after arrival (in this case all orientation will be on Sundays). Participants therefore have to be at the camp on Saturday (every camp for 2012 starts on Sunday while arrival is on Saturday).

An international work camp is made up of volunteers from different nationalities worldwide. We ensure that each camp has a simple network made up of participants attending that particular camp so that they know each other before they arrive. They are usually from partner organizations of YAZ around the world.

Skills of the individual volunteer
- Commitment of volunteers; Project or work camps are not just cheap holidays;
-Hard work and full participation is required.
-ENGLISH is the medium of communication in work camp.
-Participants who are not good in English are also accepted to participate as we believe in 'Unity in Diversity'
-Enthusiasm and flexible approach.

Specific motivation may be required for some projects.

Volunteers are responsible for their own travel arrangements, organizing their own transport and passports. It is usually advisable to check out travel prices before deciding on a particular placement. We communicate with other partner organizations and with the person who wish to come either by telephone or email with regular update regarding the work camp. YAZ will arrange for participants to be picked up from the airport to YAZ offices if the volunteer expresses this wish before arriving. It is therefore important for volunteers to communicate their dates and times of arrival via email.