Tag Archives: Zambia

Training in Zambia

This is Brian’s seventh trip to Zambia and my second. On early trips, Brian did training geared toward coaches. Last time I did training at 2 or 3 different schools. This time our trainings have shifted.

Lusaka, the capital city, is becoming a very modern place, with lots of new construction, roads, hospitals and shopping centers. Lots of this growth is propelled by the Chinese.

I’ve just spent 3 great days training staff at Campus Crusade for Christ-Zambia in all things technology. We created so many things..
✔️ in ChatGPT …. 💥 🤯
✔️Google Forms
✔️ Hyperlinks
✔️ Canva images and newsletters
✔️ Gmail Signatures and labels for organizing
✔️ Bit.ly short links and QR Codes
✔️ Chrome Bookmarks and folders
We learned how to organize and share documents in Google Drive.
This work will support the Digital Strategies Ministry and other teams at Campus Crusade.

Brian did a 3 day referee clinic with over 30 referees from across Zambia. The refs were very excited about the high quality referee whistles that Brian brought to leave with them.

Our teammate Jesse visited a prison where he met with prisoners and worked with guards. On days two and three he then did two Incident Command System trainings with 2 different police stations on the outskirts of Lusaka.

Our time in Zambia felt short as we arrived in the middle of the night on Sunday. Monday we slept in a bit and did some errands and shopping at a tourist market.

Our big event Monday was an evening banquet with Athletes in Action coaches and special Zambia family members. A surprise at the end of the night was a fancy personalized anniversary cake in celebration of our 30th wedding anniversary on July 24th.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were long days of training for each of us as described above. The evenings were very special this time as we are staying at a new guest house that our dear friends Chris and Anne Musonda have recently finished building. That meant that each night, instead of eating at a restaurant, we were able to enjoy traditional home-cooked meals with their family. This meant lots of great visiting and catching up.

The last night was especially great as their adult daughters (and a new spouse) came to visit as well. Anne and Chris have 6 children and have always had extra nieces and nephews in their care as well. Over the past 15 years we have helped to provide school fees for the kids.

Our flight home begins in Lusaka, Zambia at 3 pm on Friday. We will arrive in Calgary at about 2 pm on Saturday, which will be 10 pm Saturday back in Zambia. So we are about to set off on a 30+ hour journey home.

Communication in Africa

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When we started to talk about a technology conference at Grand Maria School in Uganda, one of the requests from the school director was that we also bring old or unused Smartphones. So if you live near me and have an old Smartphone (and charge cord) to donate, let me know and I will make arrangements to pick it up from you. Here’s why it matters…

Access to reliable communication is something that most of us have taken for granted our entire lives. For our teacher friends in Africa, their experience has been different as I will explain if you keep reading. For many, they use their phones until they are entirely worn out or broken; phone replacement has nothing to do with the latest iOS version that is available!

Historical Communication in Africa

While most of us in North America don’t know life without access to a telephone (although for some of us that still includes using a “party line”), the history of telephones in Africa is much different, as is their use in today’s Africa.

At its peak in 2000, only about 4 % of African citizens had access to a landline telephone. In some countries, like Uganda, about 98 % of the population never had access to telephones until mobile phone technology became affordable. During European colonization, colonial powers only installed landline telephones in “civilized” areas of major cities and to trading posts or other resource-rich sites where multi-national companies were setting up extraction facilities. As decolonization happened, investing in landline infrastructure was attempted in some regions, but was mostly unsuccessful. Progress was slow and hindered by various factors such as limited resources, political instability, and geographical challenges. As a result, telephone landlines remained a luxury accessible to only a privileged few, with penetration rates of less than 4% across the continent, even into the 21st century.

The Mobile Phone Revolution in Africa

The real game-changer in African telecommunications emerged with the introduction and rapid proliferation of mobile phones in the early 2000s. Unlike landlines, mobile phones provided an opportunity for Africans to bypass the limitations of traditional infrastructure and leapfrog into the digital age. With the expansion of mobile networks, remote areas that were previously unreachable became connected, often transforming the social, economic, and political landscapes across the continent. From digital payments to increased access to healthcare and education to improved access to family members living far away, mobile phones have significantly impacted daily life for many African families.

Although mobile phones have been a game changer on the continent, there are still several access issues. As of 2021, approximately 80% of the adult population in Africa owned a mobile phone but only 44% of those are Smartphones. Comparatively, 97% of North Americans have a mobile phone and about 85% of us own Smartphones.

Phones and Smartphones are used quite differently in Africa. For example, texting was common in Africa long before it was widely used in North America. African mobile models are much more often a pay-as-you-go model as opposed to the multi-year contracts that North Americans often find ourselves locked into. As a result, in many African cities and rural areas alike, Sim-card vendors and advertisements seem to be everywhere. Can you pick out the telecom advertising in the images below? Citizens buy minutes or Sim-cards as they can afford them. For these reasons, What’s App is the most popular tool in Africa, partly because it is less of a strain on internet resources and therefore more reliable and affordable.

Although Smartphones provide internet access, connectivity is still very unreliable in many areas, especially in rural locations. In addition, the extra cost of operating a Smartphone is beyond what many can afford. My teacher friends in Uganda, for example, make approximately $50 USD / month. Smartphone access becomes a luxury. On the other hand, owning a computer is even a bigger stretch, so having a Smartphone is often the only feasible way for folks to access the internet.

The adoption of smartphones in Africa has significantly transformed communication, access to information, and opportunities for individuals across the continent. While the penetration rate of smartphones continues to rise, challenges such as affordability, limited connectivity, and technological literacy persist. Addressing these challenges can further unlock the potential of smartphones, enabling Africans to leverage the benefits of digital connectivity and participate fully in the digital age.