This summer, a team of 7 volunteers from Edinburgh Global Partnerships (EGP), travelled to Zambia to work with Chiseke Women’s Organisation (CWO). CWO provides assistance to disadvantaged people such as orphans and widows, promotes their development and provides them with skills and technical knowledge to help them to find jobs.
As a team we fundraised throughout the year to raise money for our project, which was ‘Female economic empowerment through the construction of a zero waste cooking oil production centre.’ The centre converts groundnuts and a variety of seeds into pure refined oil which can be sold for a small fee, thus creating a local economy for the whole North Western region.
After almost a year of liaising with our project co-ordinator, Gerald Yungana, seven months of fundraising and two months in Zambia, the project is now complete and the photos below are a small snapshot of what we got up to on our trip.
One of our team-mates, Fiona, trying her hand in brick-laying. (At least you tried Fi)‘Green Charcoal’- The women in the village made environment-friendly charcoal briquettes from old maize cobs and peanut shells. A lot of our time was spent with the children of the village. This picture shows Rosie’s kite-making efforts being put to shame by a young boy in the village who made his kite from plastic waste and still managed to make his fly. A team picture (minus Anna) showing the development of the building. One of the women from Chiseke Women’s Organisation joins us. A picture of part of the village. The President of Chiseke Women’s Organisation.A picture of the Church. We spent our Sunday mornings in the Church and it was one of the greatest parts of the experience. To pass the time we would go on walks. This picture was taken when we decided to walk to the farmers’ ground nut fields. Charity, a kind and zestful lady who was part of Chiseke, showed us how to make Africa cake. Charity was one of our dearest companions on the trip. Our village was a 4-6 hour bus journey away from the nearest town. This picture depicts our emotions on having to get up at 4 am to catch the bus, for it to not show up for hours. It is one of my fondest memories. Spirts were high on this day as we stood in the building for the first time.Perhaps one of the most exciting (and as we later learned, exhausting) parts of the experience; painting the building. Team-mate, Rosie, who designed the sign in its entirety, woke up at 6 am on the day of our Handover Ceremony to complete paining. She’s a trooper, so of course got it done. Our completed building, surrounded by everyone who worked on the project. A picture with Friends. Here we are surrounded by the women of Chiseke Women’s Organisation, the District Commissioner (centre) and our wonderful host, Mr Gerald Yungana, on the day the project was completed.
University of Edinburgh Go Abroad 
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