Article published in Melfar Posten on June 10th 2009

Maja helps young people in Zambia

19-year old Maja Tandrup Pedersen has been teaching young people in Zambia for three months – even though she isn't very much older than her pupils.

By Lena Vind-Andersen, Information Officer, MS Zambia

29. June 2009

It is possible to feel completely at home in Africa. 19-year-old Maja Tandrup Pedersen, originally from Gelsted in Denmark, has been living in Zambia for the past three months. And although there's no running water in the taps and there are practically no other white people living anywhere near her, Zambia has become a new home.

”Do you remember what Z and A stand for?” Several hands are raised to answer the question. ”A is the atom number and Z is the mass,” someone answers. 24 teenage girls are avidly following the Science class. The concrete floor in the class room is full of cracks and the desks are rusty and scratched. But the girls are used to that. What's new is the teacher standing in front of the blackboard. She's blonde. And white. And no older than the girls themselves.

Maja writes out the question of the day on the blackboard and then goes around helping her students answer it, as if she's been doing this sort of thing all of her life. But she is actually a long way from home, living in Mansa in Zambia, which is a very long way from where the turist usually go.

Cultural exchange
”I like teaching, although I'd never tried it before I came here. It's a lot of fun getting positive feedback from the girls,” Maja explains. She herself graduated only last year from her high school, Middelfart Gymnasium. The last couple of weeks she's been teaching at Mutende Basic School, both in Science but also in cultural knowledge and differences. This has lead to conversations about topics ranging from AIDS and religion to advice on how to say ”no” to a boy.

Maja left Denmark three months ago to become a volunteer with Global Contact, MS's travelling program for young people. And it was principally the idea of engaging in cultural exchange that made Maja set out in the first place.

”This way, I get to stay with a local family and work with local organisations. There is always somebody you can ask for advice on the things you don't understand. And the best thing is that I'm actually beginning to feel very much at home here,” Maja says.

Even though Maja had expected that the day-to day life in Zambia would be very different from what she has previously known, the realities of it have nevertheless managed to surprise her on some points. Because even when you know beforehand that from now on you'll be having your daily bath using a plastic bucket due to the fact that there's no running water in the house, the actual way it works can still be surprising.

Two toothbrushes
”In the beginning I had to think really hard about just having enough water for everything,” Maja smiles. And she willingly admits to having had expectations which turned out to be completely off the mark: ”I think I probably underestimated Africa in terms of what would be available. For instance I packed two toothbrushes as well as toothpaste to last me for three months, before I left Denmark. But these things are of course very easy to buy down here," she says and laughs at her own ignorance.

And the biggest surprises have been of the kind you can't possibly prepare yourself for: ”I think the biggest surprise has been the importance of age difference. Here, you just cannot correct people who are older than yourself, even if it's only a two year difference. Or if somebody is married while you yourself are not. Even work colleagues won't give good advice on each other's work if they somehow are ranked lower in this hierarchy. I have found this very difficult to come to terms with, because it is such a major difference to how we do things back home. So before I try making any suggestions, I've had to teach myself to say: ”Look, I know I am younger than you and it is not my place to advise you, but perhaps..” And fortunately people seem to accept that, as long as I'm showing my respect for them this way, they don't mind listening to advice."

The family who died of AIDS

While living in Zambia, Maja hasn't exclusively worked as a teacher. She has also been helping out a local organisation that helps orphans meet the cost of school uniforms and books. This has exposed her to some of the harsher realities of life in Zambia.

”One day a little 8-year-old girl came to the office. Her parents and all of her siblings had died of AIDS. She then moved in with her aunt and uncle, but they also died of AIDS. So now she is living with her grandparents, but the grandfather is getting senile and the grandmother is having a very hard time trying to look after both the girl and the husband. The girl was one of the children being helped my the organisation I worked for, but her story almost gave me stomach ache just by listening to her,” Maja recalls.

She thinks the whole experience of living in Zambia has shown her a completely new perspective on things; highlighting how many things she took for granted while in Denmark.

”Thing are actually working back home, we've got clean water in the taps and a social security network paid for by the state, which will aid people who fall on hard times. We should be much more appreciative of what we've got”, she reflects.

It has been a challenge for Maja to test her own habits and preconceptions – both concerning general hygienic standards and concerning the experience of working with people, who are very far from her own background and thought processes. But the has no doubt that it has all been worth it. ”This is definitely not the last time I'll come to Africa”, she vows. Maja Tandrup Pedersen will be returning to Denmark end June.