Leeds to London

Hello from Leeds, England!

Leeds City Market

3 pm Tuesday 7^th August 2018

Hello there and thank you for following me! 

I’m Jenny, the Speech and Language Therapist (SLT) writing this blog.

Well, I’ve finally started on my epic journey to Lusaka, Zambia from Leeds.  

Life is always unpredictable, is it not?  For the first leg of the journey from Leeds to London by good old British Rail (oops) trains [the easy bit!], my train was cancelled.  I’m now writing this first entry of my blog on a crowded train to York – I will get to London!!

The planning for this trip has taken a while indeed.  I’ve felt a bit like a project manager at times and will not bore you with the details!  Suffice to say that moving house, leaving two jobs, going to a wedding in Scotland and preparing for the trip of a lifetime has kept me busy for a few months. 

Now I am finally on my way, I can stop and reflect.  Saying goodbye to many, many friends, family and acquaintances has been quite emotionally demanding.  My explanation that I am going to work as a SLT in Zambia has been met with one of three responses; (1) mild interest (2) shock (with visible mouth open) and (3) extreme enthusiasm (my favourite!)  Thank you to all of you who responded to my recent ramblings about Africa with enthusiasm, smiles and lots of questions – you know who you are and it’s much appreciated!

Okay, so I’ve never written a blog before so excuse my early attempts where the webpage may be dull and amateurish but I’ll try and improve over the next eight months.  My aim with this blog is to keep anyone interested updated on my pending adventure and hear about the experiences of a middle-aged Scottish woman living and working in Zambia.  I hope to be succinct but it’s not really in my nature (!) but will try as I think there’s nothing worse than a boring blog. I aim to write about 800 words each time.  Let’s see if my objectives of trying to be interesting, succinct and less amateurish come to fruition. Feedback is always welcome!

For those of you who may not know me or much about what I’m doing, I’ll be brief.  Having worked as a Children’s Speech and Language Therapist for about 20 years in the UK, I’ve now decided to work in Zambia.  This hasn’t been a spur of the moment decision, the notion to work abroad has really been brewing for several years.  My recent Masters in International Public Health at Leeds University in 2015 sealed the deal!  I met so many interesting people from all over the world and heard so many stories about their countries that I really wanted to see how things are for myself.  I travelled a lot after leaving school in 1983 but, since 1998, have only really gone abroad on holidays with my wonderful son, Sam.  I just want to say at this point a huge thank you to Sam, who has really and truly been my own personal IT assistant recently.  I am developing my knowledge and skills in IT and will continue to do so, believe it or not?!!

My plan is to arrive safely in Lusaka on Thursday 9^th August and then update my blog every 2-3 weeks or so.  I am going to be living in a flat in Lusaka close to my place of work and have been informed that I’ll be working full time with children with a range of communication difficulties. 

I don’t really have a clear idea of what to expect.  I’m not too worried about the heat but am not looking forward to the biting insects – let’s see how that goes.

I’m really looking forward to meeting lots of new people whom I’ve never had the chance to meet or talk to before and I’m also really excited about meeting my new clients and their families. I don’t really feel nervous but am a little apprehensive about the expectations that people may have on what I can do on my own with possibly limited resources.  I also know very little about the culture or languages in Zambia so am well aware that I will need to observe and listen a lot to begin with.  I want to keep open-minded about how different things may be and really want to learn some of the language, Nyanja.

I also love nature so am extremely excited about seeing Zambia’s wildlife.  This will really be a dream come true for me.  I’ve been researching the nature a bit and now know how to escape a hippo although hope it will never come to this!

I want to end this first blog by thanking my future employer for being so attentive and helpful and for answering my endless stream of questions.  I hope I’m travelling as prepared as I can be.  At least the unexpected disruption at Leeds Station was an instant reminder that travelling is always predictably unpredictable and ideally have something to read at all times!!

Bye for now,

Jenny

Lusaka, Capital City of Zambia