Some time ago, a man from Zambia contacted me via Facebook through an international draughts page, expressing his interest in draughts. He explained that he was a teacher and wanted to use his skills to teach logical thinking to kids. I was surprised to learn that English is spoken in Zambia, but a quick check revealed that it had been a British colony in the 19th century.
After confirming his sincerity and that he wasn’t trying to scam me, I reached out to my connections in the Netherlands. I had recently bought several draughts boards for my club in Melbourne and asked if they had any older boards they could donate to my friend in Zambia. They had 12 boards and were happy to donate them. I agreed to cover the transport costs to Zambia.
However, a few weeks later, my friend hadn’t received the package at his school. The tracking info indicated it was stuck somewhere, but didn’t specify where. Penias, my friend, suspected it was at a nearby airport. He rode his bike there and found the package. Unfortunately, he had to pay a picking fee to retrieve it, despite all transport costs being prepaid. Nevertheless, he finally received the boards and pieces.


Now, he is training a number of kids and organizing tournaments. I also sent him another package with training materials to help him and others improve their skills. Unfortunately, this package faced the same delays as the previous one, but that seems to be the norm there. It’s heartening to see the boards being put to good use.
I maintain regular contact with them to check on their progress. However, life is tough as they rely heavily on corn crops. This year has been particularly bad, leading to food shortages. I feel for them, but there’s little we can do beyond supporting their education. It’s a mix of feeling good about helping and feeling bad about their struggles. It’s truly a different world there.
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