On the morning of the morrow, after a very restless first night of sleep on the Tazara, I was woken up by the cries of the vendors selling their goods as we stopped in one of the numerous stations along the way.After nearly 20 hours we were still in Tanzanian territory and would only reach the Zambian border by sunset. From leather belts and shoes, to shower caps, electrical tools, fried chicken, freshly picked carrots, potatoes, onions, garlic, knives, radios, practically everything may be purchased along the route.

After a cup of tea and a banana, I settled into reading Hemmingway’s “Green hills of Africa” given to me by my grandfather before departing as he knew “it was fitting for my journey”!

Days can be very long as you sit in a steel compartment for such a long period of time, however the colours and the continuously changing backdrops of the landscape provide interesting enough diversity to keep your mind off the clock and just wonder, mesmerised by the expanse and livelihood of the populations scattered, seemingly haphazardly in the middle of these great arid plains, unfazed, unperturbed.

My travel companion for the duration of the journey was a guy named Freddy Tshibanda from the DRC. He is a frequent traveller on the Tazara and quite an authority on anything African.

A graduate in computer programming his business has been diverted to importing of goods from Tanzania and supplying schools and industry with his merchandise. His English is better than that of many English folk I know and he is as widely read as any intellectual I know. His sense of humour and inquisitiveness characteristic of many I have met along my travels, especially when talking of Malta and the little Island Republic I hail from. For many, it is nearly incomprehensible that a place housing just over 400,000 people has its own internationally recognised language, President and currency.

In a land that expands beyond the setting sun, where one country hosts 72 diverse tribes in peaceful cohabitation, where one city is home for over millions and, 76 distinguished languages are shared amongst its people, it is nearly understandable that the level of curiosity reaches astonishment at times.At around 17:00 on our second day of travelling we reach the Zambian border post of Kuenda, where little boys and girls gather curiously at first on the top of the dust banks divided by the train that pulls into the station tentatively. With increasing confidence they perform playful rituals for the onlookers perched on their elbows from the dark holes in this tin can on wheels … a pre-emptive show of juvenile zeal and nimble acrobatics to attract sympathy and the odd Kwacha (Zambian currency).

On the other side of the tracks, peeping through the wire fence separating the platform from the near by settlement, a little kid has his glance fixed on me and the camera. His facial contours reshaping, from his initial curiosity to doubtful shyness, until he reconvenes with his mother selling charcoal grilled corn outside a mud-brick shack. Night falls rapidly upon the African expanse and after a relatively appetizing dinner (for train grub) of fried chicken in a tomato sauce and Nshima (Zambian staple food made of corn flour and water, stirred until like a thick porridge eaten with your hands, breaking off little pieces and rolling them into mini rugby ball shaped portions in which you create a little dimple with your thumb in order to “scoop-up” sauce, vegetables or other contornos for a very tasty morsel), sleep is an inevitable consequence. As the Nshima settles deeply at the base of your stomach, your eyelids are brought down heavily in a blurry descent to the rhythm of steel wheels over steel tracks.

By 09:30 of our third day of travelling the Train comes to rest at its final stop in Kapiri Mposhi. From there it’s a packed 200 km mini-bus ride with 19 other passengers (plus luggage’s) towards Lusaka.

Luckily Zambia is one of the most urbanised countries in Africa with a road network that is the envy of most of its neighbouring countries. Even though the driver was booked for over-capacity of the mini-bus, the trip into town was relatively comfortable and unhindered. Arriving at Lumumba bus station, the hustle and bustle of local transportation terminals is immediately overwhelming with the presence of haggling porters, street vendors, the diesel exhaust, bleating horns, smoke from burning coals and, blaring Zambian music from the packed mid-day eateries!

Weaving my way through the serpentine line of mini-buses making their way to their pre-destined dropping stations, I haggle with various taxi drivers to take me the final few kms to Kuomboka backpackers where Petr and Achim are waiting for me.

There I also meet with Isabelle, my tandem partner for the project as well as Malanga Jeff, Director of the organisation we will be working with, Breakthrough Sports Academy (BSA).

It is Thursday, 4 September by this time, and I am to spend a couple of more nights at the backpackers until the last arrangements with our host family are settled and, I can finally move into my new home for the next 3 months.

Lusaka, Zambia. Plot 6006, Flat 1, Sibweni Rd, Northmead. Residence of the Kalimanshi family where I am and will e hosted for the next three months as a volunteer on a GLEN project in collaboration with Breakthrough Sports Academy (BSA) Lusaka.

As I sit on the little front porch, surrounded by numerous plants in clay pots, the air is silent, very silent. Apart from the odd car that slowly makes its way along the pot-holed filled dirt road that divides the plot from the Rhodes park elementary school I front of us, the atmosphere is tranquil and very peaceful.

I have managed to catch up on the rest that was deprived from me whilst trying to make my way to Lusaka via Dubai and Dar-Es-Salaam. After an 11 hour night-over at Dubai international I met up with a couple of friends in the coastal town of Dar-Es-Salaam on Saturday 30 August whilst waiting for the Tazara train to Lusaka.

The two days spent in Dar revealed the immediate friendliness and joviality characteristic of East Africans. Chirpy, smiley and loud. No greeting may be started without the rudimentary handshake that comprises the formality of a typical British greeting and the more informal styled palm-around thumb shake used amongst old pals and celebrating sportsmen.

I also visited the project my friends Lara (from Germany) and Franja (from Slovenia) are participating in: a German-Tanzanian collaboration on health development in Tanzania, mainly focusing on HIV / AIDS prevention and education.

Whilst in Dar, I also managed a dip in the ocean which would be my last for at least another three months.

I was delighted to see the beach come to life as the day was starting to settle into the evening with kids playing volley ball and football to the foreground of the turquoise Indian Ocean and the green backdrop provided by the palm trees.

The white sand sparkling gold as the sun turned a fiery red. All the elements were embracing us as two little kids sat covered in sand grains munching on a freshly cut sweet coconut!

On Tuesday 2 September it was finally time for my journey towards Zambia. The Tazara train, built by the Japanese links Dar to Kapiri Mposhi, 200 kms outside of Lusaka and takes on average 40 hours (if you’re lucky). It has been recorded that the ordeal could last as long as 52. I was lucky!

With the option of 4 person first or 6 person second class sleeper differing by only $10, or the more populated 6 x super seater (no sleeper option offered), I went for first class.

In its former glory days, sheets, pillows, towels, bed lights, ceiling fans and porters were part of the deal. Nowadays, the sheets, pillows and towels are gone; bed lights and ceiling fans accumulate dust and the porters have disappeared.

Nonetheless soap, toilet paper and bottled water are supplied for you, as well as a fleece blanket, with which to cover yourself during the hours travelling through the stillness of the African plains that can become hair-raising cold.

Thanks to our timely on-scheduled departure we managed to catch a glimpse of some wildlife whilst traversing on of Tanzania's National parks.

As we puffed along the tracks, wildebeest and zebras ran parallel accompanying us mundanely just like my uncle’s pet dogs would do every time our car would enter or exit the driveway.

Antelopes would hop along small scrubs and bushes like little enthusiastic children would do playfully whilst waving us on our journey, whilst the elegant giraffe continued to munch away foliage, unbothered as the moon replaced the sun for its night shift and tucked us in to rest.

Changing the world through football

Claudia Calleja

"Sportsmen and athletes are heroes and mentors for many children who aspire to become like them... At this young age, it is important to do something to help them keep believing in their dreams... Besides, sports brings people together, it's an excellent means of communication and it's fun."

As a firm believer in the integration of sporting philosophy into children's everyday lives, Mr Azzopardi will next week be setting off to Lusaka, in Zambia, where he will be volunteering as an assistant football coach - with the ultimate objective of providing children there with skills that go beyond the sport.

These include health education, communication, teamwork, integration, leadership and confidence-building skills. Issues addressed will also include HIV and Aids, gender equality, respect for others, and fair play.

His project - entitled Youth Education through Sports (Yes) for Development - will be realised through local non-governmental organisation (NGO) Third World Group Malta that forms part of the Global Education Network (Glen).

The latter is an international non-profit organisation that aims at contributing to a better understanding of global issues including development.

Once he gets to Lusaka, where he will be staying for three months, Mr Azzapardi will be working together with other volunteers under the umbrella of the Breakthrough Sports Academy (BSA), a Zambian NGO.

Volunteers will focus on enriching the children, aged between eight and 18, through football and sporting philosophy during programmes held at the BSA's grounds.

Mr Azzopardi started planning this project soon after returning to Malta after his first voluntary work experience - in India, South Africa and South America - when he spotted an article in The Sunday Times calling for volunteers in Africa. Still intoxicated by the satisfaction he felt during his first mission, he applied.

Why does he do it?

"I say why not? Children are the world's future. If you don't provide children with love, care and attention, the world will remain in the same situation," he replies promptly.

Apart from that, he adds, there is a more self-centred reason why people should help others. "You never know what life is going to throw at you. Today you might be helping a child in Zambia, tomorrow you may help an elderly person cross the street... one day you might need help to cross the street. Unless we are aware of the benefits that extending a helping hand can have to a person's life, we're just going to continue killing each other," he says.

He adds that people have often asked him how he would be able to tear himself away from the children, who may feel abandoned after bonding with him.

"The way I see it is, at least you've done it. You're giving them something... They love the attention... and you leave there with a whole lot more than what you wanted and expected."

The Malta Football Association and Urban Jungle have donated sports gear and equipment for the children in Zambia. Mr Azzopardi is now looking for funds to help transport these objects. Anyone interested in helping or learning more about the project can visit Mr Azzopardi's web-blog http://yesfordevelopment.weebly.com .

Donations can be made by clicking:http://yesfordevelopment.weebly.com/participate.html.