Natasha is working on several environmental activities, including two damn projects which are crucial considering the region receives only about 400mls of rain annually. Because water is like gold, the damns must be efficient. Communication is a test. It's not a matter of picking up the mobile phone and calling for advice. Phone company workers have been on strike recently, so sometimes the phone exchange won't be working for five days.
Communication is a matter of driving everywhere to get advice and supplies.
That's when you face real local issues in a real way. Natasha believes that knowing your own boundaries is crucial to whether or not people will enjoy volunteer work overseas. All the things not taught at school or university. But, because the people have welcomed her, Natasha hopes to stay on in Africa and start a wildlife-based project in Zambia or continue with the project she's working on now. Working in Africa, not travelling as a tourist, has been a fascination for me for a long time, so to fulfil that dream is far better than sitting back chatting about it in the coffee shops at home.