Teachers in the western world sometimes complain about underfunded classrooms, but imagine teaching in a school where there are no text books, or even pens, pencils or paper.

That was the situation found by Bermudian university student Rachel Willitts when she interned in a school in Zambia this summer.

Miss Willitts is currently studying early childhood education at Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada.

?I went to Zambia for missionary and internship work,? said Miss Willitts. ?I was working for a project called The Rainbow Project which is funded by humane organisations. They run community schools and outreach programmes, and feed people in need. I was able to take part in different organisations and try and help out where I could. My mission was to identify and give ideas to improve the programme.?

In a report Miss Willitts drew up for a university class, she said that her two personal goals were both spiritual, and career oriented.

?I plan to take a ?vocation? of obedience and really do some soul searching within myself, finding what it is exactly I wish to do with my career and my future,? Miss Willitts wrote.

And the experience did turn out to be character building for her, in many ways.

?In the beginning it was a culture shock to see thousands of people in these soil huts that just go for miles and miles,? she told . ?I didn?t know if I could handle it. But with sheer determination, I decided I was just going to throw myself completely into this and get involved in their community to the point where I wore African dresses and carried pots on my head, just to get in there and experience it. It was an awesome experience, one that everyone should have.?

While in Zambia, Miss Willitts slept at a local convent. During the day she had an escort for safety reasons.

?I would go out into the field and try and talk to the people there,? said Miss Willitts. ?The language barrier was a huge problem.?

Her main job was to convince the parents to send their children to the community school at the bottom of the hill, and to convince the students themselves to stay there as long as possible.

This was nearly impossible for many parents who desperately needed their children to work to earn money for the family.

Unfortunately, one of the main industries was brewing a strong beer made from molasses.

?This molasses is used to feed cattle, but they use it to brew beer,? she said. ?That beer is sold. But you also have young kids running around drinking it. These kids are constantly drunk. At night they would get themselves into trouble. AIDS is flying around. Then you have these young mothers who are pregnant and die, or you have young mothers living in the compound with five children.?

Students who attend the community school can go as far as grade five. There is little to no opportunity for the students there to go any further.

?I was telling them that it is important to go to school and learn something else, where you can make an impact,? she said. ?In the community school I tried to teach the kids a little bit of English, but I found the language barrier a real problem.

?I wasn?t able to achieve that which was frustrating. I did a lot of work with the teachers and encouraging them to put pictures on the walls so that kids could see their artwork put up.

?The kids wanted to come to school to learn, but resources were a huge problem.

There is no paper and pencils, blue tack just to hang stuff on the wall.

?I provided them with blue tack and when I left there was none left. My whole thinking about the problem had to change. My work there is still not done.?

Miss Willitts spent a lot of time chatting with teachers in the school, and getting to know their situation and struggles.

?It is daily life for them,? she said. ?They don?t really expect anything different. I sat down with them and tried to discuss their dilemmas and what they found difficult.

?They looked to me for answers. Compared to them, yes I probably did have a lot more answers, but I was also trying to learn from them. I was asking myself ?how can I be a teacher as well as a student here???

In the end she walked away with as much from the teachers as she had given them. What particularly impressed her about the Zambian teachers was their resourcefulness.

?The teachers were very creative,? she said. ?They had to think on the spot. They had to use the resources that they had and be as creative as they could. They would take the kids out into the field and make up games for them.?

Although the situation sounded grim, the community centre and school did provide the local population with new opportunities. For example, some of the women took tie-dying courses which they used to make and sell shirts.

?What they really got out of the community centre was finding other ways to make an income and not turning to the brewing of beer,? said Miss Willitts.

?Many times drinking the beer would cause them to die of tuberculosis, because the beer was so strong. It affected their lungs. I sniffed it and it blew my nostrils and they are actually drinking this stuff.?

Miss Willitts wants Bermudians to unite to help the people she met in Zambia. Teacher Jon Beard at Saltus Grammar School ? which Miss Willitts attended ? is already considering a school fundraiser for next year.

?The need is huge,? she said. ?If the Bermudian community could come together we could really make a difference for these people. You really get a different perspective on life.

?I think Bermudians could really help out.

?When I was there we were eating out of one container everyday. The container is now empty and they have nothing. We are hoping to raise money for another container.

?There is a doctor in Canada who sends containers down. If Bermuda could do a container here so we could see the outcome, I think that would be awesome.?

Money raised here could also go towards a sewing machine scheme. In these programmes one woman is given a sewing machine to start an income.

She donates part of that income back to the centre so that another girl can buy a sewing machine, and so on.

?So it is a continuation, and gives these people some sort of hope,? she said.

?I hope the community can keep it rolling.?

Miss Willitts said that she probably won?t return to Zambia next summer, but she will definitely go back.

?I promised them that my job there was not done,? she said.

?I do hope to return to continue helping the people. I feel like once you go you always have connections. When you come back you have this inner instinct that you have to do something.?

When she graduates from Ryerson, she intends to either go into special needs education or continue her education to a higher level.

?I was there for two months and it wasn?t long enough,? she said.