There's no denying it, these bloggers are bound to make you jealous. Whether it's their guts, their energy or their tan you admire, overseas volunteers have got plenty to share with you about their remarkable work in fascinating countries. Read on to find out what you could be missing.

All | Ashley | Natalie | Jonathan | James | Fiona | Community_Action_International | Emily | Dana | Selina | Lucy | Hannah | Sally | Lucille

Main | Next page »

Saturday Sep 04, 2010

First impressions

It is certainly a huge cultural transformation completing the three day journey from England to Haiti.  Flying over the beautiful islands of Bermuda and the Bahamas; reaching the flat and very developed land of Miami; swimming in the crystal clear Caribbean Sea, and salsaing in the bar of an all inclusive hotel all was an enjoyable and fearless adventure.

After being told (once I booked my flight) that the route I had chosen to take: crossing the Dominican Republic/Haiti boarder by land was unsafe, I was not looking forward to the rest of the journey.  Clutching desperately to my bags I caught the two coaches with no problems.  Once on the second coach I even started to find the whole situation quite amusing; wondering how I ended up with the responsibility of yanking open the door to the onboard toilet whist passengers clambered over luggage splayed all over the passageway.  It was unfortunate that there were a lot of older Haitians onboard with the need for very frequent trips to the toilet!

I was met by the warm faces of Reninca and Fiona at the Cap Haitien bus station, shortly followed by the rest of the team who we met at a lovely Haitian restaurant in town: a relaxed lull into a false sense of security of what was to come!

It’s amazing to see such driven and versatile people working at Haiti Hospital Appeal.  There are about 5 or 6 different projects going on at one time, which are all led by Carwyn and Reninca – the couple who head up the charity.  One minute they’re unloading containers of aid and distributing it to Port-au-Prince, the next they’re interviewing for new posts to set up a brand new community-based rehab service.

I’m thriving in helping out with as many aspects as I can get my hands on!  I’ve been invited to lead the training for the new posts: which, as much as the Disability Options Team (for those of you who know) may have given me some skills, will be a real challenge.  These case manager-type roles will need to be taught everything from the basics of what a disability is, and the importance of social inclusion (in a country where those with disabilities are commonly thought of as an act of the devil), to hands-on assessment, advice and education which families of those with disabilities so desperately need.

I completed my first day at the spinal unit today and I am completely astounded by what has already been achieved.  Many patients have gone from having foot-long  grade 4 pressure sores to being completely healed which is nothing short of a miracle.  This means that they are now able to get into their wheelchairs, making them much more independent.  The Haitian physio assistants have been brilliantly trained by staff from ‘Healing Hands’ who are a group of spinal injury specialists who have visited several times throughout the last six months to give training and advice to the permanent staff.

That’s not to say my job doesn’t come without its challenges!  Culturally, the Haitians take illness and disability to mean that they will be dependent on others.  This can be frustrating to observe as a therapist, as you want to empower the patients to lead as normal and independent lives as possible.  Nonetheless, some of the patients are highly motivated: The work they have put into their rehab, and the encouragement and help from their family members really shows.

Working in a unit where you don’t speak the language of either the patients or the staff is a very daunting task, but as the patients have already started mocking my Creole knowledge (or lack thereof), it will only make me more determined to master it!

My third major challenge is coping with the heat.  Those of you that work at RLH – leaving the heating on full blast until May is nothing compared to this!!  The heat seems to affect some patients more than others, but they definitely all seem to cope better than me at the moment.

One final note with regards to the fundraising – amazingly we flew past the target, and have so far raised over £12,500, with money still coming in.  Thank you again to all those who contributed/donated/participated/fundraised.  I will keep you posted on how the money will be used, as there are some exciting plans in the pipeline.

Lots of love

Hannah

Posted by Hannah ( 1:12 PM )
Link to this post Comments[1]

It's Ghana time...

 

 

Wayzo, encoyna Tom (Hello, my name is Tom - translated into the Ghanaian dialect Ewe)!

So here goes, after 9 months of preparation and fundraising, we are leaving for Ghana this afternoon! And what a 9 months it has been. I applied for this project as a last minute thought and my project was nearly over before it started when I realised I'd handed in my form two days late! Anyway out of nowhere I found myself sitting in front of my computer a few weeks later with a congratulatory email not quite sure what to make of it. Sitting here now with our imminent departure and I couldn't be more glad that to bea part of this International Project, it has been one of the most rewarding and enjoyable experiences of my life thanks to the friends I have made and the challenges that have been put in front of us.

 

I'll be honest that I'm feeling pretty nervous about getting out there, making a good impression and proving that I can offer something useful to the community that we are working in. I'm sure these little worries will dissolve as we get settled in but for now the nerves are still lingering! However I couldn't have asked for nine better friends to go with me to Ghana and I know we will have a fantastic three and a half weeks ahead of us and I'm sure that we'll be able to both teach, and learn from, the community in which we will be immersing ourselves for the duration. With any luck we will find a local internet cafe in Ho so watch this space for updates of how the project is going(and possibly of our 10 day travel adventure in Ghana once the project is done) : ]

Akpey (thank you),

GL! Tom

Posted by Community Action International ( 12:01 AM )
Link to this post Comments[1]

Friday Sep 03, 2010

See you in Ghana!

It is 6am and I am awake. This is unusual... more than unusual... I rarely get up at this time even when I have to be up at this time. I'm pretty sure the reason is that I'M EXCITED! Have I packed everything? What do I still need to buy? Should I pack another tshirt? ... I can't switch off! We leave tomorrow morning, when I actually will have to be awake at this time, and I think the prospect of what we're going to be doing has only just sunk in.

I have been to Africa before - Zambia in 2008 - and it was (to date) the best experience of my life. The cultural 'shock' lasted just over a week for me but I quickly became immersed into the Zambian way of life - even once being asked "Are you Zambian?" after skillfully bartering with a taxi driver :P.. It sounds like such a cliche but there was something about Africa that captured my heart... can't describe it any other way. I absolutely loved relaxing into a way of life that was so different to my own and I anticipate that Ghana will be no different. Whilst I don't want to compare the experiences, I know that the initial cultural 'shock' is likely to be the same, and I know that it will make me feel apprehensive, however I also know that I will absolutely love every second of experiencing a culture so far removed from what would be the norm in my day-to-day life.

I can't wait to begin the projects... I work in childcare and feel so passionate about giving children the best start in life. The projects aim to bring education, but also friendship. It has been our team's responsibility to create 'lesson plans' and whilst these are not set in stone, we have considered them with education at the heart. However, I believe that friendship and mutual understanding are just as important - we don't aim to 'westernise' the children's education, or enter into the projects with any assumptions about the 'right' way to do things, I hope to learn just as much as I teach, and I'm sure I will...

It has been a long 9 months.. from my interview, to planning fundraising, to doing fundraising, to planning lessons, to packing... but I have loved every second (although much of this love is rediscovered after periods of incredible stress!). Being part of Community Action has been the best thing I have done at University so far and I would recommend joining to anyone! The support we have recieved from Dave Squared has been amazing... it has been great to get to know 'the Daves' before we embark upon our trip and the level personal correspondance and dedication from them us has been a comofort and a reassurance.

24 hours and counting... see you all in Ghana!

Katie (Project Co-leader)

Posted by Community Action International ( 6:48 AM )
Link to this post Comments[0]

Monday Aug 30, 2010

Less than a week :)

I'm BUZZING for ghana in 5 days time :D I can't believe how quickly it has come about...I'd independently organised a trip to volunteer in South Africa for the summer or 2010 but had to cancel it due to unseen costs, so when the opportunity to go to Ghana arose I wasted no time in filling in the application. Being a first year student at Exeter, I was still very muchfinding my feet at uni and didn't think I had much of a shot of getting into the International Project team, but went along to the interview thinking I'd get some experience and apply again next year. Fortunately for me, I received the email a couple of days later saying I'd been successful and I was ECSTATIC! The fundraising period has been stressful at times but a brilliant way for the 10 of us going to Ghana to get to know one another. Everyone has put in so much effort and you know you're travelling with people who feel what we're doing is important. It's also a great excuse to put on crazy events and get local people interested in a good cause. I've loved it and am so pleased with how well we have done as a group. Now, with jabs completed and equipment bought, I can't wait to get out there and experience a culture so different to my own, meet wonderful people and get involved with the kids, all with a group of students that a year ago were strangers to me and now have become really good friends.

 

Ruth.

Posted by Community Action International ( 12:00 AM )
Link to this post Comments[0]

Tuesday Aug 24, 2010

'Our Free South Africa 1994'

“They are my friends”

The man stood in front of me was a middle aged man with a peaceful attitude, he said that he lived his life with a belief in reconciliation, he was inspired by Gandhi who said that he wanted to seek reconciliation and friendship with each of his opponents. It was kind of appropriate to refer to a man who had spent many years in South Africa and became inspired to fight for equality after suffering the discriminations of Indians and Black South African’s in the country during his time there.

The friends he spoke of were guards, on an island off the coast of South Africa, the guards who isolated political activists who were brave and passionate about freeing their country from the racial segregation of apartheid.

To listen to a man who had no grudges against people who had been a part of taking away his basic human rights and isolating him because of his beliefs was really admirable.

Robben Island was an ‘attraction’ I was never enthusiastic about visiting during my time in South Africa, more because of ignorance I think, I never knew its significance – I had little knowledge in terms of the country’s history, not even understanding the term Apartheid. I visited the Island with other volunteers during my final week and having been there it became the day that meant the most to me of my time in the country.  Driving around the island listening to a speaker who had a great knowledge of the Island’s history I found myself scribbling dates and names down to allow me to research more when I got home, he asked for the different countries, which we came from and linked each of our origins to the island that made you understand its importance in history.

Looking into Nelson Mandela’s cell was an experience I won’t forget but I honestly valued the speakers insights a lot more, I vaguely remember an episode of ANTM when two models argue over who gets to open the cell during a visit to South Africa and I think they missed the most importance insight into the island.

I could never begin to understand what the prisoners went through but the visit made me respect South Africa as a free country, I bought a t-shirt on my final day stating: 'Our Free South Africa 1994' and I knew I had learnt something great during my trip and I appreciate that a lot.

Posted by Natalie ( 6:04 PM )
Link to this post Comments[0]

Friday Aug 20, 2010

From London Hospital to Haiti Hospital

I am a physiotherapist working in a London Hospital with patients who have suffered neurological problems (brain and spinal cord injuries). I have now embarked on a trip to Haiti to use my specialist skills to treat some of the many patients that suffered injuries from the January earthquake.  I will initially be working with the charity 'Haiti Hospital Appeal' who set up a spinal injury ward at their hospital following this earthquake.  I envisage my main role will be around training the Haitian staff in caring and providing rehabilitation to the patients, and exploring the long-term options for the patients.

I am planning to be away for 7 months, and have taken a career break from work.  I hope to work with Haiti Hosptial Appeal for at least the first 3 months, but my work after that is yet to be decided!

I have wanted to volunteer overseas ever since I went to Ghana after I first qualified as a physiotherapist in 2006.  I worked in Ghana for two months as a volunteer physio through a structured program with a UK based charity.

Working in Ghana certainly exposed to me the challenges you are faced with when working in a developing country.  However, I am expecting the work and environment in Haiti to be a lot tougher: being one of the poorest countries in the world, it is open to a lot of violence and corruption, and it is still very much in shock from the earthquake this hit in January.

In preparation for my trip, I have been fundraising, with the aim of raising £10,000 to kit out the spinal unit with rehabilitation equipment.  My fundraising events included organising a salsa night; 'Cycle to Haiti' sports event, and a couple of 'swishing' (clothes-swapping) parties. Friends and family have also got involved : they have helped fundraise through a sponsored walk; holding a quiz night; and selling homemade cakes, cards and jewellery. So far I have raised over £9,000, but I am hoping this will reach the £10,000 target by the time I leave: I will keep you posted!

Here is my Just Giving page and the website for the charity: http://www.justgiving.com/Hannah-Steadman and http://haitihospitalappeal.org/.

 

Posted by Hannah ( 3:48 PM )
Link to this post Comments[2]

Sunday Aug 15, 2010

3 weeks to go...

So we finally found out how much we have fundraised as a group since Feburary 2010... and we made it! We exceeded our target by over 700 pounds! This comes as a great relief and is a testament to the hard work the team has put in since the begining of the year. I am so greatful to given the opportunity by Community Action to work within a team of volunteers - meeting like-minded people all striving towards one shared goal is fantastic and I cannot wait to travel to Ghana with a group that started out as volunteers, and have quickly become fantastic friends

 

Katie (Project Co-leader)

 

 

Posted by Community Action International ( 6:39 PM )
Link to this post Comments[0]

Tuesday Aug 10, 2010

A surreal memory of an oak tree

Half way through the trip I went along the Garden Route,  which is the the stretch of land along the South Eastern coast of South Africa. I went with four other volunteers with the company Marula Travel.

The first day was a lot of travelling, but this was my favourite day of the tour, because it was like travelling through a lot of different countries, the views were amazing and the sights I saw through the window of the minibus had to be one of my favourite parts of the whole trip. We stopped off at a farm during the day, where we went on a ride along the lake, it was a deserted area, and the boat was more like a raft. The man and his dog manning the boat, they served us food, homemade pumpkin pie, homemade chicken pie...basically more food than even I could manage...I am known for my large appetite. We rode along with our legs lying in the water. It was a lot of fun.

On the first night we had reached Mossel Bay, and stayed in a backpackers. We got a cheap meal nearby and played in a kids playground at the back of a restaurant, until the actual children showed up and we had to leave!  

The next day driving along some road – I have no clue where, it was a bit surreal because we were looking for an oak tree – or a tree that looked like an oak tree. The reason  was because it was the place where we would find a track down to a rock pool. The track was pretty nonexistent, and consisted of lots of rocks and scrapes along the way, but the rock pool was amazing, in the middle of nowhere swimming among murky moss (and I really don’t know what else) was a lot of fun!

We then visited a reserve where we went on a quad bike safari, the safari itself wasn’t too impressive because we had been on a previous safari which was one of the best around and this one was limited in its funds and land, the owner was so enthusiastic for visitors and the accommodations were beautiful but he had little custom and was struggling with his dream, which was really hard to see. It had so much potential but lack of advertising and money was really frustrating for him. A few weeks later our guide found out that he had sold up and it was under new management.

The weekend was capped off going and watching Izzy one of the volunteers, doing the world highest bungee jump, I wanted to...I really did...hmmm, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it, but later that afternoon I did do a skydive, I text my mum about ten minutes before the jump telling her and then went up in a plane and jumped out. I have a serious phobia of roller coasters, which all my friends have given me a lot of stick over now I’ve jumped out of a plane. I was rewarded for being so brave by breaking my hand on the landing which then cost me 1500R to fix, basically £150 I didn’t have. But it’s a story to tell!

Posted by Natalie ( 6:33 PM )
Link to this post Comments[0]

Thursday Jul 29, 2010

Ghana 2010

Hello! We're Katie, Marcey, Tom, Josh, Maisie, Ruth, Liz, Amy, Laura and Becca, and we make up the 'International Project' run by Exeter University's volunteering society, Community Action.

Community Action are a student-led volunteering society at the University of Exeter, offering students numerous volunteering opportunities in the local community. Last year the 'International Project' was born, bringing the success of Community Action's local projects to Ghana. Ten students travelled to Ho in Ghana's Volta region to work with the non-profit, grass-roots organisation Dave Squared Volunteering on a number of community projects and this year we're going back! Projects we will be working on in Ghana include: assisting in an orphanage, running a 'summer school' for children during their school holidays and coaching youth football.  

The entire team were selected by interview. Myself (Katie) and Marcey were appointed Project Leaders by the society and we then had to try our hand at interviewing! After a week of interviewing over 30 possible candidates we made our selection. It was incredibly difficult process and was always a worry for us that we would pick individuals who did not mix well - fortunately for us everyone has got along fantastically (thus far..!!).

The project is entirely fundraised for by the International Project team and since September we have done so extensively. We have thus far: mastered the art of speed-baking and all put on a few extra pounds hosting a number of bake sales, become packing pros through bag-packing sessions in local supermarkets, given a presentation about our project at a university-run 'Africa Nite', hosted two sponsored football tournaments, approached slightly-worse-for-wear-and-thus-very-generous student clubbers during night-club raiding and run our very own 'Take me Out' event – a one-off dating show for Exeter's students. We have also been fortunate enough to benefit from a number of donations from volunteers, enthusiastic lecturers and the Exeter University Alumni Foundation, of which we are extremely grateful. We also have a collection at London Victoria station coming up in the next week which will hopefully ensure we have met our target - we are yet to find out if we have done so, fingers crossed we will be able to update very soon with positive news!

Katie (Project Co-Leader)

 

Posted by Community Action International ( 3:41 PM )
Link to this post Comments[2]

Saturday Jul 10, 2010

Sinethemba Special Needs Care Unit

"In a lot of African countries getting a child with a disability is considered to be a curse" *

 It is this cultural attitude, which makes development of special needs funding in Africa of such importance.

Along with economical and legislative restrictions traditional attitudes towards having a child with disabilities has meant a troubled past in the area.

Sinethemba Special Care Unit, is a school for special needs children up to the age of eighteen, I chose the placement because disability is something that I had never worked with and sometimes is too easy for people to ignore, this was highlighted to me when it was ranked least popular out of the 40 projects in South Africa offered by the company. It's unfair because the children I met whilst I was there are as equally deserving as any other child.

The project was run by a previous volunteer after seeing the need for progression of special needs funding and availability of resources in South Africa, the school is a credit to her, it receives a high level of interest from various companies and has a lot of funding as a result. Despite wanting to learn more about special needs during the project, I never got around to it, because I spent all my time running around after the most energetic children I have known. There were so many characters; Leo who would pull your hair, eat sand, and get away with anything because it was impossible to be mad at him, Inathi who we once found underneath his wheelchair, another boy had been pushing him around and it had toppled over, he was sat smiling, I couldn't believe he hadn't cried, he just found it funny. Sesethu, eight going on eighty, shouting at you in Koso, pointing her finger at you in frustration annoyed that you were stood smiling at her in amusement.

The hardest part about working at the school was the limited effect that I could have on the children's learning, when other volunteers from placements in mainstream school would come home and talk about how they had taught the children numbers and colours, I would be thankful if the children could remember and pronounce my name the next day.  It took me a while to be grateful for the little steps that the children took whilst I was there. My favorite moment was during my last week, when a young boy at the project said his name for the first time to me during a horse riding trip. It may seem like a small step but it was big for Bukho. It made me smile.

* Quoted from http://www.isec2000.org.uk/abstracts/papers_g/grol_1.htm

Posted by Natalie ( 6:31 PM )
Link to this post Comments[3]

Thursday Jun 03, 2010

Amazingly disasterous

"Five beautiful ladies, which shall I kill first?"

This pretty much sums up my first day in Cape Town; uncomfortable conversations and random situations.

A rambling local greeted us when we got off the train in Cape Town Station offering someone on the phone '10,000Rand for the girl on the left'. He smiled at us giggling, and we laughed nervously back. I realised later that he was simply making fun of the European view of the 'murder capital' that after ten weeks I found to have a little less substance than originally suggested to me. It was people who had never travelled who told me about the stereotypes of Cape Town and South Africa in general and after my trip I think their views to be a little subjective.

Our trek up Table Mountain fitted into the unplanned aspect of the day, we began in the early morning on what should have been a two hour hike up the mountain and emerged six hours later exhausted, bright red and defeated having failed to reach the top. Hung-over from the night before we had set off onto the Pipe track route and cut across onto the Diagonal Route, three hours into the hike we hadn't seen anyone for at least an hour and we were on what can only be described as cliff top edges. One girl was praying to God sat with a Chanel shoulder bag and designer glasses on, one girl was climbing in bare-feet having abandoned her flip-flops a good while ago and another panicking trying to recall emergency numbers!!

Having said that it was a fantastic accident, because the views were unreal and sitting on the mountain with no one else around eating basics crackers and bananas was actually pretty amazing.

After the mountain we went to Camps bay, which is a hot tourist area, unfortunately being a group of backpackers dressed head to toe in 'scrags' and sweaty and bedraggled from a trek up a mountain got us disapproving looks. I wouldn't say the area was a true beauty of South Africa but it is worth a visit, if only to see hundreds of visitors crying in agony from cramp that the literally freezing water promises.

One problem that we found was that Cape Town trains finish at around 7pm unknown to us, we got to the station at 7.05pm and missed our last train, we found ourselves cramming eight people into a six person taxi, which the taxi drivers encourage if only for the big fare they can gather. This is not advisable as we found ourselves pulled over by the police at 9pm in the middle of nowhere. The taxi driver got a 600Rand fine and increased the fare!

The night ended in typical fashion being pulled over in a taxi by the police in the middle of nowhere after we missed the last train, nine of us crammed into a six person taxi avoided the disapproving glances of the officers. I inappropriately laughed out loud finding the whole day hysterical and amazing because it was my first weekend in Cape Town and I will always remember its disastrously brilliant events!!

FYI we returned the next week and made it to the top and walked through a cloud: highly advised activity.

 

Posted by Natalie ( 3:27 PM )
Link to this post Comments[5]

Monday May 10, 2010

Life in a Township - Please read now now!

My project was working with special needs children in a care unit called Sinethemba meaning 'we have hope'. The school was opened recently, however previously had been located in another township a few minutes away called Ocean View. Though more 'built up' than other townships I saw, Ocean View has many social problems, drug addiction is high in the area with a lot of parents passing their addictions onto young children and there is a lot of anti social behaviour. Graffiti and robbery was common on the school site and hence the owners made the decision to move it to the sister township Masiphumellele, a black township. 'Masi' was seemingly more deprived than Ocean View in the sense that shacks and poor housing was more extreme in the area, however during the time I spent there it was also very colourful and full of life and in this way I think a better site for the school.

I didn't actually realise I would be working in a township until my first day (it was a little late by then to turn back) and I admit I was extremely worried about how I would be received by the inhabitants. Crime was also high in the area with other volunteers I worked with at one point being approached a knifepoint for their valuables. From the first day I carried a purse, which clipped on the inside of my trousers and always dressed conservatively. I think this was important both to avoid any attention and also as a sign of respect. Unemployment is extreme in the township with the majority of people out of work and so to walk around with hundred pound camera's and lots of money is not the brightest idea. On the very odd occasion I took my camera into the school the staff didn't understand how to use them or even which way to hold them, it is a luxury they don't have the chance to experience.

However I don't want people to be put off working in a township because it was one of the main highlights of my trip, there is no better way to see culture then spending time with local people. From the taxi buses, with their personalities (e.g. sexilicious!), drivers with pink hair and funky designs and rickety old vans disguised as taxi's, the people who are so laid back and on African Time, 'now' means any time in the future, 'now now' means NOW, and the general life and music within the area its an amazing place to be.

Where the local's are concerned some may stare for the first couple of times you are there- it is very uncommon for white people to travel by mini bus taxi (I often received comments such as you're brave) let alone enter a township, but the people who live there will welcome you and look out for you and I was there for ten weeks and enjoyed every day.

 

 

Posted by Natalie ( 5:18 PM )
Link to this post Comments[1]

Monday Apr 26, 2010

An unplanned adventure

In September last year I booked a volunteering trip to South Africa, in January this year I travelled from Manchester-Paris-Johannesburg-Cape Town. It was a spontaneous gap year adventure, which I put absolutely no thought into. Each person I explained my trip to would give me a concerned look  when they realized I would be travelling 'alone' and this only increased when they learned I was going to be based in South Africa. My answer was not to think about about travelling somewhere I had read was one of the 'murder capitals' of the world. I did no research and went into the experience blind, but I think this was mainly because if I thought too much about it I might back out. However in hindsight the misconceptions and ignorance which surrounds South Africa is immense. I strongly believe it is one of the most cultural, unexpected and misunderstood places I will have ever visited.

My name is Natalie and I am currently on a gap year after finishing college where I studied Biology, Chemistry and Maths, simply because not knowing what I wanted to do with my life studying Maths and Science seemed like a reasonable option. At college the idea of a gap year was something many people didn't even entertain, it was expected that everyone would go from school to college to university to full time work. I wanted to take a year out to spend time volunteering on a more permanent basis and on a project that I could commit my time fully to, I also wanted to travel and do something which for me was out of character to build my confidence and have fun before studying a three year degree. In September I am studying Biomedical Science at Newcastle University, I'm not sure where that will take me in terms of a job but I'm interested in human anatomy so it seemed like a good place to start

Despite travelling alone, being based in a volunteer house with other lone travellers all working on various projects within Cape Town made the experience a bit less intimidating. The people I met and stories I have because of them was honestly probably one of the best aspects of my trip and I don't think I would have had half the experience I had without them. I booked my trip with a non-charitable organisation called I-to-I that places volunteers in Africa, Asia, Australia and South America on projects based in disadvantaged communities. My project was in a township called Masiphumelelle working in a Special Needs school, during my orientation I was told by my supervisor that disability in Africa had been related to witchcraft, it was something sinister and 'un-normal', the school began when a previous volunteer saw the poor investment in special needs care and wanted to build a learning environment for the children who had been born with a condition that forces all kinds of restrictions on their lives.

 

Posted by Natalie ( 11:48 AM )
Link to this post Comments[4]

Monday Nov 02, 2009

First post from India

I have been in India for nearly three weeks now and it really has just flown by in a whirlwind of travelling, strange food and even stranger people! We flew from Heathrow on the 13th October in the evening, arriving at Delhi at about lunchtime India time = a bit of jet lag! From there we all piled on the oldest rustiest least ever MOT'd bus around (well maybe not quite) with 44 suitcases piled upon the roof and set of on what turned out to be a seven hour sweaty cramped bus journey to Jaipur.

Once we arrived in Jaipur it was late and we literally went straight to our host families, which was where we were to stay for the next three nights with three other volunteers. Even by this time friendships were forming and our stays with our host families really reinforced such friendships. I was fortunate enough to stay with quite a wealthy Indian family. They had two children, both whom had got degrees and moved away from home; one to New York and one to Delhi. The father was a doctor and he owned his own practice and the mother was a housewife - a housewife with a cleaner may I add! They had both lived in Manchester for about three years I think it was about ten years ago and therefore spoke good English and were very aware of the differences in culture we were experiencing. They do prep you for a bit of culture shock but I was genuinely upset and intrigued by what I had seen already, one day into the trip. Obviously as a bus load of English people we were continually approached by beggars; in particularly mothers with children. The one time which stands out in my mind is when we had briefly stopped at a toll station and a mother came running over to our open windows with her naked, skeleton-like baby in her arms and an empty bottle, screaming and shouting "please, money, milk PLEASE". We had been told that all beggars are not genuine cases, there is a lot of almost gang culture (begging for money for milk then taking back to families for other things) and it was best that we did not initiate eye contact or give any money to these beggars. My heart was aching inside having this woman and baby reaching up to my window to grab me and me having to look away. I wondered at that point what I had let myself in for.

Within the coming days around Jaipur and staying with the host family I did become ever-so-slightly hardened to such things. I think the thing that did it for me was when a friend of mine offered a young girl, aged about four of five a packet of crisps when she was begging for food. The young beggar frowned and said NAHI (no) and said "money". She was turning down the food, insisting on money. That made me realize that actually there is a lot more behind the front of these children; their lives are much more complex that what we appear to see on the street and by us handing over money we are not actually helping their lives as we think we are doing.

While we were in Jaipur we watched a Bollywood movie, went shopping for traditional clothing at the market, celebrated Divali with our host families and visited Amber Fort for an elephant ride/tour. After three days in boiling hot Jaipur we said goodbye to our families and got on a sleeper train; which was an experience in itself. Locals must have had a right laugh at us all trying to lug suitcases and rucksacks onto a narrow small train and find our seats. We blocked up aisles and got ourselves in a right pickle! Eventually sorted we settled down for an evening of cramped fun on our bunk beds of three, all paranoid about the mice and cockroaches spotted just about everywhere on the train! After a very long journey, a total of 14 hours we got off the train at about 6am and half-asleep got onto another bus for a lovely bumpy journey up into the Himalayan Mountains! Some amazing views, wildlife and some mind-blowingly-annoying snoring were seen/heard over the next few hours while we crept up and up as the roads got narrower and narrower and we all began to go "argh!" and "eekkk" louder and louder. The bus driver, obviously used to driving like a centimeter away from a cliff edge found us all very amusing! At last we arrived at our house in Bandla, Palampur! We all sleepily got off the bus and sat down to our first meal together in what was going to be home for the next nine or so weeks!

I will skip the boring-normal-settling in period and get onto some juicy stuff!
A few days after arriving at our house we chose and visited our new work areas. I was working at Rajnali which was about a (gradual) forty-five minute walk up the mountain in front of the house. I was based in the school with four fellow volunteers and two more were going to be working in the Day Care Center. Me and two other volunteers were going to be teaching Grade One in the morning and then we all joined together to do community work and construction in the afternoon. All was hunky dory, apart from legs which were going to go on strike and my tummy which felt like it had been cut off from the world! (I'm officially not a fan of traditional Indian food - only of our takeaways at home which are just completely different in every possible way!)

Our first day of work soon came upon us and we set off on the lovely walk to Rajnali village to meet our class. We had eleven in our class aged between three and six and as we soon learnt a wide range of abilities. Some children were writing and reading english words and doing addition and subtraction whilst others were unable to write or recognise numbers one to ten or A-Z. So to say we have a challange on our hands is an understatement right now! But hey, thats what I'm here for - a big fat challenge and I've sure got that!!
More to follow . . .

Posted by Ashley ( 2:27 PM )
Link to this post Comments[3]

Saturday Sep 26, 2009

A New Stranger!

Hey There!

My name is Ashley; I am 19 years old and a brand spanking new Platform 2 volunteer!

Platform2 is a fully-funded programme ran by the Department for International Development (DFID), Christian Aid and BUNAC. Together they give young people, like me and (maybe) you aged 18-25 years old the opportunity to volunteer in developing countries and to really make a difference.

I "stumbled" across the scheme whilst researching independent GAP years and realizing that even the shortest and cheapest of opportunities were way our of my financial leave and beyond my level of traveling expertise; the vaccines, visa's and insurance all just dazed me!)

I applied, writing a bit about why I thought I would be a deserving and suitable candidate for the programme and was delighted to shortly after be called for interview. After a very thorough interview in Leeds, and a unnervingly long wait I was offered a place on the trip departing 13th October 09 to India and I was over the moon! Wow, I thought to myself, this is actually happening. It's actually happening to me and excitedly shared the news with family and friends whilst awaiting further information as to the finer details of what I would be doing. Sure enough, following my news of acceptance I was overloaded with a constant stream of project information, vaccine checklists, insurance forms, health screening questionnaires, health clearances, visa applications, kits lists etc. I knew then that I was going to be well looked after and that the guys at Platform2 well and truly knew what they were doing!

I learnt that I was to be traveling from Heathrow on the evening of the 13th October 2009 to Delhi with up to forty seven fellow volunteers aged between 18 and 25 from the UK. Lots of people in the same boat as me, phew I thought to myself! Following the flight, a nice long coach journey to Jaipur was in order where we were going to stay for three nights with a home stay/local family. Those three days are our time for in country orientation, to buy our local conservative dress and experience some amazing cultural experiences.

We would then have another, equally as lovely and equally as long journey this time by train with sleep compartments to near our destination. As a final leg of a killer journey, a three to four hour coach journey would take us right up into the mountains to reach Palampur, Himachal Pradesh, North India – our final destination! Yay!

Living in a volunteer house in dorms of four I am going to have the luxury of western style flushing toilets and running water, even if it is only cold! This makes me laugh. When I tell my friends this, their reaction is URGH, cold water! Then telling them there is no bath/shower, just a bucket and scoop to accompany the cold water the gasps of disgust and "HOW much are you getting paid for this" more often than not follow!! My reaction being "nothing, it's just going to be THE most amazing experience and I am just relieved that the toilets are in fact westernized, not squats" usually fazes them quiet!

Anyway, ten km over the river is Kandi (that's going to be a long morning dip) in which five villages make a population of approximately four to five thousand people. Many of these belonging to the Gaddi tribe and over eighty percent living below the poverty line, this is where we, as Platform 2 volunteers are going to reach out to.

How I hear you ask? Through many forms I answer. Mainly through the education system (schools, preschools), pregnant woman, tutoring, street work, computer courses, woman empowerment sessions, sports and coaching and local manual labour. As Kandi is a very child-care based project I was soooooo chuffed with my placement!

So time flies, and here I am sat here with exactly three weeks until I fly from Heathrow to Delhi. With the last of my injections on Thursday and my VISA application opening tomorrow I am physically ready to go almost but I am still finding it hard to believe it is actually me who is going! ME?! Going to India for ten weeks volunteering! ME?! Washing with a bucket and scoop – what about exfoliation and moisturizing?! ME?! Needing a backpack for day trips – I wonder if a new shoulder bag from accessorize will count?! ME?! Swallowing those massssiivvveee Malaria tablets?!

This is going to be the biggest, most amazing and life changing experience of my life and I plan to keep you guys updated every step of the way (or at least as often as India's dial up will let me!).

Stay tuned (or maybe that should be dialed up)!

Posted by Ashley ( 3:59 PM )
Link to this post Comments[6]