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 | Jonathan | James | Fiona | Emily | Dana | Selina | Lucy | Sally | Lucille

Friday Apr 11, 2008

I will never forget

On the Monday we started the work on the trenches and laying the pipes; the humidity was almost unbearable at times, which made it a real challenge to mattock out the dry ground beneath us, but the locals helped out and really showed us how it was done! We spent every lunch time under the shade of a large fruit tree, where the families arrived with our lunches and we waited until the midday heat had died down before starting work again. Due to it being the last phase, we really wanted to get the water project completed, so we put as many hours we could into making sure it would be done in time. During this time, we also went round and met the other families, and had many gatherings and treats given to us - it was really moving how grateful they were for us being there. Our dad, Javier, also treated us to a special Sunday meal by killing the pig that they had been feeding up for a few months. I awoke to him at the end of my bed urging me to come into the kitchen, only to see it hanging upside down from the roof, completely skinned - definitely a moment I will not forget!

Thankfully, just the day before we left, we finished at about 10am and had the water running. It was such a relief to see the water come out of the tap - it was travelling down a 9km pipe all the way up from the springs of a mountain - and the locals were even more pleased to see it. That evening, people from miles away came for the final party, and it ended up being a really special night. Our family gave a speech to both me and Alex, saying how much they will miss us and that we are like family to them; our Spanish had also improved considerably by this time, and were able to write a letter (with the help of a dictionary) about how much they meant to us also. Upon leaving that morning, it was very upsetting to see them leave. Not only had I became so close to the family, but to all the other locals as well - even the children, who were always keen to try and learn English and play games with you. Most of our group were in tears, and I had a few of my own admittedly; it was just such an incredible experience, I can't even describe it. The way they loved us and looked after us will never be forgotten, and I promised them that if I can I will one day come back and visit. It was an amazing end to an amazing expedition I've had with Raleigh. The people I've met, the things I've done and the places I've seen will never be forgotten; we are all so lucky to have had this opportunity.

Posted by James ( 9:52 AM )
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The final phase

Once I had arrived back from my trek and fully recovered from my illness and bleeding feet the 3rd phase was soon underway. Mine was community - I got Los Lores, a very remote Nicaraguan village. It was probably the most nervous I have felt about all the phases, purely due to the fact that you live with a family for 3 whole weeks and one other person who hardly speak Spanish at all. The actual project was laying pipes, as they had no clean running water; the only thing they had was a river 15 mins walk away, that wasn’t clean and quite dangerous. We had a 2 day bus ride in an American school bus before we arrived at the village, only to be greeted by all the locals. We quickly got introduced to our families and were taken back to theirs, where they fed us and showed us where we were sleeping. I was paired with another lad called Alex, who thankfully knew as much Spanish as me! Within the space of that night, we had such a laugh with our family at learning the language and hearing all about their community that we both felt straight at home. Because we had arrived at the start of Easter, there were also many celebrations that were underway, which were they were keen to get us involved in - they took us to this beautiful part of the river where we swam, went to the church service and then that even had a fiesta where we danced until the early hours. It was an absolutely amazing start to our phase and it was soon to get better.

Posted by James ( 9:46 AM )
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Wednesday Mar 19, 2008

Phase 2 - The Dragon Trek

After the 1st phase had finished, they quickly arranged the 2nd - I was placed on the Dragon Trek, arguably the toughest trek based in Costa Rica. It consists of a 19 day hike going through 280km of mountains, climbing a total height of 14,000m with about 30 kilos in weight to carry. To be honest, to say it was daunting was an understatement! But we prepared the food drops and packed our bags till they were fit to burst and had an evening of entertainment; a bbq and a huge party, which was really enjoyable. It was also my birthday - something i thought i had managed to avoid - causing one of the most embarrassing moments of having to stand upon a chair, with a cake and a hat, and have 130 people sing to me. You can probably understand why I wanted the ground to just eat me up at that point!

At half 4 that morning the mini bus took us to our location, and left us stranded there with only a compass, a map and a radio for comms. Our route consisted of going in an arch across some of the largest mountains in Costa Rica, before arriving on a deserted, untouched beach stretching for miles. The first day was through extremely dense rainforest; the experience is surreal. It is fairly dark underneath the overlying canopes, but the heat is so intense, and the physical aspect in the humidity and heat meant it was by far the hardest thing I've done. This didn't put any of us off however; we made it to our destination, but with a realisation that the next 3 weeks were to be very similar. And so they were! There were times when every person in our group really struggled, including me, but it is definately a mental barrier that you have to push through to realise your potential. The reward for climbing 5,300m in the space of 3 days was the peak of this just spectacular mountain. The peak is symbolised by a plane wing in the ground; it was where a crash happened many years ago, and is in respect of the lives lost. Which gives you an idea of how high it was. You could see for miles around; the clouds were below us, the mountains could be seen touching the horizon and you could even see where the sea met the sky. No words can explain the feeling of euphoria you recieve from these achievements, and that's what alot of the trek was like.

As we neared the beach, illness started to go around, so we decided to have a rest day at a local town, find a commuinity centre and recouparate. The locals treated us to a football match bare footed - by this time our feet had toughened up so much that any toe punt could be made without pain! We headed off early the next day, and had to put 2 days together to make up for lost time. This meant doing a 35km trek one day, which last for 14 hours. We awoke and walked in the dark, only to be still walking at 8 in the evening. By this time I had also managed to come down with an illness, which caused me unable to keep down food and general fatigue. The medic suggested I take a taxi on one of the days to allow my body to rest; being the stubborn person I am, i decided to attempt it. It was definately the hardest day of the trek, but with such amazing support from the team and also the strong desire to accomplish the day, I made it. The arrival at the beach was definately worth the wait; by this time we were tired, hungry, dirty - this didn't stop us having huge grins on our faces as we ran and dived into the warm sea, having the suns rays glisten across the white sandy beach for just miles. We had two nights there in which we set up camp and had huge bonfires, with a bbq to celebrate our acheievements. It was an amazing end to an absolutely amazing phase. I'm soon to find out my next phase, which will be community based, and I can't wait!

Posted by James ( 5:42 PM )
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Thursday Feb 28, 2008

My team

The team I was with for the first phase - 'Alpha 4' - were  very nice. At first we were all very nervous, but quickly felt more relaxed and comfortable round each other, and by the end we felt so much like a family that it was very upsetting to leave this beautiful place. Prima and the rangers set up a party for that evening to celeberate our time there, with lots of lovely food and salsa dancing (though I am still no better at it!), and a speech saying how grateful they were. In return, we made them a card and also had written a speech in Spanish that each person read - while it was hard to pronounce, they seemed even more touched by the attempt!

We left that morning and our currently back at field base waiting for our 2nd phase to be decided, so thought I would use this free time to go into the local town and use the internet cafe! Soon we will be given our new Alpha groups and be told what phase we will next be doing, so there is alot of suspense!

Adios, James x

Posted by James ( 3:39 PM )
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Getting to know the locals

The locals are very friendly, and they actually really take you under their wing and treat you as part of a family. I knew very little Spanish and was very nervous about this, but they made even me feel so comfortable. One of the rangers, Prima, cooked us lovely meals every now and then and always had a lovely smile across her face! On one Sunday she took us to their local Gospel Church; a very surreal experience. While it was only simple bits of wood with a long sheet of metal placed above offering shelter, it was very moving. At first I was worried they would feel offended by Westerners coming and watching their lifestyle, but it was the opposite. They hugged each and every one of us, danced and sang, and persuaded us to join in also! Later that day they also asked us to take part in one of the local football matches - by this time, the whole town knew of our presence, even our names. Every single person was warm and welcoming as we arrived to the pitch, only to be greeted by a football team kitted out and ready to go. We, however, weren't exactly kitted out... they lent us some t-shirts and got us to play one of the teams for a total of 60 mins. The heat was extreme, reaching 40 degrees at times, and it was fasinating to see how they managed to run at such a quick pase! Alas, we did lose 5-1, but I left with a smile on my face similar to Prima's.

Posted by James ( 3:38 PM )
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Monday Feb 25, 2008

Time out

It's nice to get some time from work now and age- while it is about challenging yourself, it is also about getting the most you can from your time there. During the 1st week we climbed Mirador - it was 3.5 km up a fairly steep slope, only to be greeted with a view that can only be described as breath taking. After watching the sunset, we set up camp. We got up in time to watch the sunrise across the land and sea, a great start to Valentines Day! During our time there we also visited a local beach on the Pacific Coast. It was literally just a white sanded beach spanding for miles, with only one or two people there.

Posted by James ( 1:19 PM )
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The first phase

 

I arrived in Costa Rica at the end of Jan to be greeted by many other volunteers, all of different ages and ethnicities. The charity I am working with is Raleigh International - it consists of 17 - 24 yr olds working overseas to help the local communities with basic needs, such as a clean water supply or flood defences. There are 3 phases - Environmental, Community and Trek.

I've currently just finished my first phase which was the environmental one - it was amazing! It was this lovely national park called Barra Honda, where we worked with the locals to provide drainage systems and also refurbishing (sp) a local school and volunteers hut. The area in total is 2,295 hectares of land, which during the dry season can be damaged by forest fires, meaning the rangers job's are extremely important for the surrounding environment. We had our camp area set out - a small part of the rainforest where we set up hammocks and an area where we made and ate our food. Our group was lucky enough to have a shower and toilet nearby, meaning we didn't have to use any streams or make long drop loos!

 

Posted by James ( 1:17 PM )
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