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

Wednesday Aug 26, 2009

Haiku for the end

Is this Sapitwa?
Hand in hand we seized each step
To descend alone

*Sapitwa is the name of the highest peak of Mulanje Mountain, the mountain which overlooked our Malawian host community. It is the third highest mountain in Africa, and strikes a powerful pose over the pancake-flat landscape of southern Malawi. Its name means "unreachable".

I wrote this little haiku this morning. I’d forgotten to leave time for my contributiont to the last ever GX newsletter, but knew I had something to say after our 6 months of volunteering together. And this little poem came out, making me a little sad actually.

I was really looking forward to being home again - there’s so much I’ve missed, and it’ll be lovely to be back with people from home, and walking the dog through the lovely woods and moors surrounding my village.

But let’s not kid ourselves - leaving is a truely sad thing. As a team of 18 very different young people, we have always cared for each other passionately, and really have spent 6 months pulling each other through swamp and sunshine. I really love my host home too, but now it’s time to go, not really to come back. I’m loving my placement too, and I’ll miss spending my week days with my wonderfully fun and sweet supervisor. And, I will miss my counterpart very dearly. We’ve had a strong six months together.

There’s so much to enjoy still, that no one really feels like moping about looking glum all day. The sun has been hovering over Norfolk for nearly our whole stint here. We have trips, celebrations and meals out every day until we leave. We’re surrounded by people we love! And we’ve achieved and grown so much, and have so many happy memories.

I think the end of the program is hardest for the Malawians. A lot of them joined the program from homes where, materially-speaking, they had nothing. And that is where they are going back to. There’s no use pretending otherwise.

Those of us who are more privelidged can see GX as a springboard to a really fullfilling future brim-full of opportunities. I’ve always chased my dreams - even the most ridiculous ones - because for me it is true that “The dreamers of the day are dangerous people, for they dream their dreams with open eyes, and make them come true” (T.E Lawrence).

But when you’re trapped in a poor rural village, one of 7, 8, 9 children of poor parents, in one of the worlds poorest countries, sometimes dreams can only be that- dreams. I hate that. But reality is both wonderful and harsh, and mundane. "Thunder and rainbows from the same sky". Never give up hope and optimism, because they will always carry a person far. But only so far. A person's means can't be disregarded.

I do believe that everyone can go home after GX and live fulfilling lives. We can be healthy in body and mind if we want (to be a bit Buddhist about it!). But it’s hard to be satisfied with a simpler life, with narrow boundaries, after you’ve seen and learnt so much. You want to go far,  make a difference, use the talents you now know you have.

I hope really hard that the wonderful, talented, much-loved Malawians I've been with are able to fulfill their bright potentials. How realistic is it they they will all have that chance? I can't say.

Posted by Sally ( 8:59 AM )
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Wednesday Aug 05, 2009

An interview with my host Dad in Kings Lynn

Clive stepped in to rescue Sally and Wanangwa from GX homelessness a couple of weeks ago, and they were lucky to find him! On the practical front, he has two spare rooms and was willing to host the only mixed-sex counterpart pair. But more importantly, he is an awesome, down-to-earth, kind guy who any volunteer would feel lucky to live with. His living room overlooks King’s Lynn’s beautiful park, so the pair have easy access to all the delights that King’s Lynn has to offer (!). A 45 year-old fireman and born-again Christian with four teenage sons not living at home, he may not match the typical profile of a GX host parent. Still, Clive has quickly become the favourite with Team 88. So let’s find out what Clive has to say about the “GX-perience” (sorry- *groans) after two weeks of hosting:

Welcome Clive! Can we start by finding out why you decided to be a host parent?

Well, I think my answer to that is one people might find interesting. I imagine most people host because of a wish to help out the volunteers, but it wasn’t like that for me. I was having a conversation about the program with Lindie at a church barbeque, and although my house has always been available when people in the church have needed rooms, I’ve never felt I wanted to offer it to them before. But as soon as Lindie talked about the students, I felt I had to give the spare rooms to them. To say it clearly, I thought it was a calling from God saying, “Open your house to these people”. I bet that’s different from the other answers you’ve had isn’t it?!

So what were your expectations or worries before hosting?

My only worry was obviously going from having the freedom of my own house to having other people there. I didn’t have any conceptions or worries about what you’d be like.

So you weren’t scared by the thought of having two unknown teenagers in your house?

Well, I’ve got the bonus of having four sons in their teens, so the idea of having two young people in my house didn’t phase me at all.

And what challenges have you faced so far?

“Challenges” is a strange word to use. I’d say more “adaptations”: adapting to thinking about people again in my own home environment; having to think more about food, like how to cater for the two of you. In terms of challenges, one is communicating to you both equally. Obviously when Wanangwa is here, it’s not so easy to talk to him.

What have you enjoyed about hosting so far?

At the moment it’s nice to have company and just talk to people about things I don’t usually get chance to talk about, like Wanangwa’s home and work, how the day’s been… And it’s been nice to be able to take you out to things like the judo we’ve started going to.

We’ve not been here long, but is there anything you’ve learnt yet from being a host parent?

I’ve learnt how to play some guitar chords! (Should I write that?!) Yeah, put it down! And I can say I’ve learnt something about Malawi, which I knew absolutely nothing about before.

Really? So, what did you know about Malawi before?

No, really nothing. I mean, I would have probably guessed it was in Africa. Another thing I’ve learnt, which is really just confirmation of what I’ve learnt before from interacting with lots of different people, is that we’re all the same, no matter what country you’re from. Meeting Wanangwa, for example- he’s not like a different being! He’s just a person like everyone else.

I think that’ll do. Thanks a lot Clive!

Thank you!

Posted by Sally ( 2:18 PM )
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Scandalous Youths Getting Rich from Voluntary Work

 

Here's a poem I wrote for our newsletter:

The press cry that, "Youths are all thugs,
Who scare grannies, form gangs and take drugs!"
If they opened their eyes,
To our lifestyles worldwide,
Would they see they're being taken for mugs?!

Would they recognise Global XChange?
A program no doubt they'd find strange!
"Youths who work overseas?
Then back home (if they squeeze
In the 18-25 age range)?!"

In both countries volunteers live,
With host parents willing to give,
Their hearts (and a room),
To young volunteers whom
The Sun warns you just CAN'T live with.

But our team, Team 88,
Will never give way to such hate.
We care for each other,
Like sisters and brothers,
And, frankly, I think we're all great!

So for six months we don't earn a penny,
But find we grow richer than many,
'Cos though work for yourself,
May bring masses of wealth,
You'll find your mind won't amass any.

 

Posted by Sally ( 2:11 PM )
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Friday Jul 31, 2009

From YMCA to jammy lodgings

Hello!

I'm sorry for not updating recently. I think it's symptomatic of being back in your own country that things seem less exciting and worth talking about, even when, on reflection, you've done and been through a lot.

After 2 weeks of uncertainty in Ealing YMCA, we finally moved to our host community in King's Lynn. Still, I was one of 8 volunteers who still had no host home! After a week or so about 30 minutes out of King'sLynn in a travel lodge with my counterpart but no bus service, "The House" was finally found!

And it was lovely: a large, old, terraced house near the centre of town, with an enourmous kitchen, light spacious rooms, a patio and barbeque area and my own huge, fluffy double bed! It means so much to have a permanent house, and I relished the freedom to cook and choose my own food after so many weeks of being catered for.

Still, it was a house, not a home. In addition,the novelty of house-training 5 messy boys wears off surprisingly quickly! So, I was extremely happy when about two weeks ago I learnt that I finally had a proper host home! I'm now living with a single dad and firefighter, who is -in my view- undoubtedly the best host parent . My counterpart and I are also a little jammy with the location, since we are again in a lovely terraced house overlooking the park, on the same road as the volunteer house I lived in previously. Unlike the other volunteers, who are trapped in their villages by terrible public transport, 10 minutes walk takes me to the town centre, and 15 minutes gets me to my work placement. The satisfaction I've felt from having a home and a "family" of sorts made me reflect onthe homeless people we lived with in the YMCA, and I was really glad when we were able to do some fundraising for the local omeless shelter last week.

I was lucky enough to be given the volunteer placement I really wanted. I'm now working in  Development Education Centre called NEAD, and it is really great work. Before the summer holidays began, we were going into schools to help with a program aimed improving community cohesion by increasing children's understanding of and enthusiasm for other countries. Each class studied one country, with someone from that country. They tried cooking and eating the food, learnt traditional dances, learnt about the geography and lifestyel... as much as could be squeezedin, but always in a fun way. And on the alst daythey shared what they'd learnt on a "One World Day" that was just magical. The children were loads of fun, and the teachers all seemed worthy of knighthoods, if not sainthood (lots of religious schools!!!); it almost made me want to be a primary teacher.

Now It's really interesting learning about all the different cultural items, as it gives a real insight into the coutnries we'reworking on. It is hard to focus all day, but I'm seeing this as a learning opportunity as my sister tells me there'll be a lot of that at university (yipee...). I think this job is another one I'd seriously consider for the future, as combining development and education is right up my street!

Other things we've been involved in include a weekend break/ mid-phase review at the seaside, an upcoming African night at an eco "hideaway", fundraising on the street for the local homeless shelter, planning fundraising for the Malawian volunteers to use for community projects back home, making steps for the Queen's Sandringham estate (I hope Her Majesty doesn't trip on them, they're not very even...), and enjoying the king's Lynn music festival (S Club 3, Beverly night, and Britain's Got Talent "nearlies"!!!), probably as well as all manner of thing's I've tragically forgotten.

And now, true "veggy returned to the UK" fashion, I'm off to eat my lentil and spinach soup. Thanks for reading.

 

Posted by Sally ( 10:05 AM )
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Tuesday Jun 30, 2009

Could you live on £15 a week?

One challenge is the GX allowance. £15 a week is all we have to live on, outside of food and accommodation costs. It’s actually quite good for me, since it’s stopping me buying all those naughty treats which inundate vulnerable civilians who dare to wander the streets of Ealing. This is good for developing good budgetting and dietary habits before the total freedom of University hits me in October. People can supplement their allowances with their own money, but I’d rather learn to live on £15 a week; why not, if you know you can?

We’re staying in a YMCA at the moment, which is both a challenge and an opportunity. The residents come from different backgrounds, but most are fairly troubled: some are here because they’ve got leanring difficulties, so need some extra support; others are homeless; others are recently out of prison... I don’t know every reason, but none are here just through their own choice. Mealtimes etc can be a very lively experience, especially if you end up with more beans than the person behind you etc etc! But really, nearly all the residents are extremely welcoming, friendly and curtious towards us- lively young peopeleare often actually the masters of such courtesy, I find! Anyhow, it makes life more interesting, and complements our program’s aim to teach us about development and social problems in the UK.

We're looking forward to moving to King's Lynn, and finally settling into our host homes. But until then, there's no risk of boredom in London. We've seen the sights of central London, prepared for the King's Lynn phase, helped teach salsa to the elderly, cleared half a lawn full of nettles at a YMCA, rediscovered shopping, met another GX group for their farewell party, watched a film and attended a meeting about climate change... Life is full to the brim!

Posted by Sally ( 10:43 AM )
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Tuesday Jun 23, 2009

From Malawi to Norfolk

My Global XChange team (GX team 88) have now completed Phase 1: our 12-week stay in Malawi. Now, it's onto Phase 2, for which we'll be spending 12 weeks in a host community in the UK. For the lucky team 88, that means 12 weeks by the sea in Kings Lynn, Norfolk! We'll again be volunteering with local organisations, living with local families and learning about global citizenship together, but of course this phase will be a totally different experience; Malawi and the UK really are worlds apart, and just as the Malawians have a lot to learn from living in the UK, we UK volunteers and our host community have a great deal to learn from the Malawians and how they judge and cope with life here. I'm personally really looking forward to this opportunity to learn about hardship in the UK, as I've always lived in a fairly comfortable environment, in an area with relatively few social problems. Kings Lynn is also far more diverse than my virtually monocultural home, so that living here will give me a far deeper insight into the diverse make-up of our country.

There are a few things to consider before I get started. Our team is down from 20 to 18; we’ve lost a program supervisor to illness, and a malawian volutneer to discipline (though she'll be coming back soon, after an apology and commitment to be better!). Because of these problems, we’re stil in London, and will be here for nearly 2 weeks in total, though we were meant to leave for our new host community -King’s Lynn- just a day after arriving here!

This caused some emotional confusion after all the excitement and anticipation built up around phase two. As one volunteer said, rather poetically in his gruff Welsh accent, “up feels like down and left feels like right”! But we’re over the initial troubles now it seems, and are actually really enjoying London. We've had chance to explore our nation's capital with people who've never left Malawi, and we've had loads mroe time to bond as a team before being sent to individual host homes in counterpart pairs.

It’s been really special showing the Malawians the UK. Only one has ever been out of Malawi, so escalators, lifts, huge multi-storey buildings, fast trains, the tube, big red buses, our nice clean, finsihed-looking streets, Primark, even beds with mattresses and hot showers… everything is unfamiliar to them. We're worried by the idea they're forming that, “The UK is a thousand thousand thousand thousand times better than Malawi”; UK volunteers all felt a lot happier in Malawi, where people are so friendly and communities are so strong.

The Malawians haven't been impressed by everything of course. We did a tour of London on Saturday, and although seeing the Queen on her birthday and visiting the missionary Dr David Livingstone’s grave were higlights, they weren’t so impressed by the naked bike ride we stumbled excitedly upon. “It was disgusting” was the comment of my own counterpart!!! He thought that people with such disgusting bodies (his view, not mine!) shouldn’t be allowed to show them in public! Others were more openminded, and enjoyed the chance to see what white people looked like underneath their clothes!

Immediately after this, we walked along the south bank near the London Eye, where there were all manner of street performers, again celebrating the eccentricity and individual freedom integral to British culture. My counterpart very much enjoyed the street performers' acts, despite believing that they were using Malawian-style magic to acieve their feats. I tried to use this opportunity to explain the importance of this freedom and individuality in British culture,and thereby highlight the wonderful side of the naked bike ride. He aggreed freedom was very good, but when I then swung it round to the naked cyclists’ case... well, "freedom, yes, but with clear restrictions"!

He he. Still it’s all good and they do seem to be enjoying life here.

Posted by Sally ( 9:46 AM )
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Thursday Jun 18, 2009

Thinking about the global issues

GX is a great program, because as well partaking in such practical voluntary work, volunteers also learn about global issues surrounding development,. To enable them to be more effective global citizens in the future. Every week, two volunteers host a “Global Citizenship Day (GCD)”. Through these, we’ve learnt about topics such as climate change, poverty, HIV, community cohesion, community development and religion. GCDs are also a great opportunity to develop teamwork and leadership skills, which are central to the GX program and life beyond.

There are other avenues for developing our understanding of development issues. This has been the first time I’ve lived in Africa and, I suppose as expected, I’ve seen that development here is very low. There are decent main roads connecting towns, but the 85% of the population that lives rurally has no such facilities. There are health centers spread across the country, but standards aren’t great, and many citizens aren’t educated to use them. Only primary education is free, and even then many don’t attend because of poverty- they are too hungry, they have to stay home to care for younger siblings or sick parents, the distance is too far to walk and they can’t afford transport…

However, a speaker who visited us from a local NGO shared a very important point about poverty and development; he said that instead of just copying the West and building airports and tarmac roads, inviting multinational businesses, moving people from villages and agriculture to towns and industries etc, development should be bottom up- driven by the needs and wishes of citizens. Living in “the developed world”, where depression, suicide and general dissatisfaction levels are the highest in the world, we know that money can’t buy happiness and satisfaction. Development NGOs need to meet with communities, discuss their barriers to such life satisfaction, and together come up with the best possible solutions.

I would say that GX is a terrific program for preparing you for life and work. There are so many challenges (living with a total stranger, in another stranger’s home for 6 months, working as a team of 18 hugely different young people, language barriers, miniscule budgets, relying on just two program supervisors, living without beds and washing machines&hellip, but with them come so so many opportunities. Because of this, depending on your nature, and also on the team and situation you’re in, GX could either be the worst or the best 6 months of your life. I’m only half-way through the program, but touch-wood… I think it’s going to be unforgettable for all the right reasons!

Posted by Sally ( 2:40 PM )
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Monday Jun 08, 2009

Sustainability

The next step was to make it sustainable. We went to the Town Assembly to find out why they weren’t supporting the nursery, and were given the phone number of the government worker responsible for nursery schools. We called her and arranged to meet in three days time. Two days later, I was napping in the nursery after classes when a huge shiny white 4-by-4 pulled up. The logo on the side showed me it was a Unicef car. I woke up as quickly as possible and greeted the Unicef and government officers responsible for nursery schools in Malawi! They promised us massive assistance, but first we had to move the nearby primary school from our building.

Our next, and most promising, move was to meet the local MP. In that meting, he agreed to build two primary school blocks so that Unicef can begin their work at the nursery. He’s also pushing our proposals for income-generating activities for the nursery, so that they can continue to function without regular donors. He has delivered 100kg of rice to make porridge for the children (many of whom miss school because of hunger). And he gave us a large immediate donation to buy essential items, and especially toys for the children. As you might imagine, we were walking on sunshine on the way home that day!

Things now are looking really positive. As I write, 75 children’s names are on the school register, and we see new faces every day. Together, Unicef, the Malawi government and the local MP have promised all the assistance, resources, classroom maintenance and teacher-training we need. GX certainly seems to have passed on to me some of the secrets of sustainable development! And it’s wonderful to have been given the opportunity to leave such a positive long-term impact on the school and its surrounding community.

Posted by Sally ( 4:08 PM )
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Monday Jun 01, 2009

Running a nursery on a shoe string

I’m working (with my Malawian counterpart) at a nursery school in a semi-rural, fairly poor village. When we arrived at the nursery school we found the following resources: a dirty but sizeable room, a small plastic table too high for children, and a bucket with two cups. There were also, thankfully, 6 eager and saintly teachers, who were all Mums from the community, volunteering without monetary reward and (here’s the downfall) without training or experience. Enrollment was 20 children, though around 200 live in the catchment area.

Can you imagine the challenges you might face trying to sustainably develop such a place? I was daunted. How could I improve a nursery and teach 2-5 year olds when I have no experience or training? How could I communicate with children and teachers with no common language? How could we run a nursery with no paper, crayons, paint, or toys? How could we create a good learning environment with no cleaning equipment, nothing to decorate with, no cement to fill the holes in the floor and no glass to mend the jagged broken windows?

Well, the answer is that we couldn’t. But we didn’t have to. Actually, it seems you never really have NOTHING to work with, and the key is to seek out and pursue every minute opportunity available to you. My incredible Malawian counterpart has helped me build up my confidence, and has eased communication by teaching me Chichewa (the local language) and translating for me. In the face of no resources, we found ourselves pummeling cassava to make glue and flowers to make paint, collecting plastic bottles, containers, boxes, bamboo and scraps of fabric from the tailors to make dolls, instruments, building materials and decorations… In the face of no resources, we became very resourceful! And actually, very soon we had decorated our classroom and provided “toys” for the children without spending a single penny. It was wonderful to see the change.

Posted by Sally ( 3:22 PM )
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Thursday Apr 30, 2009

Crossing cultures

Hello! I'm Sally. I've grown up in the rural North-West of England, but am now enjoying a gap year, centered around volunteering, which is taking me to much farther corners fo the globe. So far, I've spent 6 weeks in India on "The Prime Minister's Global Fellowship", 3 monhs volunteering for a small grassroots NGO in Cambodia, and 6 weeks volunteering in Malawi.

So, I'm blogging to you from Malawi. The program is called "Global XChange", and is orchestrated by VSO and the British Council. It's a 6-month program, which gives 18-25 year-olds the opportunity to do volunteer work in a truly cross-cultural environment. 9 volutneers from across the UK team up with 9 volunteers from across Malawi (or another developing country), and spend 6 months- 3 in each country- volunteering and learning about Global Citizenship together. I had to fundraise 600 pounds to be on the program, and the rest is covered by VSO and the British Council.

I hope my gap year will give me skills and experience that I can channel in the future, so that I can really help people in a big way. I also want to help people now. So far, it's going brilliantly!

Posted by Sally ( 4:16 PM )
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