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.

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Tuesday Jun 23, 2009

Settling in

Hi again well I have now been here for a few days and really starting to get a feel for that place, a lot of relaxing, unfortunately not in lots of sunshine as it is now the start of the rainy season here in Mexico! Still nice and hot though, and nice enough weather to have been exploring Puerto Vallarta a little bit. It is a lovely place with a mix of old and new, with traditional culture meeting the tourist attitude, as loads of Americans come here on holiday in the same way that many Brits head to Spain in the summer.

I have been playing with the kids at the orphanage lots now and really starting to get to know them better, all of them are absolutely adorable and really appreciate having volunteers there to play with. Its not all fun and games though, meal times can be insanely messy! Also, I can now say that I have put a nappy on a baby/child for the first time! In fact I must have put about 8 on yesterday on different children! Now that I have been here a few days Im really starting to get into the routine, mostly heading to the orphanage in the afternoons, around 3 until 8pm to see the kids into bed. So just a short update really to mention the work ive been up to, two volunteers i have been talking to on facebook for several weeks now are arriving on thursday which should be nice as i will finally get to meet them in person! (So, another hint if you are heading off alone and a little nervous, check facebook or other social networking sites for groups for your placement or voluntary organisation to talk to others who will be there at the same time before you go!)

Anyhoo, until next time... adios! Fi.

Posted by Fiona ( 4:48 PM )
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Will I miss tomato ketchup?

I am Lucille, a politics student at Manchester University. I am volunteering in Ghana for two months with Tzedek - a Jewish charity which works abroad, regardless of race or religion, providing direct support to help local people, so that they can help themselves.

I'm going in under two weeks and currently I'm preparing for my trip. I got this email from my friend Josh and thought it was worth sharing. I don't think they included this advice in the Brandt guide to Ghana I was reading on the train to Leicester today:

Dear Lucy

By now you will have been blasted with ideas, suggestions, rules, regulations and requests.  Much of it is very important and valuable; a whole load of it is just crap. Based on my trip to Vanuatu I offer you the following...

1. People will make judgments about you based on the colour of your skin - never take it personally.

2.Learn the local language early or at least key words

3. Get 'British presents' to give to people at the end of your stay

4.Use silver foil to cover your dishes when you cannot be bothered to wash up

5. Write a diary – even if it just activities with no thoughts or feelings. Do catch up if you get a week behind it will be worth it

6.Write a full A4 list of reasons you are volunteering in Ghana this summer– keep it secret

7.  Before you go write down a list of what you expect to miss and then during your time away what you actually miss. (interesting afterwards)

8. Don't get too upset if you can't read all the books you planned on reading

9.  Keep a recipe book of all the weird foods you make and Keep a quotes page

10.50 amazing photos that are well thought out are better than 500. No one wants to sit through 500

11. Have loads of plasters – they are amazing for fixing holes in mosquito nets

12. Try local food even if it looks nasty

13. Enjoy every day and don't feel pity for local people.

14. Do sketching!

15. Use the postal service rather than pay excess luggage when you want to bring loads of cool stuff home. Pay it even if it is loads it will be worth it in the end. Surface mail doesn't actually take 2 months.

16. Mantra: It could be worse

17. You can't save the world and you are not a selfish colonialist for going to Africa to try

I have been asking lots of friends post- gap years in Africa for advice on what it like to live in Africa.  Their responses were surprising and always interestingly detailed. Apparently in Africa, I'm going to look forward to having clean feet, something I have previously thought very little about. (As however much I shower my feet, I will still feel dirty) Apparently, I will be missing tomato ketchup and other random food items. They all say Volunteering in Africa was the most difficult and rewarding they have ever done. It feels strange for me, sitting in my PJ's on my comfy sofa in suburban Leicester, with my mug of tea, in a week I will be far from my world. These descriptions will be my real experiences and no longer just 'apparently'.  (But apparently it's normal to be a bit nervous too!)

 

Posted by Lucille ( 11:13 AM )
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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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