April 2009

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Placement Visits

During the last month I have travelled to Uganda, Kenya and Dubai.

In Uganda I went to a small town called Lugazi which is about one and a half hours drive from the capital Kampala. I was invited there through Friends in Service International and their director Wilberforce.

This was my first time to Uganda - ‘the pearl of Africa' and I was not disappointed. The climate is wonderful, the people are very welcoming and there is plenty to do and see.

I was invited to look at the opportunities to send volunteers to work in the local soccer academy. We met with the Ugandan Football Association in Uganda who could see the potential of volunteer help.

 

 The soccer academy in Lugazi (and me!)

However it did not stop there - we were introduced to the local basketball coach and boxing trainer all of whom were very keen to take on volunteer help. Also I met with the local teachers who could see the benefits of taking on our volunteers too.

In Kenya I caught up with some of our volunteer based in Nakuru. I visited new schools and orphanages as our programme continues to expand. Karanja and Mary made me very welcome as always.

 It was great to see the impact the volunteers were making. We investigated the possibility of joining our some of volunteers in buying some land for one of the children's homes. Over the last five years they have been in rented accommodation and as a result are moved constantly around town. Not good for the children and their education.

I will keep you updated on developments.

Finally I flew back to Dubai. The volunteers were completing their six month placement. I was fortunate enough to join them in the desert and to see them in action teaching the kids - they were doing team games (like the ones done at our interview days!), canoeing, kayaking and survival skills. For the outdoor type person this is a superb placement!

 Volunteer News

Jade, off to Kenya in September 2009, has been extremely busy on her fund raising efforts.

Do investigate her projects at our blog:

I hope this will inspire you to follow in her footsteps - it can be done!

Sam in Honduras was keen to bring me up to speed with her experiences. She recently writes:

Buenas Dias! ¿como esta?
 
Just thought I would send you a message as I haven´t done so and really should have done sorry, have got carried away and have settled in so easily and quickly that i´ve forgotton i´m away from home and that there are people to contact back in good old England.
 
First of all thank you so much for accepting my application to work with Changing Worlds, I am so pleased that i have been able to be apart of this organisation as i am loving my time here in Honduras.
 
I have fitted so easily into the family, i really do feel like they are my family, i now have a new mum, two sisters, cousins, aunts and uncles and we talk alot, laugh alot and joke around alot. it feels like i have been here more than two months, its my new little life at the moment lol.
 
My spanish is picking up really well, i speak only in Spanish to my family now. At first when i didnt know any they all tried to speak to us in English but as i´ve gradually picked up the spanish Arely speaks less and less English to us and now to me she speaks only in Spanish. I can order my own taxis now, and Arely even makes me answer the house phone too now where as before it would be a case of fetching it and running around the house until we could find someone to answer it for us. Hannahs Spanish is good but she is struggling more, luckily for me because i´m so social and a bit crazy i talk to lots of people which helps with practicising my spanish. Our cousin for example helps me alot by teaching me new words and phrases, i dont always speak grammatically correct but it´s near enough lol, they get the gist.
 
The Fransisco Morazan school is great, the children are cheeky, funny and actually interested in learning English. When we walk into the lessons they cheer and clap and enjoy our sessions. There are the odd few children who dont enjoy English but we´re slowly but surely winning them over and even they are starting to actually look forward to us interrupting their other lessons hehe.  Hannah and I teach together which is really good, we work really well together. We teach by ourselves also which is good because we get to do things our own ways but together we are much more successful as it flows because as one is teaching the other can write up the next task etc. We´re really enjoying it which for me is surprising because i didnt initially sign up to teach and was really nervous about doing it but now am really pleased i am.
 
I have also been asked to teach at another school, where my aunt works. She saw me teaching one day and asked if i´d help her out too so i do that on monday mondays instead of Morazan which is a nice change. The children are different, they know less english but are willing to learn. they are alot calmer than the Morazan children which is a nice change from time to time.

Hannah and I are leaving for Roatan on wednesday with our two sisters and their friends for Semana Santa, luckily for us it is a paid trip, we only have to contribute to travelling there and a few drinks. They wanted us to come and so even though it is an expensive island have decided they are paying for our accommodation and food which is amazing of them, we´re so excited.

We have already been to Utila in our second week of being in Honduras and are planning to go again for a week at the end of April or beginning of May because Hannah wants to learn to dive (sadly i cant afford it lol but i´m sure i´ll find something to do - louging on the beach sounds quite nice) and to fend for ourselves. Hopefully we can continue speaking spanish while we are there and practice with people that aren´t necessarily going to speak slower or know our level of spanish.

The first three weeks of June we are planning to live in Copan to visit the ruins and Kenny said he can set us up in another school to teach and an orphanage to work at. Currently we are not visiting the orphanage in san pedro sula because it is too expensive to travel there and back via taxi. We did it for about a month but then we only have limited allowances for each week and with having to pay for taxis after spanish lessons we´re short on money. Hopefully we can restart once our spanish lessons have run out.

I´ve been in touch with the next prospective volunteer, suzy ? She seems very keen and is already asking lots of questions and preparing herself. We have sent her a long email of everything she needs to know that we have learnt from our experience and hopefully that will help her. Are there no more volunteers coming to swap with us when we leave? Or when we leave is it not until suzy arrives in january that they will have volunteers working here?

Anyway, I cant think of what else to tell you. Our "mum" is currently ill, I dont know if you know. She had to go into hospital as she somewhat collapsed and has been diagnosed to have Vertigo. She was practically bedstricken but is now alot better, she is walking around and although gets dizzy very easily and needs help back into bed she is on the mend. Its been nice though because the family is constantly in and out of the house visiting and socialising. Definatly helping our spanish improve.

Thanks again for allowing me to have this experience, i am definatly staying for the extended trip of six months. I dont think three months would have been enough, it already feels like i have so little time left here lol.

Best wishes to you and your family.

Take care and hope to keep in touch with future updates.

Sam (samantha-louise-s@hotmail.com)

Need I say more? We do need more volunteers for Honduras...the programme is simply brilliant and your contribution is really first class!

Changing Worlds Ambassadors

Our past volunteers provide the best source of information about our placements and the service we offer. For this reason we have set up the Changing Worlds Ambassador scheme where we are encouraging past volunteers to actively publicise our activities after they return. The idea is that they are active on our Facebook page, Twitter account and Blog to provide honest answers to any questions you may have.

If you are considering working abroad on your gap year but need specific questions answered about life away from home they will be there to tell you about their experiences. If you want fundraising advice they can help. If you can't decide which backpack to take they are the people to ask.

Our team of Ambassadors currently includes around a dozen past participants dotted around the country. Some are at university while some have gone into the work place but all of them have invaluable tips and advice. They also have fabulous stories and photos that they will never get bored of sharing.

We will run an Ambassador Profile section in future newsletters. If in the mean time you are interested in talking to a Changing Worlds Ambassador or you are interested in becoming one yourself please contact me on david@changingworlds.co.uk and I will send you some more information.

Other links

Best Wishes,

David