Caro and Sue were volunteering at Treak Community Centre as the coronavirus pandemic started to develop. School closures meant their placements were cut a little short, but this did not impact on their enjoyment of their time in Cambodia or the value of the work they did there.
From our programme and placement coordinator Dianne How quickly things change! Just 6 weeks ago my friend Wendy and I set out to volunteer in Morocco – the first time I’ve persuaded a friend to come with me to volunteer – thank you Wendy! We were going to Asni to work with our local partners, Education for All, at the girls’ boarding houses which enable girls from the Berber tribes in the High Atlas Mountains to access secondary school education. …
This from recent volunteer Wendy On Monday, we had a meeting with all the wonderful House Mothers at Dar Asni 1. Latifa, lead House Mother and in charge of Dar Asni 1, took us on a helpful orientation tour in order to locate Dar Asni 2 and 3, the bank, post office, pharmacy, good food shop and souk. In the afternoon, Khadija, House Mother of Dar Asni 3, introduced me to all her staff: Deputy House Mother, Khaoula; Housekeeper, Khadija;…
‘We want to give girls the chance of a college education in Morocco because we believe that if you educate a girl you educate the next generation as well’. This is the motivation for Education for All who, by building boarding houses for girls from the High Atlas Mountains, have enabled more than 300 girls to access education beyond primary school level. In October two ‘people and places’ volunteers, Tina and Linda, went to Morocco to volunteer alongside the house-mothers…
by ‘Luci’ Gardner-O’Brien -people and places’ Young Professional Advisor 1. Be interested I was ten years old when I read Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman – a dystopian love story which turns racial dynamics upside down. Whilst reading the first chapter, I realised that the main character was a dark skinned girl. I remember going red in the face, I had pictured her white like me – this is the first time I was aware of my white privilege….
Written by Luci Gardner-O’Brien -people and places Young Professional Advisor On 18th December 2019, for the first time ever, all 193 member states of the United Nations have formally recognised that orphanages do not protect children, that they are in fact harmful and have called for them to be eliminated. This comes weeks after the WTM Responsible Tourism panel – “Child Protection – What Is Better Than Orphanages?” – that we were so proud to be a part of. The…
In our last newsletter Lisong (from the Gambia) told us about her visit to a British nursery school run by Joanne. This is the second episode of that story – Joanne tells us about her time volunteering at Lisong’s nursery school in the Gambia. A great example of a real two-way partnership….. ‘I was fortunate enough to meet Lisong (Owner of Mary’s Little Lambs) in August whilst she was visiting the UK and this really helped me in my preparation….
This is an article I wrote recently for our blog. As an ex-teacher, I of course hope lots of people will volunteer to improve the educational opportunities for children around the world. However it is important that this is done responsibly and thoughtfully to make sure these volunteers don’t do more harm than good. The article is designed to give some guidelines – it was included in discussions by the panel looking at alternatives to orphanage volunteering at the 2019…
We work hard to ensure that all volunteers are carefully matched to the needs of the projects where they carry out their placements. But it is not until we get feedback from the volunteer and from the project that we really know whether or not the placement has been a success. Volunteer Kate went to Treak Community Centre in Siem Reap in June and we were delighted to read her positive comments about her volunteering experience in the report she…
We often include articles in our newsletter written by volunteers describing a visit their experiences in schools abroad. This time we are taking the opposite point of view! Lisong is the founder and manager of Mary’s Little Lambs, a nursery and prep school in The Gambia. Joanne is a volunteer whose skills and experience have been matched to Mary’s Little Lambs, where she will be carrying out her volunteer placement in October. But this article does not describe Joanne’s visit…