NEWS FROM THE PROJECTS

from Dianne – volunteer programme advisor    
We hope to include a regular slot in our newsletters giving updates on things that have been happening at the projects where you volunteer.

This time we have news from five countries – Morocco, India, Swaziland, The Gambia and Peru. We hope to be able to include news from the other countries where we volunteer in future newsletters.

If you have news from the project you have worked with that you haven’t shared with us – please do – we would love to share it with other volunteers!

MOROCCO
The girls’ boarding houses have now been running for seven years, and have enabled 128 girls to attend secondary school. The pass rate for these girls in the last academic year was 93%, well above the national average, showing that they are really making the most of the opportunity to be able to continue their education. Three girls from Dar Asni went on to university this year, making eight so far who have been able to progress to higher education. This initiative to provide the opportunity for girls from the Berber tribes to continue their education has been so successful that a fifth boarding house is now under construction.

Learn more about the volunteer programme here.
INDIA
The school at Chitardai has recently been recognised by the government of Rajasthan as a model school – the Principal Secretary for Education in India visited the school in September and reported that he loved the school. The head-teacher reports that the students are continuing to do well, with two students last year going on to college, two working for multi-national companies and four in heritage hotels; they also continue to achieve well in sport, with one girl winning the 400m race in the state championships. One ex-student, Tilok Singh, got top marks last year in the secondary school exams (this will be no surprise to those of us who have volunteered at Chitardai). The school has recently appointed two new members of staff to teach maths and social studies, and a new classroom for class 5 has been constructed. A pump has been installed to pump water to the water tank on the roof, providing safe, filtered water for the children to drink.

Learn more about the volunteer programme here.
SWAZILAND
Two of the neighbourhood care points have had new playgrounds this year, and at all the care points the classrooms have been painted and new vegetable gardens built. In October a fieldtrip was arranged for children from one of the care points – these children are from very poor families and this was a unique experience for them. Our local partners report ‘For many children and teachers this was their first game drive in the heart of the world’s best safari country. We were lucky enough to spot giraffes, elephants and rhinos and, the lucky spot of the afternoon, a lion enjoying his feast in the shade of a tree under the savanna sun’.

 

Learn more about the volunteer programme here 

 

 

THE GAMBIA
Lisong’s nursery school is now in its second year and is doing well, providing education for 23 children and employing four staff.

 

ITTOG (the Institute for Travel and Tourism in the Gambia) has just held its seventh graduation ceremony (you may have seen the photos on our Facebook page), and the college continues to promote various initiatives to promote responsible tourism.  Fundraising continues to build a purpose-built building for the college.

 

 

Learn more about the volunteer programme here 

 

 

ITTOG (the Institute for Travel and Tourism in the Gambia) has just held its seventh graduation ceremony (you may have seen the photos on our Facebook page), and the college continues to promote various initiatives to promote responsible tourism. Fundraising continues to build a purpose-built building for the college.

 

 

 

PERU

The conservation research project in Manu National Park continues to go well – the wildlife spot of last month was a jaguar!
There are exciting plans to expand our volunteering programme in Peru into the nearby community of Salvacion – see Dianne’s separate report for more details of this.

To read about Nigel’s experience on this project take a look here