Unfortunately I didn't manage to reach my financial target of £5,400 despite my efforts and very kind donations from so many people! However...my dad phoned Project Trust this morning to pay the remaining balance and we discovered that he had to pay a LOT less than we had both expected. Turns out I managed to raise £4,700 in just 8 months, which I am super chuffed about!
Thank you so much to everyone who has supported me and donated towards my adventure, I have been amazed at the kindness of the people around me! This experience has taught me that there are a lot of important people in my life, and has sifted out those who didn't really want to be there, so ever for that I am grateful!
Probably won't get the chance to update the blog before we fly on friday morning...so i guess I'll see you on the other side.... Aaaaaaaaah!
Wednesday, 31 July 2013
Sunday, 21 July 2013
Oh the places you'll go!
As a leaving gift, the children I look after gave me the Dr. Seuss book 'Oh the Places you'll Go' and it's truly brilliant!
Its ridiculous how apt a children's book can be to how I'm feeling right now! It's full of motivational lines and it's just beautiful! Anyone thinking of travelling EVER, should definitely read it, or find a child to read it too, and inspire them to go off into the big wide world!
Its ridiculous how apt a children's book can be to how I'm feeling right now! It's full of motivational lines and it's just beautiful! Anyone thinking of travelling EVER, should definitely read it, or find a child to read it too, and inspire them to go off into the big wide world!
Sunday, 7 July 2013
Training Week
So I've just returned from my extremely tiring training week on the Isle of Coll, and the flights are less than a month away now, which is slightly daunting!
On the plus (x1000) side, I finally met my partner and all the other Honduras volunteers. Miss Kate Adams will be living with me in La Union, and she will be my adoptive sister (as her name is the same as my older sisters) for the duration of the year! Project have done an amazing job of pairing the two of us together and I can't wait to have a year of adventures with 'our Kate'!!
I've made some brilliant friends this week, they are placed all over Honduras, which means when we have a weekend off or a few weeks holiday we have plenty of people to go an visit, which is all very exciting!
Me and our Kate! The Welsh one and the Irish one, both as childish as each other and as excited as can be for our wee adventure!
On the plus (x1000) side, I finally met my partner and all the other Honduras volunteers. Miss Kate Adams will be living with me in La Union, and she will be my adoptive sister (as her name is the same as my older sisters) for the duration of the year! Project have done an amazing job of pairing the two of us together and I can't wait to have a year of adventures with 'our Kate'!!
I've made some brilliant friends this week, they are placed all over Honduras, which means when we have a weekend off or a few weeks holiday we have plenty of people to go an visit, which is all very exciting!
Saturday, 29 June 2013
Training
So tomorrow I will leave for my training week on the Isle of Coll.. my second trek up to the most westerly island of the Hebrides in Scotland! This adventure consists of an early morning, a long day of train connections, overly priced tea in the stations and a late night..
Luckily this time I will have company for the majority of my trip in the form of Meg, a girl I met on my first 'interview' week on Coll. We immediately made friends being both welsh and slightly crazy, and are lucky enough to have the same training week even though we're going to different countries.
I am faced with the slightly daunting realisation that either tomorrow or monday will be the first time I meet my partner whom I will be living with for the next 12 months come August the 2nd.. It's really strange trying to imagine living with someone for a year, let alone someone you've never met before, and being reliant on them for company when we leave for Honduras and our project..despite the fact we will have only met once, she will be the closest thing to home that I will have with me when I go...
I'm not worried at all about us not getting on, because when I went up for the Interview week there was not one person in my group that I didn't get on with and like, so I'm sure we'll get on really really well, but it's just a bit odd that I've been waiting to meet this girl, and she me for the last 7 months and our first conversation could be on the train (this is how I imagine it will go)
"hey, are you with Project Trust?"
Yes, are you?
(getting excited)
"so where are you going?"
'Honduras, you?
(more excited)
Honduras...which project?
"La Union"
OH MY GOODNESS SAME!
and that's it..Introduction: DONE
I will be honest, if it doesn't happen like this I will be a little disappointed, so no pressure mystery girl!
Luckily this time I will have company for the majority of my trip in the form of Meg, a girl I met on my first 'interview' week on Coll. We immediately made friends being both welsh and slightly crazy, and are lucky enough to have the same training week even though we're going to different countries.
I am faced with the slightly daunting realisation that either tomorrow or monday will be the first time I meet my partner whom I will be living with for the next 12 months come August the 2nd.. It's really strange trying to imagine living with someone for a year, let alone someone you've never met before, and being reliant on them for company when we leave for Honduras and our project..despite the fact we will have only met once, she will be the closest thing to home that I will have with me when I go...
I'm not worried at all about us not getting on, because when I went up for the Interview week there was not one person in my group that I didn't get on with and like, so I'm sure we'll get on really really well, but it's just a bit odd that I've been waiting to meet this girl, and she me for the last 7 months and our first conversation could be on the train (this is how I imagine it will go)
"hey, are you with Project Trust?"
Yes, are you?
(getting excited)
"so where are you going?"
'Honduras, you?
(more excited)
Honduras...which project?
"La Union"
OH MY GOODNESS SAME!
and that's it..Introduction: DONE
I will be honest, if it doesn't happen like this I will be a little disappointed, so no pressure mystery girl!
Monday, 20 May 2013
PLACEMENT!
I received my email confirming my placement in Honduras for next year over the weekend, but being as I was so very excited I didn't notice the little attachment at the bottom of the email which listed the details of my project (sorry Gill) So now I've looked at the attachment and I know a bit more now about where and what it is I will be doing, so I thought I should share it here,
I will be going to a municipality (similar to a country) in Honduras called La Union, Lempira, which has a population of about 6,000 people. I will be teaching in Abundant Life Christian School in La Union which was founded in 2004 as an outreach to the poorest students in the country. The school is a fee-paying school. Many Honduran parents strive for their children to gain a bilingual education in order to increase the job opportunities that may be available to them in the future. However, over half of the students who attend the school in La Union are on full scholarship and another 30 per cent are part scholarships. La Union itself is a poor community and many of the students who attend the school see this as an incredible opportunity for them to study overseas and support their families. Many students travel long distances to attend the school, therefore the students are apparently very enthusiastic! :)
I will be teaching primary education, ranging in age and subjects, English, Science, Maths, History and Art, and I may also be asked to tutor some of the secondary level students.
Oh and I will live with a host family and my partner!
This is all getting very exciting now!! I'm due to leave the country on or around the 2nd of August so it's coming up very quickly!
I will be going to a municipality (similar to a country) in Honduras called La Union, Lempira, which has a population of about 6,000 people. I will be teaching in Abundant Life Christian School in La Union which was founded in 2004 as an outreach to the poorest students in the country. The school is a fee-paying school. Many Honduran parents strive for their children to gain a bilingual education in order to increase the job opportunities that may be available to them in the future. However, over half of the students who attend the school in La Union are on full scholarship and another 30 per cent are part scholarships. La Union itself is a poor community and many of the students who attend the school see this as an incredible opportunity for them to study overseas and support their families. Many students travel long distances to attend the school, therefore the students are apparently very enthusiastic! :)
I will be teaching primary education, ranging in age and subjects, English, Science, Maths, History and Art, and I may also be asked to tutor some of the secondary level students.
Oh and I will live with a host family and my partner!
This is all getting very exciting now!! I'm due to leave the country on or around the 2nd of August so it's coming up very quickly!
Wednesday, 15 May 2013
The Mighty Month Of May
This month, as the title suggests has been awesome!
I was allowed to hold a non uniform day and sell cakes in my high school in return for doing two assemblies explaining to the students in school what I was doing, where I was going and why we were having a non uniform day! Everyone had to wear an element of blue and/or white to symbolise the Honduras flag, and it was a great success! I am yet to receive the money from this fundrasing event but it was about £500 which is an enormous help. Thank you especially to one teacher, Dr Neal Jones who wrote me a check for £54.00 1% of the money that I have to raise in total, it was a very kind gesture and proved that he had listened to my assembly as well!
We then had the Zumbathon last sunday! I had been worrying about the event all week, fearing that nobody would actually come and we would have 100's of cakes to split between me and my family! This however was not the case, and everyone had a wonderful if not exhausting day and helped me raise £854 which is amazing!
I was allowed to hold a non uniform day and sell cakes in my high school in return for doing two assemblies explaining to the students in school what I was doing, where I was going and why we were having a non uniform day! Everyone had to wear an element of blue and/or white to symbolise the Honduras flag, and it was a great success! I am yet to receive the money from this fundrasing event but it was about £500 which is an enormous help. Thank you especially to one teacher, Dr Neal Jones who wrote me a check for £54.00 1% of the money that I have to raise in total, it was a very kind gesture and proved that he had listened to my assembly as well!
We then had the Zumbathon last sunday! I had been worrying about the event all week, fearing that nobody would actually come and we would have 100's of cakes to split between me and my family! This however was not the case, and everyone had a wonderful if not exhausting day and helped me raise £854 which is amazing!
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I have just received two cheques in the post, one from my auntie Wendy, so thank you auntie wendy and uncle steve, and another from my dentist's practice donating £50 to my cause! I wrote him a letter months ago, so it's nice to have some unexpected money through the post! Thank you Clifton Dental Practice Newtown
Wednesday, 24 April 2013
April
This month has been spent publicising the Zumbathon, getting posters out to people, selling tickets, Zumbathon team meetings and the gathering of raffle prizes!
We had a Zumbathon meeting in Newtown's Exchange, and got the tickets and posters to instructors, and sorted out the playlist and schedule for the event, it was all very exciting to meet everyone who would be helping, and it's humbling to think they are willing to give up their sunday to help me raise money!
My school have finally given me a date for the non-uniform day that I am allowed to hold, 3rd of May, provided that I do two assemblies to explain what it is I'm doing and why we are having a non-uniform day for me..this will be very scary but I need to man up and accept that I will need to get used to talking to large groups of people, even my peers. I will also be holding a cake sale, some of my friends have volunteered to make cakes which is always helpful!
School work and revision is starting to pile up now, and it doesn't help that Ive managed to lose my memory stick but it will hopefully be returned to me soon. Fund-raising is still a major priority although I am happy to have reached £2,000!
We had a Zumbathon meeting in Newtown's Exchange, and got the tickets and posters to instructors, and sorted out the playlist and schedule for the event, it was all very exciting to meet everyone who would be helping, and it's humbling to think they are willing to give up their sunday to help me raise money!
My school have finally given me a date for the non-uniform day that I am allowed to hold, 3rd of May, provided that I do two assemblies to explain what it is I'm doing and why we are having a non-uniform day for me..this will be very scary but I need to man up and accept that I will need to get used to talking to large groups of people, even my peers. I will also be holding a cake sale, some of my friends have volunteered to make cakes which is always helpful!
School work and revision is starting to pile up now, and it doesn't help that Ive managed to lose my memory stick but it will hopefully be returned to me soon. Fund-raising is still a major priority although I am happy to have reached £2,000!
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