All ready to go!

All my stuff for 10 weeks

 
 

So I’m all packed and ready to go! My flight is at 9.15 tonight from Gatwick and I will land in Tanzania tomorrow at 3.15 in the afternoon with a 3 hour transfer in Dubai. It’s not going to be the most pleasant experience but I’m really looking forward to getting out there. Tanzania is only two hours ahead so I won’t have the problem of jet lag, just of sleep deprivation!

 
 

 

My rucksack weighs a tonne, well 20kg, so carrying it should be interesting!

 

 

All ready for my big adventure

 I’m not sure when I’ll be able to update this again but we have a group blog which will keep you updated with what is going on and what we are doing! tp://www.raleighinternational.org/ri-blogs/raleigh-tanzania-ics

 

Jumping out of a Plane

ICS consists of three parts. As well the overseas placement, volunteers are required to fundraise and undertake an Action at Home Project.

I was asked to fundraise at least £800 as a contribution to Raleigh International to enable them to continue to send young people, like me, to developing countries. This covers everything from flights, to visas and accommodation, as the scheme is partially government funded.

Tandem Skydive

To start with, I choose to jump out of a plane, because why not… My logic was that I wouldn’t have to train and it would be over quickly. However, I didn’t take into consideration that it would be absolutely terrifying. I was attached to someone and there was a parachute so that wasn’t so bad! It was worth it, and I’m glad I did it; I’m just not rushing off to do again! More importantly, and what made it all worthwhile is that I raised £635 in sponsorship.

Next on my list was a raffle at school where I raised £329.03. After writing to and sending emails to all the businesses in Slough (well almost) I received donations from Nandos and the local ice skating rink.

 

I also contacted organisations about donations and joined the Slough Lions for a meeting where I told them about ICS and what I was going to be doing out in Tanzania. I very kindly received a donation of £150. Shortly after I received another surprise in that I was invited for an interview for the Sheila Rooney Travel Scholarship with my local branch of Soroptimist International. I was successfully and have received £400 towards my contribution.

So that was just a brief overview and in total I raised £1,534.31.

 

My justgiving page: www.justgiving.com/Abi2Tanzania-RaleighICS

And in the local paper: http://www.sloughobserver.co.uk/news/slough/articles/2013/05/20/89552-brave-student-jumps-13000ft-from-plane-to-raise-cash-for-charity/

 

Nearly Ready...

With my exams finished and my fate sealed, my fingers and toes are crossed as the long wait for results begins. However, it won’t be like any other year and I won’t be like many other A Level students. My results will get passed through several people (hopefully without them playing Chinese whispers) until they reach me in Tanzania.

I will be in Tanzania for the summer – from Monday until the start of September – on the International Citizen Service (ICS) Scheme with Raleigh International. It’s a bit of a mouthful so let me explain. ICS brings together young people from different countries to fight poverty in a community that will have specifically requested our help. A big part of ICS is that I will be working with the local people to make a lasting difference. I will be working alongside 5 other UK volunteers and 6 Tanzanian volunteers. Each UK volunteer will get partnered with a Tanzanian volunteer, which will be a really exciting way of learning more about Tanzania and Swahili, which I still need to brush up on. 

 

I will be working on a health project which will involve improving access to water or sanitation in the local community. During my time in Tanzania, I will be living in the heart of the community in extremely basic living conditions. This will include having no electricity, no running water, sleeping on the floor and using a long drop toilet. Admittedly this is the part I am least looking forward to, but it’s all part of the experience, and I am making the most of these luxuries in my last few days.

I can’t believe how quickly Tanzania has come around; it feels hardly anytime at all that I spent more time at the Raleigh stall than I did at the university stalls at London Anthropology Day (LAD). Whilst talking to a Raleigh representative at LAD (sounds funny doesn’t it) I knew that this was right for me and would be a fantastic experience, and here I am now 11 months later ready and raring to go, well almost, for a summer of a lifetime!

http://www.ics-uk.org.uk/about/

http://www.raleighinternational.org/where-we-work/tanzania/raleigh-ics-in-Tanzania

http://www.londonanthropologyday.co.uk/