It was Tuesday morning when myself and the other volunteers at the nceduluntu nursery in Nomzamo township had our first day. I think I speak for all of us when I say that we had no idea that the loudest sound we could hear throughout that street was the cheerful chanting of "TEACHER TEACHER TEACHER!!" coming from a large number of Xhosa children between the ages of 2 - 5.

From a great start it could only get better:

These children were so enthused by us and enjoyed coming to nursery. They were full of charisma and very cheeky - one of the boys I taught managed to say "alright mate?" in a Liverpool accent!

It was startling to notice how independent some of these kids were. At 4 years old some of them were walking home all on their own - sometimes looking after a younger sibling.

Two weeks later I was in the local orphanage. The children here were equally cheeky and loved playing hide and seek.  

Before I left for South Africa my parents had warned/ nagged me about the dangers of arriving in an unfamiliar country with a company that I had only know via a Google search and some of the issues I ought to be aware of. GVI gave us a full briefing on safety, conduct and expectations whilst on the project and provided us with plenty of fun and everlasting memories.

I thoroughly recommend this experience and am very jealous of anyone going soon!

Arriving at Huay Pakoot , the remote Karen hilltribe village that was to be home for me for one week in January 2011, was so exciting. Set amongst breathtaking mountainous landscape, the village is so quaint and picturesque, with wooden houses built on stilts – to keep out the buffalo, pigs and chickens that roam the streets! The basic facilities took us back to a simple life, everything was clean and comfortable and we soon came to really enjoy our bucket showers – best taken in the heat of the afternoon!

Our first encounter with the elephants was magical. We had so much hands-on time in the field feeding, observing, collecting data and even measuring them! To watch their interaction and witness their amazing bonds with the mahouts was really special. My elephant was Thong Dee, the oldest and largest of the five and she was beautiful - a face full of such character that told many stories of her hard life before the project. The two infants were so playful, it was hilarious to watch their cheeky antics wandering through the forests. Knowing we were contributing, even in a small way, towards improving the lives of these amazing creatures was so satisfying.

I highly recommend GVI, it’s such an ethical, compassionate, professional organisation and I knew I was in good hands from my initial enquiry. GVI’s staff are very passionate and that is infectious. The Thailand Elephant Project was so well run and I loved contributing to such an important cause.

Overall, my experience in the Seychelles was amazing. Of course there were some rough times but that happens in life and it’s important to learn to overcome challenges. My first two weeks were the hardest; I got sick prior to arriving in the Seychelles and spent all my time on Curieuse studying the fish species with the help of flashcards. It was challenging but I decided that since I was in one of the most beautiful countries in the world I wasn’t going to let it get me down too much. Before I knew it, I was able to dive and I can say that it was worth the wait. I’m a huge turtle fan and I was so excited to see a hawksbill sea turtle on my very first dive.

Due to the circumstances at the time, I was able to stay on both GVI bases in the Seychelles. They are both very basic and rudimentary but that adds to the whole experience! I really enjoyed the whole program, it was a chance for me to get away from my busy city life and meet people who appreciate and have the same values as I do. The members of the staff were extremely supportive and the rest of the volunteers were friendly and overall awesome people.

I am a science teacher and have done various Earthwatch projects and have been a TREC teacher and a Teacher at Sea. I was looking for something a little different as a volunteer experience and was surfing the net and found the GVI Laos trip, which looked very interesting.

Personally, I feel that I am giving back and making a huge difference in some young peoples lives and hopefully helping them break out of a cycle of poverty. Professionally, I think whenever you teach in areas outside your comfort zone it makes you a better teacher and some of the skills learned in Laos I am bringing back to the classroom in the US. I also bring back to my classroom stories of experiences from other countries to give them a perspective of what it is like in other places.

My time in Arequipa teaching was amazing! The kids were beautiful and I really loved coming to understand the work that GVI was doing there, as I didn’t know exactly too much about the projects before arriving. The work GVI are doing in the two schools (as well as in the tanking projects) in Arequipa is fantastic! Feeding the kids, providing for some of their practical needs, supporting their education, providing employment, helping maintain the school etc is wonderful and it’s great to think these kids have an opportunity to improve their futures. The team of volunteers and project coordinators were lovely to work with and I especially loved working one on one with a girl who had learning difficulties. For so long she’s been ignored and left to her own devices with nothing expected of her. Yet she had ability and just needed the correct attention and help for her to realise her potential. It was hard work working with her, but she was such a beautiful person and her smile and the joy she had in her being was a pleasure to encourage and experience. Overall, the work everyone was doing was inspiring and a great thing to be a part of.  It’s great to think of the difference being made in the local community and that there can be a glimmer of hope for these children, struggling in an unfair world devastated by poverty. If only I could’ve stayed longer!