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The great return home - one week on!

So I thought I’d do an up-date on what it’s like returning from a placement and how it’s been adjusting to life back home.

I returned home from my placement last week. The whole flight coming from Australia was full of different emotions, happy, sad, excited, disappointed - you name it, I felt it! I was already in a boat where half of me missed Australia so much already, yet the other half was so excited to see all my friends and family back home.

I’ve been keeping busy since I’ve been back, seen pretty much every family member who lives in my town, along with many friends. I’ve already got 2 dates set up at the local Sixth Form Center in my town, which I attended for my A-levels. I’ll be doing a talk with Year 12 students one day and Year 13 students the second day, about my experience as a volunteer, along with also trying to encourage the students to really think about doing a meaningful GAP Year. I then also have sorted myself a job out, starting in the New Year, on top of looking for some voluntary Youth Work in my local town.

Although there’s been all these positives, I still can’t get over the fact I’m no longer in Australia at my placement. I miss all the other volunteers deeply, who became such good friends and really like my family during the 11 months I was there. The staff, who were so welcoming and many of them really did become good friends, with some becoming part of my extended family. My former mentor and her family, who literally treated us volunteers like their own family, really looking after us during our stay. The really laid back, chilled out life-style that Australia is profoundly known for. But most of all, the AMAZING students that I met at my placement, their fun personalities, their stories and most of all the Indigenous Culture that they all represent.

You can tell people about your experience and how you feel now you’re home, but I’ve noticed, no-one will know at all how you feel or be able to truly understand, unless they’ve done something similar. Therefore, it’s great to keep in touch with other volunteers so you can help each-other through the transition period of your life after your placement. One thing that’s really kept me going is, remembering everything I done during my placement, the students I helped and everything I personally learned from the whole experience. It really is memories like these that last with you for the rest of your lifetime.

I really do appreciate everything Lattitude Global Volunteering do for their volunteers and I’d one hundred percent recommend them to anyone. From the offset they’re they’re assisting you with everything, the interview, matching you up with your placement, giving you fundraising ideas, the pre-departure briefing, the in-country orientation and constant support during the placements.

This year has really has opened my eyes and views on the world, the issues it holds and the opportunities out there to be taken, Although I had a good idea of what I wanted for the future, it’s definitely helped give me the extra drive and determination to get there. For that I’m so thankful to Lattitude, Djarragun College and everyone I met throughout the year.

Australia - Second half of the year, summary.

Hi everyone,

Sadly my placement at Djarragun College in Cairns, Australia is drawing to a close. This is a reflection on the second half of the year at my placement. I hope you all enjoy and if anyone has any questions about the placement, volunteering etc, feel free to message me on here or on Facebook or by email: [email protected]

The second half of my placement started by saying goodbye to 5 other volunteers from Germany and welcoming 4 new volunteers, Nils from Germany, Sasha from Canada, Phillipa (Pip) from Newcastle (Australia) and Laura from Melbourne. It was sad saying goodbye to the German volunteers, because we all became like a family living together, eating together and sharing our whole experience together. However, it was exciting having a new group of people and building new friendships and having new experiences together.

Me and Sarah-Louise, who have both been at our placement since January, 2013 flew down to Melbourne to help out at the Orientation for the International volunteers coming to Australia. The orientation was great, meeting the Lattitude Australia staff again and making new friends. It was weird though, seeing all these new excited faces, and knowing that’s what we must’ve looked like back in January.

As the orientation drew to a close, it meant departing Melbourne and flying back to Cairns with 3 of the 4 new volunteers, but we was met at Cairns Airport by the final new volunteer. I personally couldn’t wait to show the new guys around the campus and introduce them to the amazing staff and especially the students of Djarragun College. Some of them even got stuck in straight away, playing volleyball with some students who had us all laughing!! We even planned that weekend to play volleyball every weekend or so with each-other, so one day we could get good enough before we go to play the students haha!!!

After 2-3 weeks of the new volunteers being at the placement, me and Sarah-louise was offered the chance to go up Cape York to Bamaga (an Aboriginal community at the very top of Australia - even making it to the ‘Most Northern Point of Australia’)! We went up with a small selection of students, along with Cape York AFL, who promote AFL all over the Cape. We travelled by Troopy’s by convoy all the way up, camping over half way at a place called Bramwell Station. From there it was another long drive to Bamaga, across the red dirt roads, which was just amazing!! The journey is one that I will never forget, as for the kids in Bamaga, they were GREAT!! One memory in particular I’ll always remember from this trip. Thus being, a big group of children were playing touch with each-other on the field and this one young boy was stood next to a little motorbike. So I noticed he was just watching the other kids play and approached him to have a talk, to see what his name was etc (unfortunately I can’t remember his name), he told me about himself and I asked him how come he wasn’t playing with the other kids, to which he replied “I’m watching that boy over there’s bike for him’. To which I told him to go and ask this boy if he’ll let us (me and Sarah) watch his bike so this boy can join in. The look on his face on his way back was priceless! The biggest and most thankful smile ever!! Then off he ran to go and join in and it felt so good seeing him enjoying himself

From here on-wards I spent most of my time working in the Middle School area, because I’d started to develop strong trust with a lot of the middle school male students. This allowed for me to offer many of them advice and some-one to talk to, if and when they needed it, but most importantly it meant if they started to be disrespectful in class, I was in a position where they’d listen to me and start behaving and in most cases apologize to their teacher. This kids really grew on me and I see them all as little brothers now and I know they see me as their big brother, which I feel honored about.

On top of working a lot in the Middle School area, I also started working more around the boarding house, which has been great! It allows me to strengthen my rapport with the kids in Boarding, again allowing me to be able to give them advice and some-one to talk to. The first half of the year I struggled making a good rapport with a handful of kids in Boarding, however over the second half of the year I’ve managed to get talking to them more now and that I’m happy about. These kids really don’t just give you their respect on a plate, you truly have to earn it and work with the kids, not against the kids, a big thing I’ve learned being at this placement. If you want the students to respect and listen to you, then give them respect and listen to them.

During the school holidays a 4 of us volunteers went down to Sydney then across to Alice Springs, to do a 3 day 2 night tour of the OUTBACK!! I would recommend anyone coming to Australia to visit their, the culture, history and stories of the land are so fascinating and inspirational, it really is unbelievable. The sights of the places are just breathtaking, it’s like being in a whole new world, the tranquility and steadiness there, really does just blow you away. When you camp, you sleep in SWAGS, basically mini one-man tents (a mattress, sleeping bag and pillow in one), under the star-filled skies, with hardly any clouds or anything in the sky blocking your view. During our trip to the local supermarket in Alice Springs on our first evening there, we was stopped by an Aboriginal lady called Velma, who was sitting on a bench and called us over. We all looked at each-other and walked over to her. She had definitely been drinking, but that didn’t stop us offering out time to talk to her, and I’m so grateful we did. She introduced her self and was keen to find out our names and where we each came from. After this she started telling us stories about herself, her culture, where she lives and her family. She told us a story of Bush-monsters as hairy as King Kong, who live in the bushed throughout central Australia and along the road that connect it to Darwin, Adelaide etc. She told us whatever we do, sleep during the day and drive through the night (luckily we weren’t driving) and then went on to tell us the unfortunate story of how these Bush-monsters killed her 5 brothers as they were driving up to Adelaide. She went on to ask us if we can drive her to Adelaide, but we had to tell her we couldn’t drive, she looked so sad and we all felt so bad for not being able to help her, but still she continued to tell us stories and to talk to us. We told her about how we was going to visit the Uluru, Kings Canyon etc and she asked us not to climb the rock and to promise her we won’t. I remember her saying “Please don’t climb the rock, because I don’t want any of you to die, because you are my family now”. We was already aware of how sacred the Uluru is and the surrounding land and knew how disrespectful it would be to the Aboriginal people to climb it and so we promised her. Shortly after we went our separate ways, and she told us where we can visit her in the nearby bushes, to shout our her name and she’ll come and show us around etc. It’s experiences like these you really can’t put a value on!

I think the most rewarding part of my placement overall only happened in the last month/ month and a half of my placement. I was approached by our mentor to see if I’d mind working with a Year 12 student all day everyday for their last 4 weeks of school. This student was really far back in their work, and told by all the senior staff and a couple of the senior school staff that they have no chance of catching up. However, this didn’t stop us trying, working all day everyday like asked, we managed to get ALL of his assignments done and completed, with some A’s and B’s on some of them, which meant he GRADUATED YEAR 12!! This student is proof that you never should give up, no matter what anyone says. Yeah a lot of the time he thought he was going to fail and disappoint his family, but we kept going and I remember hearing after his last maths test, he walked into another class where another volunteer was, hand over his mouth, and was asked “how do you feel” and he replied “Proud, proud of myself!”. We then found out that although he graduated he wouldn’t be getting his Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE), and would have to come back for the last couple of weeks after graduation to complete another course. This he was prepared to do, however, on the night of the Year 12 formal, the head of Senior School came up and told me the schools managed to fix some stuff up and he no longer has to come back and he has his QCE!!! I felt so proud and thankful, truly felt like he was my son for that split moment,, but I truly do see him as a younger brother, such a good and respectful and thankful kid. I remember his parents thanking me that evening at the formal for getting him through and my response was “You should be proud of him, he done all the work, I just kept him on track. He’s a good kid and he’ll definitely go far”.

Although in particular helping the above Year 12 student Graduate, it’s been great over the whole year, helping so many of the Year 12′s with their work, checking over assignments for them, pointing them in the right direction etc etc. When they all stood up on graduation day, I was sat looking at the future generation and leaders of the Indigenous people, and I am so proud of each and everyone of them for what they have achieved. I know many of them have the talent and skills to go on to bigger and better things with their life, to escape community and everyone’s expectations of them, to do what they want and to make themselves proud. You’re each an inspiration and a role model to all the younger Indigenous youth.

I just really want to thank Lattitude for allowing me this opportunity to volunteer and to experience everything I have during my time in Australia. If it wasn’t for your organization I wouldn’t be the person I am now leaving my placement. I am more confident, outgoing, full of life, more wise and so much more. This whole experienced has helped give me stronger foundation and a new direction of what I want to do in the future. I now am determined to get a job doing Youth Support work before heading off to University in September next year. I’m still on track to study Psychology with Counseling, but now I know where I want to go after studying. I want to move to Australia, to work with Indigenous Youth, helping counsel them, helping them get into employment and just overall helping better their lives and futures, but most of all to help them realize their potential!

I also want to thank Djarragun College for allowing me to spend my whole year here. The whole placement has just been amazing, from the staff, to the students, to seeing the kids perform cultural dances and songs from their Islands and so much more. I want to thank each member of staff for being so welcoming and for becoming part of my extended family, I will remember each and everyone of you. I want to thank the students for helping me realize what life is all about and how to live and enjoy life. You have taught me that life isn’t about having the most money, or the best materialistic items or the best clothes, but life is about enjoying ourselves, having fun, doing what makes us happy, our friends and our family etc. I now have a new view on life, a much more positive one and that I am so thankful for. You have all touched my heart and I know each and everyone of you have the potential to change your life, the life of your people, the life of the generations still to come. Each one of you is so special. You are all my brothers and sisters, my family and I’ll remember each and everyone of you and our experiences together forever.

Another thank you I want to give is to all the volunteers I’ve been able to share my experiences with; Sarah-Louise, Thomas, Soren, Urte, Malte, Julia, Sasha, Pip, Laura and Nils. You have all bought your own different personalities, beliefs etc into my life and I will remember each and everyone of you and the great times we shared. We have seen so many places together in and around Cairns etc, we have experienced so much around the school and during out time living with one another. We have had our ups and downs - but it’s fair to say, mainly ups and so many laughs along the way. I wish each of you the best for the future, you’re all great people, who are capable of great and amazing things. Remember not to give up on anything, because you can achieve anything you want to and I know you all will go far!

I want to give a big thank you to our former mentor Morag, who was so welcoming to each and everyone of us, always offering us some-one to talk to if we ever needed it and just directing us in the right ways around the school and in our work. Not only were you such a great mentor on a work level, but you have also become our ‘Momma Morag’, our mum away from home. Your whole family and friends have made us feel so at home when we’ve been around your house or out with you and Trevor. On that note I want to also thank Trevor for all the laughs and advice he has given us all, a true true comedian!! I don’t think this experience would have been quite the same without you both here around the school, and around on the weekends etc. You both are such great special people, and I wish you both all the best and I know I’ll see you both one day, perhaps when I come back to Aus!

Australia - First half the year, summary.

My Gap Year started from the 26th January, 2013, where I flew from London Heathrow to Melbourne, via Signapore. I met some great people during that time, being the volunteers I flew to Melbourne with. From the moment we all met at the airport we all clicked and got on, which was a great start to this whole experience. Although the flight was long and tiring, the anticipation that was building in each of us was immense, and I feel so glad I flew with the group I did!

Melbourne would be our first arrival in Australia, with us having to participate in an ‘In-country’ orientation through Lattitude Global Volunteering. The three days in Melbourne was some of the most memorable moments I’ve had in Australia, mainly due to the high ‘buzz’ between all the volunteers there. From getting a tram to the beach (without paying :D), to seeing a flash mob in federation square, to partying with the other volunteers and learning some pointers about what to expect at our placements etc, the whole 3 days was just great!

Djarragun College - My placement and home from home

Arriving in Cairns was such a big shock to me, in terms of the weather! I knew it was going to be the ‘wet-season’ and be humid, but I don’t think anything could have quite prepared me for the weather here, especially coming from winter back in the UK! Getting off the plane in Cairns, I was instantly met by this force of moist heat and the notion of trying to fan myself down by flapping my arms like a mad man! (The other volunteers who were already at the placement, along with my mentor Morag found this highly amusing haha). I’ve got to say, getting used to the humidity here during the wet-season took some time, a lot of deodorant and showers everyday haha! Although I knew I was expecting a challenging placement, I don’t think I was quite prepared for what I witnessed during my initial month/ first term.

Before I go on talking about some of the things I encountered during this first term, I want to give people an idea of the background of the students at the school, to make you realize just why many of them act in certain ways. The school is an all Indigenous school, providing education to both Aboriginal Australians and Torres-Strait Islanders. Many of these children come from various backgrounds consisting of; broken-homes (having one or no parents, or living with relatives), communities where they witness alcohol and drug abuse, physical abuse etc. Many of their communities or families have very little money and food resources, with many of the students having no shoes to put on their feet, not enough food to maintain a healthy diet and poor health conditions. I also want people to realize that this is no fault of their parents, elders, communities etc, but for the poor treatment these amazing people underwent for many years. The Aboriginals for example, were forced out of their communities and from THEIR land, when ‘settlers’ decided to move to Australia. Many of the families were separated, with many never seeing each-other ever again. Many Aboriginals lost their lives when all this happened and now many would say they are seen as a ‘second-class’ citizen, in what is really, THEIR country and THEIR land and no-one should ever have gone, or go through what they did. It was the actions of the people that took over this beautiful country what lead to the Indigenous people disliking them. Just picture this; you’re happy at home with your family (son,daughter,mother,father,sister,brother etc) and then all of a sudden, you’re all separated, took away from each-other with the prospect of never meeting one-another again. How would you feel? It saddens me so much learning about the history of the Indigenous people of Australia and what happened to them in the past, but it amazes me how so many ‘White Australian’ teachers input their hard time, effort and patience into helping improve the standard and value of education among the Indigenous people. ‘It takes seconds to cause misery to people and a life-time to repair it.’ - This quote I’ve just thought of whilst writing this summary, but reflects so truly on the past and the present of the Indigenous & Australian in a whole’s history. It didn’t take long to cause so much pain to these people, but it is and will take so much time to repair the past and to gain their trust and respect. All of this is a brief summary of the my view of the history of these people, Australia and what I’ve learned since being here in Australia working with Indigenous children.

Within the first term I witnessed or heard about many fights that occurred throughout the school, with the first one I saw being on my second day at my placement. It was quite daunting to see two groups of students fighting one-another on my first real work day, but I wasn’t going to let it stop me from pursuing my voluntary work! Many of the students don’t ever want to particularly fight, but sometimes, because of their family members or people from their communities getting into a fight, they feel they have no choice and sadly many of them don’t. In their cultures they can bring shame on themselves or their immediate family if they don’t stick up for a fellow family member or community member, but hopefully as time progresses and we all develop and grow as individuals this will die down. A lot of the time, once students have fought, they tend to leave it there and not let is escalate. Again, the children aren’t to blame solely for their actions, because these traits and behaviors have been passed down to them throughout generation to generation, through their elders past and present. After the first terms the fights quietened down a substantial amount, as the majority of the students who would fight were expelled. I want to say how good and professional the staff at the school are at preventing fights and handling any that do happen. They jump straight in there and calm the fights down within seconds! My hat definitely goes off to the amazing staff here at Djarragun for all the work they do, especially in regards to their student support and medical center. These staff in particularly are great at getting help for any students who need it and provide them with a great line of people to talk to and help them through any issues.

Besides the fights another challenging aspect of the school that took me some time to get used to, was the behavior of the kids. Due to education throughout the years within the Indigenous culture not being particularly enforced, many of these children, nor their parents actually value education nor see the benefits it can bring to their lives. The kids can have episodes of outbursts in classes, where they’ll either refuse to do their work, put their heads down on the tables or just shout out random words etc. The staff throughout the school handle these behaviors pretty well, either ignoring the student until they get bored, sending them to the ‘time out room’ or asking them to stand outside the class. It was quite an eye-opener to get used to, especially coming from a culture and school where these behaviors would be of the minority and pretty rare to see, especially on a daily basis. However, you soon learn from the actions of the staff how to tackle these behaviors, and as volunteers we were quite lucky that we didn’t have to deal with telling students off etc.

Although initially I found aspects of the school quite challenging and hard to get used to, I’m so glad I’ve been placed at such an amazing school with such amazing, special, gifted students and staff. Through my time at my placement through the last half of the year, I’ve grew in so many ways. I’ve found that I’ve been able to mature quite a substantial amount, I’ve become a lot more confident, I’ve become a lot more healthier and a lot more outgoing. It’s not until you really sit down and reflect on how you’ve grew as a person, or had people tell you how much you’ve grown and developed, that you actually realize how much taking a year out really does benefit you. Not only have I learned so much about myself, but I’ve also learned so much about the Australian and Indigenous culture and I’ve also really realized what career path I want to take. Since working with Indigenous children, I’ve realized that it’s the Indigenous children I want to work with in my future. I’m going to study Psychology with Counseling at University in September 2014 and then hoping some time after University to move out here to Australia. I really want to set up a charity that offers support & counseling to these children, to really help them through the challenges they face throughout life, whilst also helping get them into jobs, whilst broadening their career prospects throughout the future. I want to bring support to their cultures, along with community centers that provide the children with a range of quality equipment. Basically, I want to help improve their lives and the way they see education. Not only this, but I want to help make amends for the actions of British people in the past and the treatment many Indigenous people faced. I want to help them see their potential, but not only see it, believe it and give them the realization that they CAN do anything they want if they put their mind to it. It really doesn’t matter where you come from, what you’ve been through or anything, if you really do want something, you CAN get it!

The children at Djarragun College are definitely the most amazing people I’ve ever come across in my life. They really have grew on me for all the right reasons. I don’t know really how to put into words this whole next part, but I’ve going to try. These students really make you reflect on life and how lucky I’ve had it! So many of us are so dependent on having to have the BEST things and so many of us are really truly materialistic and depend so much on technology. (If you think you don’t, try going back to basics, see how long you can go without using any technology, such as; computers,laptops,phones,televisions). For what so many of these children have witnessed in their lives and been bought up around, they seem like the most happiest kids I’ve ever seen in my life, who really appreciate not only the small things in life, but life itself. They radiate positivity, energy, power and spirit, every single day. They have really shown me what it means to really live, to be free, to be happy. And for that I thank each and every single student I’ve met during my first 6 months here at Djarragun. The characters throughout the school are so dynamic and diverse, but in each of them is this really special person. They literally make my day, every single day.

Through my time here at Djarragun, I’ve not only learned about the Indigenous culture through their view on education and what how the students live and are bought up, but I’ve also learned about the celebrations and performances of these cultures. I’ve been lucky enough to watch so many times both Aboriginal and Torres-Straight Islanders perform dances and songs from their cultures. Each dance and song is really a celebration of life in many ways, whether it be life itself, our families, our communities or a celebration of a ‘feed’ (meaning a celebration of having some food in English). Dempla (pretty much meaning, them people) literally radiate life and soul when dempla perform. Dempla doesn’t just perform the actions of the dances or the words of songs, but the deep meanings behind them. You literally can feel every feeling, emotion and power throughout each of their songs and performances. Upla (pretty much meaning - you people) can see just what I mean through videos I’ve put up of the kids performances. The stories of the ‘dreamtime’ which is, in the Aboriginal culture the time in which the land was created, are some of the most fascinating stories I’ve ever heard and I’d highly recommend everyone to read up on them!

I want to thank everyone at Djarragun, especially the amazing students for making my first half of this year, such an amazing and memorable experience. I really don’t know how I’m going to cope leaving this amazing school behind at all and already thinking about it upsets me, knowing that in December I have to bid farewell to Djarragun College. Although I’ll be saying by, I know it won’t be forever and that Djarragun and it’s staff and students will have a place in my heart for the rest of my life, along with everything I’ve learned about the Indigenous culture and my experiences here. I couldn’t have asked for a better placement, nor such a rewarding placement and I’m so grateful that I’ve been able to experience everything I have. I’m so honored that I was able to extend my placement and not only continue to grow as a person, but also strengthen and expand my knowledge of the Indigenous cultures of Australia.

Here’s to another great few months ahead!

Australia - Up-date

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Night out with teachers!

me with a persons cap on

Kuranda group picture

Kuranda sign

Barron falls

Call me Tarzan!

Making a splash!

Group picture!

Scenic picture

On our drive!

Paranomic Scenic Picture

It’s been like 2 weeks now since I last up-dated my blog and what a mad couple of weeks it’s been!

The first week started off quite rocky here at Djarragun, which lead to us volunteers temporary being took off doing ‘Club & Culture’, to much disappointment by us all So it left us with just doing our usual Day shifts and then just Boarding as well, which made the day quite long, especially for those who had boarding the most. We can’t really discuss the reasons behind why we was took off ‘Club & Culture’ temporary, due to confidentiality. But it did have quite a big impact on the week and made it quite slow and a bit boring at times, but we pulled through it

The end of the week was the first weekend we finally had a car! So this meant; no more having to get the bus into Cairns to do our shopping and having to catch the bus back with out shopping *HURRAY!*, we didn’t have to get the last bus back at 9pm *HURRAY AGAIN!* AND MOST OF ALL *drum roll please!* WE COULD VISIT PLACES AND NOT HAVE TO STAY IN *HURRAYYYY*. Sorry got a bit carried away there, but we were all really excited about this So Saturday consisted of us meeting a few of the teachers from the school were volunteering at and watching a live band (who should have a record deal!) Some people went home at about 10:30pm, whilst me and Sarah stayed out with some of the teachers (mainly Michael as the rest started going home one by one) until 5:30pm! We met so many people out during the night and it was so great how friendly everyone was here in Australia, like their was no violence or nothing We made so many friends for the night who looked after us (something you wouldn’t get back in England), some even let me try their Caps on for half hour or so, which was pretty cool!

Having a really good time here in Australia :)

Enjoying a well deserved drink with some teachers from Djarragun!

Sunday came and I used the day to chill out and catch up on some sleep and to catch up with family and friends back home! It was great speaking to friends and family about my time here so far and also to see what they’ve been up to

Then the week of work started again! Monday I was supposed to be on Admin, however, they didn’t have anything for me to do there, so I ended up spending the day in Middle School and Primary School, helping out where needed. I spent the first bit of time in Middle School, assisting with a teacher to make sure the students were paying attention and doing their work properly. Then came along our usual time in PRIMARY SCHOOL! My favorite part of the day, I really feel that I’m starting to get the students and each of their personalities in Primary and I think I nearly know all of their names (well the Prep and Year 1′s). We also found out the good news that we were now allowed to do CLUB & CULTURE again *WOO*

Tuesday came and was my turn for Club and Culture and Boarding In club and culture, i went to help out with cooking, which turned into the students looking for recipes that they wanted to cook the following day, and me helping out the Hospitality teacher (Peggy) mark some student’s work. Peggy is great, she really enjoys having us volunteers here Then came Boarding, which was pretty good, the first half hour or so, we spent just watching TV with a few students (surprisingly a Christmas film at this time of year! CRAZY!) … We then had to set up the Boarders bed sheets for them to make their beds, before dishing their ‘Supper’ out, which consisted of Milk and Biscuits, which they always fight over, trying to get more, but it’s quite a laugh Then came cleaning up the cups, any spilt milk and changing the bins, before hitting home.

Wednesday I was on day shift, which mean me spending the day with the Prep and Year 1 students, helping with groups who were doing independent work. Then came the afternoon, with them going to the library and us reading books to them of their choice, which is great! You end up with several different kids trying to push different books in your face to read. Then after they moved onto music, where they sing a couple of songs the same each week, play music related games and gain some music based knowledge. They always seem really hyper in music, just wanting to jump/ dance all over the place, which is quite fun trying to keep them focused. The day ended with us couple of volunteers helping take the students to their buses.

Thursday and again I was on day shift, where I spent the day working with the Prep and Year 1 students (as you can tell I really enjoy working with these Years the most, as you can make a fool out of yourself, but still get them to listen at the same time and they always seem to enjoy themselves). In the afternoon came time for ART with these years, watching them paint some pictures can be quite fun, but some of them are pretty artistic already! They focus on a famous artist each week and have to use each artists work to inspire their own

Friday, yet again I was on day shift and again I spent it working with the Prep and Year 1 students, making sure they were focused on their work. I mainly worked with one particular student ‘Aquila’, who’s finding it hard settling into the school currently. Trying to get him to focus on the work, to sit properly and to join in with everyone else was a slight struggle at first and you’d have to tell him a couple of times initially before he’d listen. However, because I’d be firm with him, but yet slightly have a laugh with him he listened when I told him to sit properly or to do his work and he actually completed all his work However, I can’t take all the credit for how well behaved he was as another volunteer (Sarah) was also working with him at times too. His teachers were shocked at how well he had behaved for us two volunteers, which was great! They also had ‘Values’ in the afternoon, where they have a different value each week to learn about, this weeks was ‘Reliability’. I think its great teaching these young children about such values as when they really know what they mean, they can hopefully implement these to the rest of their lives, making them become good citizens within society and also good students.

The weekend was here and Saturday saw us going off to Kuranda, a nearby Rain-forest area with a few shops and also a walkway viewing area. This gave us a great opportunity to snap up some great pictures! The little market area we visited was mainly for tourists/ visitors, as they markets were mainly selling items for those type of people. The rain-forest walk was great, it consisted of lots of wooden twisted walkways going through part of an area, with information signs along the way, giving you information about the are, which was quite interesting. We then at the end of the walkway was able to see the great view of Baron Gorge/ Falls! The sights you can see along the walkway were amazing, you can write all about them, but only when you’ve really been there can you actually appreciate the area and be captivated by what there is to see/ hear. Some might think ‘oh it’s just tree’s’, but when your there, you really can admire that they aren’t just tree’s.

The great view of Barron Falls, just before it started to rain!

Our trip to Kuranda! :D

Sunday started with a trip to the local fruit and vegetable market, which is a lot lot cheaper than buying these from the local supermarkets! We were over and done with after about half an hour, so we soon made our way back home. Then a few of us decided to go out for a couple of hours, where we visited a local river called ‘Little Mulgrave River’ and some of us went for a little swim in the river which was quite fun! You couldn’t really swim in the water though as it was pretty shallow and the current just takes you, but luckily as it’s shallow you can easily touch the floor and remain safe! I then found a little rope string and thought of the great idea of trying to swing on it above the water, which was quite entertaining for the other volunteers watching haha!

Picture of us Volunteers who went to the Little Mulgrave River! :)

Making a splash in the Little Mulgrave River :)

Swinging on rope in the Little Mulgrave River! :)

After the Mulgrave River, we decided to try and find some nearby Waterfalls or other little Creeks (which didn’t have any crocs in) … but it didn’t quite work out as planned and we ended up driving around a hillside with sparsely spaced out self built houses with some great little views. We ended up going up and down streets, finding out at the end some of them were dead ends haha!

On top of a hill, in an empty space! :)

Driving to find some random but cool places! :)

Australia - Week 3!

Feels bizarre that I’m already writing me 3rd week blog! The time here seems to be going too quick!! I guess as they say, time fly’s when you’re having fun and a good time and I can certainly say I’m enjoying every moment of being over here and especially my placement!

Thursday as usual was the start of this week, I was on day shift with Urte. As usual with the day shift we had to give the homework folders our for each lesson and collect them for the Boarding Students here, which is a pain, when you want to try and be on time for any lesson you’re planning on helping out with that day. During the folder work and after lunch, I spent my time in the Prep and Primary area, with the Prep and Year 1 students. Helping them out at the end of the day to take them to their buses is most probably the funniest but also quite stressful times of the day, when you’re trying to make sure they get the right bus and the walk to there making sure they all stay in line.

Friday I was on day shift again, however instead of spending it all in Primary, I spent the morning before lunch in middle school, as some of the classes in that area are constantly growing and some of the kids can put up quite challenging behavior when they want to. I spent the first couple of hours in Miss Mawire’s class, mainly focusing on helping out a specific student who wasn’t doing any work, until I sat down with him and then he started doing it, with some help and motivation. It’s great when you can get a student who doesn’t try in class, who you know is really a good student, to do their work, without any mistakes especially! Next me and Sarah-Louise went to a different class to help out with maths, its a big eye opener into how these children have lacked so much education, these are middle school children, pretty much Year 8ish ages who’re doing maths work similar to that I had done in my Primary school days. It’s such a shame that a lot of them don’t want to change this either, because they don’t have many role models to aspire to and look up to from their communities, as within these communities education isn’t something that is pushed forward and the importance of good education isn’t told to this kids during their growing up back at home.

Saturday started off quite late, with us all having a bit of a lie-in, before everyone chipping in and making an early afternoon ‘BRUNCH’! Which was actually pretty good and filling haha! We then went into Cairns later on in the day, for a couple of quite drinks, with the sea and sun in view, which was quite good to watch. The bonus was it was Happy Hour where we went and you could also get good quality pizzas for $5aud!!

Sunday was our usual pretty much lazy day, where we just use it to talk to people from home ect.

Monday, we ended up traveling up to our Wangetti Campus, which isn’t currently open as a school at the moment, to set the place up for a memorial that was taking place the day after. There’s some great sites to see along the way, especially when driving right by to the beach front for quite a while! They day was pretty intense, moving and arranging 200 chairs, so Morag (our mentor) decided that we were allowed a bit of time to chill afterwards and to go into the swimming pool, which was pretty nice, especially to cool down in the heat! The worst part of this day for me, was having to move 3 plants, with heavy pots from the bottom of the school site, up to where the memorial was taking place, mainly because the tires on this thing we were using to move them was flat and ripping, and it was all uphill, so I was relieved when I put the 3rd one down and was told to leave the rest for some other people to do later on in the day The day seemed to go pretty quick, but then again so are most of the days now

Tuesday, we were able to go to Wangetti again, but this was to help out with the memorial, making sure the guests were ushered to their seats, that there was a constant flow of cups of water coming out to all the guests before the memorial started and also part way through. The memorial was for Lewis Griffiths a pretty well known person here in Australia! He done a lot of work with the Aboriginal culture, helping get a lot of what they wanted across through the use of the media. It was great to be part of this day, because we got to hear bits and pieces of stories his friends and families told about him as a person and also the work he done. What was even more fascinating to see, was the white Australian culture and also the Aboriginal Australian cultures coming together to remember Lewis and the great work he done. A group of students and 5 other volunteers were serving the buffet food out to the guests, whilst I was left in charge of taking picture of the students as part of their Hospitality course, which was pretty good.

The Hospitality students and other volunteers working at Wangetti for Lewis Griffith’s memorial service!

Wednesday, I was on boarding and Club & Culture. In club & Culture, I went to cooking again and helped students make stir fry and I’ve gotta say they done a pretty good job at it. Then boarding started, which was actually the best boarding shift I’ve had to date! It went pretty quick, as there was constantly things to be doing and it makes it better now as I’m starting to get to know more of the students here, which always makes things easier!

Today, I was on day shift again, which consisted of the folder work and then I went to Miss Mawire’s class for the first part of the morning. Then I spent the afternoon in the Prep and Primary area like most afternoons, when I’m on day shift. I first helped out in a class with a new teacher who was teaching her 2nd lesson here to this particular group. It was a hard lesson to get through with a student who didn’t want to participate in the lesson and spent it putting all the books of the shelves on the floor and then I ended up having to constantly take the student off the top of the shelf as they kept climbing on it and then off tables, which was really hard work! After lunch it was good to see the same student actually doing good work for part of it. Due to me helping out with this specific classes in Prep and Primary it’s meant the students have got to know me a bit, so they actually listen when I tell them to be quite and to sit properly (a big percentage of the time) and the teachers trust me with them. It’s great with this age range as you can be silly and have a laugh with them, whilst also being able to maintain a lot of their respect.

As I say every week, I really do enjoy my time here at Djarragun and already knowing I finish here in June doesn’t sound appealing at all! I’d actually love to work in a school with children like that here, because even though it’s challenging, the rewards you can get from the work, when someone does something right ect are priceless! I’d definitely recommend any person to look at doing some form of voluntary work during their life, especially young people who are finishing college, A-levels or University, you can learn a lot about yourself, but also the skills and everything you can learn from being at any placement and the memories you have are worth so much! Not only is the personal experience great, but it’s also great when you can write on University applications about your GAP Year, whether your yet to go on one before Uni, or on your CV when applying for jobs, especially with how competitive it is in many societies to get a job in today’s economic climates around the world, doing something like a GAP Year can make you stand out from everyone else who’s applying for that same job :) Anyway enough rambling on for this week, thanks for taking to time to read my blog/’s.

Australia - Week 2!

So this week started on Thursday, with me working during ‘Club & Culture’ and also ‘Boarding’. Club and Culture consisted of me helping out with Cultural Identity, which is a great way to learn about the cultures many students come from here at the school. It was a productive session, with me working with 2 children who were happy with talking to me, telling me such things as; what food they eat within their community, telling me about a famous women who knits various things such as baskets, about their families and also what they enjoy doing within their communities. I’m trying to help out in this lesson whenever I’m put in on ‘Club & Culture’ because its a great way to understand the kids here, what they go through ect. After this I was put on Boarding, which consisted of going around the site and checking all the boys were accounted for and none had gone missing (luckily they were all there!). Later on in the evening a couple of the boarders decided they wanted to have a pillow fight with me and Soren, which lasted for about half an hour, due to their enegetic personalities not wanting to stop haha!

Friday came and meant the weekend was nearly here! I only had Club & Culture this day, which started off pretty eventful, but I can’t go into further detail for various reasons about this. However, this turned into quite a quiet session with most of us Volunteers helping out in the Library ‘Chillout session’, where the boarders were allowed to do anything they wanted. It went pretty quick and our weekend was soon to start! With Friday night being a bit of a chillout evening watching a couple of episodes of ‘Friends’! We kind of have an addiction to watching that here haha!

Saturday started pretty earlish with us catching the 11ish bus into Cairns central to watch one of the teachers here from Djarragun and his band/ group do a few songs down at the Lagoon, which was a good chilled out afternoon. A couple of volunteers went to the movies to watch ‘Les Miserables’, while some of stayed at the Lagoon before going into Cairns Central shopping centre for a bit of a wonder round, planning things were going to buy for my birthday in May haha! Was quite a funny afternoon! Then came food shopping time, with us going to one store and then getting a tiny way round before realising its closing, so we vacated and went to another one! We finally got home and Saturday night was my night to cook a meal for everyone (were all taking it in turns each Saturday cooking a meal for everyone!) I attempted my first curry, a Chicken Tikka Masala, which could of done with a bit more sauce, but I was pretty proud of it and for the fact no-one ended up with food poisoning, which is always a bonus!

Sunday came with a good chillout for the day! Giving us the chance to catch up with people from back home, via Facebook, Skype ect! Or to do whatever else we wanted

Monday was another day on Admin for me, which turned into a day of helping out for a quarter of the day in a Primary lesson, making a collage of the kids making Playdough and then the rest of my time in the Primary Library helping put books away and even learning to ‘cover’ books with this weird covering thing, which took ages and was frustrating to get used to initially haha! It was soon the end of the working day for me and meant I could go home and relax for the rest of the afternoon/ evening. My attempt at going to sleep early didn’t last long with me being woken up with 2 Volunteers screaming and my door opening being told theres something in the house! So i ended up jumping out of bed, thinking their was something big in the house and interesting, but instead their was a beetle attached to one of the volunteers clothes, so i grabbed the first towel I seen and wacked it off her, along with accidently catching her slightly with the towel (but don’t panic, she wasn’t harmed during this haha!). Next I came face-to-face with a frog in a bedroom in the house, so homing in on my intelligence and quick thinking, I grabbed a cup and placed it over the frog, slid some paper underneath and discarded of the pest out side (again don’t panic, no animals were hurt during this process).

Tuesday came with me being on ‘Club & Culture’ and also ‘Boarding’ again. In Club & Culture I helped out with the cooking class, helping them make chocolate cake, which the teacher was worried about as the whole class consisted of boys, but they finished early and behaved better than expected and they even shared some of their cake with the us volunteers who helped out! It was actually pretty good! Then came boarding, starting off helping a couple of the boarders out with their homework and then playing a bit of Table Tennis after. After work, a couple of us went for a session at the gym and on our way (which is about a 30 second walk) saw some wild Kangaroo’s - which was a first for me and Sarah!

Wednesday (today) I was on the morning/ day shift, starting off sorted homework folders out for the boarding students and delivering them to their lessons, before going to a Primary class, which ended up cutting pictures out of students and what they did during January and putting them onto a big piece of card! I also helped out in a Middle School lesson, assisting a student with their ‘writing’ test, helping explain what they had to do, which is different to exams I remember taking in the UK, where people weren’t allowed help like this during their tests, so initially I didn’t really know how much help I could give, until the teacher came over and explained. After lunch a couple of us Volunteers stayed with a Prep and Year 1 class, starting off in the Library, where I ended up reading a couple of books to a few of the students before taking them off to Music, helping the Prep year students learn the songs they have to sing, whilst having them climb all over you is pretty hard, but it’s a laugh as they always seem amazed about you being there!

Australia - Week 1!

So it’s officially a week since I’ve been here in Australia, and what a great week I’ve had! From meeting other volunteers during the orientation period, to meeting the volunteers, teachers and students I’ll be spending the next 5 months with at Djarragun College, Gordonvale, Queensland!

The orientation kicked off with us volunteers from the UK being met at the Airport by Jo Walsh (Program Manager for people coming to Australia) and being took to the Space Hotel in Melbourne (don’t read the negative reviews about the hotel)! On the first day we were allowed to get on with whatever we wanted, whether it be catching up on missed sleep, to going to see the sights of Melbourne. Once checked in me and a few other people went for a walk down a long street and managed to see a ‘Flash mob’ type thing, which was definitely interesting haha! We then decided to brave the tram system down to St Kilda beach, without really knowing when to get off, so we just had to guess! The beach was nice, but we didn’t venture really into the sea with it being stinger season here in Aus (Jellyfish season) …. then came out little trip to Luna Park, which is like a fair ground amusement park located just off the beach front. The first day we all realised how expensive Australia is to live, mainly because of the Australian Dollar (AUD) becoming a lot stronger in comparison to the Sterling Pound.

The second day, we had an orientation giving us information about Australia at the Lattitude head office based in Melbourne. It was great learning about different elements of what would be required of us volunteers here in Australia and also about the way of living here. After this we then had our first Australian BBQ, which was of course very nice! Once the bbq was over we were then taken down to the CommonWealth bank to open our Australian bank accounts, it took the maximum of 5 minutes to do! We then ventured into the surrounding area as there’s better shopping places around and was given the opportunity to do some shopping. I spent this time looking around in Vinyl shops and seeing if i could see any ‘The Beatles’ stuff, which ended up in me and Nina (a volunteer from the UK) having a 10-20 minute discussion with a man in his shop about bands haha! Later that evening became the opportunity for dinner and of course a nice well deserve refreshing drink lol! This gave us volunteers some time to chill and get to know each other more, which was great!

Wednesday was our last day of the orientation and this meant an early start of 9am going to Melbourne Zoo! It was a great few hours getting to see the animals there and taking lots of picutres! The best part was seeing a newly born Elephant in the Elephant enclosure and managing to catch a great photo of the Elephant (which was hard work!) … This soon drawn to a close and we were back on the coach and taken to the Eureka Tower (consisting of 88 floors) Australians tallest public building (i think it is), this gave us the opportunity to take some really good views of Melbourne and the sights we could see were fab! Even though i did feel abit uneasy looking down at the ground below haha! After this became another great meal and a chance to relax and have a good time before we all left to our placements on Thursday!

Then came Thursday, with an early wake up, we were on our way to our placements all at various times throughout the morning, for me it was a 7am lift from the hotel to Melbourne Airport! Me, Sarah and Thomas were soon to board our flight to Cairns ready to start our placements We touched down in Cairns and were met by 4 other Volunteers who’d already been at our placement for 6 months from Germany and also our mentor Morag! The temperature/ weather was a big shock to the 3 of us, even though we were still in Australia the change from Melbourne to Cairns was huge and it’s been taking some getting used to! With a stop off in ‘Maccas’ (McDonalds), we finally made it to Djarrgun College where we were to stay until June 21st when our placement finishes! On arrival at the school we met a few teachers and got to help out with ‘Club & Culture’ - an extra curricular activity based scheme for the boarding students here, it was great! I helped out with ‘Cultural Identity’ allowing me to get a slight insight into the students cultures, what they eat, where they came from ect!

Friday consisted of us having a group meeting with Morag, asking any questions we had ect and another day at Club & Culture trying to get to know some of the students here! It was quite challenging getting the students to talk to us new volunteers, because we were yet to build any form of rapport with them and with Aborginal and Straight Islander students, it can be challenging to gain their respect and trust, enough for them to want to engage in a conversation with yourself. The behaviour of the children is a lot different to that back in England, however, you shouldn’t be alarmed as many of the students are really well mannered and well behaved, but it can take some getting used to (I’m still getting used to it)!

The weekend came and meant we were to have 2 days off work! We went into Cairns Central (50 minute bus journey) and spent a couple of hours looking around the shopping centre there, before heading down to the ‘Lagoon’ where we relaxed for a further hour or so, with some of us going into the Lagoon for a swim! The atmosphere is so different to that of the UK, everyone is so relaxed, you walk into shops and people actually want to talk to you and are willing to make a conversation! :) We were soon to head back home ready for a bbq night back at the house! The night didn’t turn out as planned, with the BBQ not working after a couple of the others spent about 20-30 minutes cleaning it! So instead me and Soren ended up cooking the burgers in various pots and pans in the kitchen It was a really good night and allowed it to get to know eachother more. Sunday we used as a chill out day, with everyone relaxing and doing their own thing and catching up with people from back home (which is hard with a 10hour time difference between here and the UK!)

Before we knew it, Monday was soon upon us and meant our first real day of work for some and a new term start to others. For me I was put on for Boarding for the evening, which consisted of getting to know the boys in the boarding house and trying to start to build that rapport with them, which I found really hard with it being my first time there, not many of the boys really wanted to engage in a conversation. Don’t be shocked if not many of the students don’t talk to you initially if you choose a placement like here at Djarragun, because over time once they get to know you and see your face around more, they’ll be starting conversations with you!

Tuesday I was put on shift with Sarah, where we spent the day in Year 1 classes, mainly just cutting stuff out and laminating various signs ect. This allowed us time to watch how they teach here at Djarragun, which I can say does seem very very different to any school I’ve been to or heard of before! They have a scheme do DI here, which seems to really be working with the students and we were told is getting outstanding results, because the students actually engage in learning, which is great! As many of the students here, don’t come from privalleged back grounds, nor is education really emphasised in their communities. I’m learning so much about the Aboriginal/Straight Islander culture everyday here and it’s so fascinating, but it also makes you think how lucky many of us are with our lives, the families we have and the way our communities/ societies interact! The Aboriginal Culture is so far from the rest of Australia and it’s true to say that when you ask people what they think of Australia, they think about; the outback, kangaroos, koala bears, beaches, surfing, huge houses and of course, the SUN! Not many people actually know that Aboriginals exist, or if they do, the lives these people live! Many of this children witness abuse in the home, on relatives and also on themselves and in their wider community, are bought up to hunt animals, have little income and food, get involved in criminal acts, are bought up on alcohol and drugs ect! It really hits home, when working with these children and when you learn something about their cultures & communities and you really do find yourself reflecting on your own life and thinking how lucky you truly are! I couldn’t of asked for a better placement than here at Djarragun College, although the students can have challenging behaviour, you understand the reasons behind this and when working here, you know that what your doing as a volunteer can make such a difference to their lives, not only this but what the college here overall does for these students is AMAZING!

Today (Wednesday) I was put on for Admin - meaning helping out with any admin tasks around the college, there wasn’t really any today, so instead I spent the day in the school libary doing various tasks, which was actually really good! It gave me the chance for the last 1-2 hours to help out with a Prep and Year 1 class (the English comparison to Reception). The students were tiny and are fascinated by you, which makes you feel great as a volunteer, because it’s these Years that really want to talk to you ect … I had a couple of students bring a book up to me and asked me to read it to them, so of course I did! The focus on their faces was great, they laughed and really enjoyed themselves, as did I! We then took them to Music and when there me and Soren sat down amongst them, trying to keep them quiet, but found the children to be clingy and climb all over you and grab your hands to hold them, which is really different to that of children within the UK and for many people could take some getting used to, however, you have to realise that these shows their acceptance of you. It was definitely my best day so far here at work, just watching these really young children enjoy themselves ect makes you feel great!

The other volunteers I’m placed with are great! I couldn’t of asked for a better bunch of people to spend the next few months with, we all get on great! We’ve already had a pillow fight, water fight, game of chirades, gave one volunteer a make-over as a clown (with lipstick and flour) and created a mini horror movie all in one night haha! Life in Australia overall is great, it’s so much more relaxed and calm than that of the UK! However, I must add it is quite expensive to live here, so if your going to do a placement here in Australia, definitely make sure you have some money behind you, however, many of the placements over here give you a weekly allowance of $50-$150 Australian Dollars (AUD).

A volunteers journey; from start to end (Part 2) - The last week

So it’s now 3 days until we fly out to Australia, I finished all my jobs last week, so it’s been weird this week not having to manage my 4 jobs anymore, nor have I had to wake up early! Saying Goodbye the Karate Class I taught was hard, with the younger students getting upset over me leaving and asking me If i could get a clone for them haha! I’d like to thank all my jobs for the cards they got me and the presents I’ve also had a really good send off at the Weekend, seeing the last of some friends and family for 6 months, it’s always hard saying bye I guess, but I kept saying to them ‘I’ll be back before you know it’. I’m now spending this last week going over my documents everyday, going over what I’ve packed and checking if I’ve missed anything and also Ironing the contents inside, but most of all I’ve been seeing/ are going to be seeing family and friends and say my very very final goodbyes! Juggling this week around sorting everything out for Aus and seeing family and friends hasn’t been the easiest, but so far it’s going smoothly, especially with the input of my dad becoming my Launderette Service and also my Ironing service haha!! My family have been great making sure all my documents are correct and giving me hints of tiny things that might be useful to take, whilst also getting me some stuff. Even though I’m excited beyond belief for my GAP Year in Australia with Lattitude, it still doesn’t seem real! A young lad from the town I’m from, going to Australia on a GAP Year as a teaching assistant in an Aboriginal Boarding School? But I guess, it’s always been a dream of mine to do something like this, so I’d like to enforce to anyone out there looking at Volunteering or who has any dreams and ambitions, to go for it, you might find they’ll be times where it seems impossible and you might get a few knock backs, but as long as you remain true to yourself and determined, you WILL get there!

A volunteers journey; from start to end

Hi everyone! My name is James Nolan; I’m from a small town called Tamworth within the UK. This is my story from the start of my Lattitude journey, to the end of my Lattitude journey. I decided to come up with the idea of writing my whole journey, because I think it’ll give all future volunteers an idea of the whole journey from the eye of some-one who has experienced it all first hand.

For me travelling and doing something different from everyone else has always fascinated me. I guess the desire for travel and learning about different cultures and way of livings is something that is built in some people. If you want to learn more about yourself, different cultures, the way in which people live differently to within your home society, different foods and also to build/ acquire new skills, then definitely look into taking a year out!

During my Sixth Form study, we were always told the importance of going to University, and I can say we didn’t get given any information about GAP Years at all! I remember coming across the term ‘GAP Year’ during my research into university, so from there I decided to research into them more. I must have gone through at least 20 different organisations, all offering various programmes at different prices. I was shocked to see quite a lot of them offering 2-4 week programmes at prices ranging over £2000-£3000, with some of them not including meals within these costs! I then found myself coming across Lattitude; the website struck me because of its professionalism and how informative it was. I think I must have spent about 1-2 hours clicking on every area of the page, reading every bit of information I could and knew by the end of this research, that a Lattitude Global Volunteering experience was for me!

I never really asked my parents whether it was okay, I just shown them Lattitude’s website and why I wanted to do this experience. I guess I’m quite lucky that they didn’t mind and were fully behind me with the decision. Once I had spoken to my family about the idea of embarking on a GAP Year with Lattitude Global Volunteering, I decide to tell my Sixth Form personal tutor, because I still wanted to go to University, so was wary about how this would all work. So for anyone wanting to take a year out, but who wants to still go to University, don’t be alarmed, you CAN do both! All it means is that you still apply like usual, but you apply for a ‘Deferred Entry’. This means, as long as you meet your entry requirements, you will have your place confirmed at your chosen University, but you will start the year of your GAP Year, unless of course you have chosen to do your GAP Year placement after University.

From all of this pre-planning stage, became my actual Lattitude experience. I applied on-line, through the lengthy application form, although there seems to be quite a few parts to the application, don’t be scared, because it really helps the Lattitude team know if the GAP Year experience’s they have to offer are really suitable for you or not and it also allows them to get to know a bit about the person that’s applying. After my application had been received, I then had to have an interview with Sarah Hak my Volunteer Co-ordinator (VC). The interview I had was by telephone (however there is face-to-face and Skype options), which lasted between 30-60 minutes, allowing Sarah to find out about myself, what I expected from my placement and Lattitude, what I had to offer and it also gave me the chance to ask Sarah any questions I had myself. I felt this was very worthwhile, because I learned so much more about the type of voluntary work I wanted to do and also about Lattitude themselves!

When I received the news to say that my application and interview went really well, I was surely ecstatic! However, this wasn’t the end of the application process yet! Next came my interview with Jo Walsh, who is the Programme Manager for Australia. It was great talking to Jo, as she helped inform me about life in Australia and also was able to give further information on the type of Teaching Assistant placements there was in Australia, either your standard school or Aboriginal school. After talking with her, we both agreed that the type of placement best suited to myself was that in an Aboriginal School, working with the Indigenous Aboriginal children within a Boarding school environment, children where English isn’t their main language, nor is education something that is highlighted within their cultures. After this interview was finished and I received an email saying that my interview was successful, I received an information pack about Aboriginal life, their culture and the teaching assistant placements within Australia, the information was a great read and I would recommend anyone to really learn about the type of work and the type of people you’ll be working with on your placement!

From here onwards came the lengthy process of saving for Australia! My parents paid for my deposit, but I said to them that I wanted to pay for the rest myself, because I wanted to really give my all into this experience! I started off with a list of fundraising ideas I could do, asking for ideas of friends and family, then I set up a Blog and a Facebook page, to keep people up-dated with what I was doing as well as providing them with information about Lattitude Global Volunteering. It was great to see the response off people who were really behind my decision, some people questioned it and you have to be prepared for it, some even said ‘why would we want to pay for you to go on holiday?’! I stayed true to myself and made everyone aware that a Lattitude Global Volunteering placement was far from Volunteering, it’s where people commit themselves to a VOLUNTARY placement for a duration decided upon each individual, where we help people from different walks of lives/ communities better themselves, not only is it voluntary but self-funded to where each of us have to pay a fee to cover the costs of the experience/ journey.

I ended up only actually doing one fundraising event, which was a sponsored run, of which I raised £200 from. Although this worried me about how I was actually going to get the rest of the money together, I didn’t let it phase me, instead it made me more ambitious to get there from hard graft and savings. I had a job from which I saved money up from monthly; however it was only 8-12 hours a week, with not very good pay! I carried on saving my money during my sixth-form studies, and then as they were coming to an end I got another job, 5 hours on a Saturday night. The savings were still slow, and I was only coming up to £1500-£2000 by the end of May/ June! Then as soon as my A-levels studies finished, I was lucky to get a full-time job, Monday-Friday, which was now my main source of finance and now I was managing 3 paid jobs and 1 voluntary job, my funds were soaring up! It was hard work and I’d find myself tired a lot, from sometimes being out the house from 8:30am and not getting back till 9:30pm! However, because I was so set on going to Australia and completing a GAP Year placement with Lattitude, I’m not stopping my jobs until the week before I depart to Australia! Some people call me crazy for working so many jobs and hours, but It’s great, it’s gave me a sense of pride and achievement, knowing that this whole experience has been so personal to me, without any real input from other people! J

It was great having the Lattitude website, in which we could talk to other volunteers who were going to the same countries as ourselves and get to know each-other. Some of us talked more than others and the group of us was filling up nicely, we all seemed to get on well which was great! I got talking to one of the volunteers (Sarah) really well and we had a laugh and joked about if we were going to be placed at the same placement. Quite a while (so it seemed) past before I got my email confirmation with my placement details and was quick to email Sarah to see if she’d received hers, but she hadn’t! Then a week later I had another email to say my placement had been changed and then a message of Sarah to say that she’d received her placement details and YES you guessed it, we had been placed at the same school! (Djarragun College) in Gordonvale, Queensland, which was a 40 minute drive approximately from Cairns! We both set off researching the school, adding all the other volunteers we were going to be placed with, so we could get to know them as we were all going to be spending a good few months together! They all seem great, and I can’t wait to meet all the other volunteers and to be at our placement! The volunteers consist of 5 German volunteers who’ve been at the placement since July time, another German volunteer who’ll be flying out in January, a volunteer from the Isle of Man and myself from England!

In November, the volunteers from the UK was invited to go to a Pre-Departure briefing in Reading, it was such a great day! I remember walking towards there and bumping into a volunteer and her mum, who were trying to find the building, so me and my dad walked with them to the briefing. We nearly got lost as when we went to the front of the building, but it seemed locked, and as we went to walk away, we noticed a sign on the back of one of the doors telling us where to go! Finally we got there! We started off with a brief introduction to Lattitude, then we done a couple of ‘Ice-breaker’s which were a laugh, to get us all talking to people, it made the atmosphere feel so much more relaxed! After we had a lunch all the volunteers were split into separate rooms, depending on which country we were volunteering in, then we were provided with information specific to the countries we were going to, which was very helpful! Our group ended up finishing early, and a big group of us stayed behind talking, getting to know each-other ect, it was as if we’d all known each-other a while!

From then to now, I’ve been saving up for spending money for when I’m in Australia, seeing my family and friends as much as I can, working and getting all my essentials together to take with me. I’ve been on countdown like no-bodies business, which must be driving people mad by now haha! I’m really excited and as of this moment in-time it’s 3 weeks 1 day and 24 minutes until I fly out to Australia (26^th January at 18:45 to be precise!).

What volunteering means to me

I think it’s great to share with other volunteers, past and present and also people who’re looking at volunteering with Lattitude Global Volunteering why we’re volunteering, what we’re hoping to get out of the experience, why we’ve chosen the location we have and also why we’ve chosen what we’re going to be doing.

Personally I’ve volunteered because It’s always been something that has appealed to me. I’ve seen programmes on the television about people who have given some of their time, to help other people in other countries and always felt it’s something I wanted to do. I’ve always been the type of person that’s always wanting to help other people in anyway that I can, and for that reason I decided that a GAP Year would be suitable to myself as I’d be able to help individuals out in anyway that they need it. I decided that I wanted to take a place with Lattitude Global Volunteering because of the locations they have on offer to be placed and also the types of experiences you can have with the organisation, as they really appealed to myself. From the offset the team at Lattitude have been very helpful, keeping in contact with me and making sure that if i have any questions I can ask them straight away. This organisation is very informative and provide you with very useful information to make sure the whole process moves smoothly and efficiently without any hick-ups.

Out of this experience I want to become more of an independant individual, who doesn’t need to rely on other people, especially as I’m aiming to be moving away for University. I also want to gain a high satisfaction from helping the children out in their education, again as I mentioned before I enjoy helping others progress within life. I’ve been teaching karate since the age of 17 and since January I’ve had my own class, and it’s been amazing to help a range of people progress and become better individuals, not only within karate, but in their everyday life. I also have a future career prospect of which I want to undergo in Australia, to have my own Counselling chain for young people and also I want to set up a charity chain that provides children in a range of areas within Australia who have a range of physical and mental abilities, with a place where they can go and improve on some elements of their education, or build on/ acquire new skills which they can apply to their future life.

I chose the location Australia because I’ve always wanted to move their when I’m older, so by volunteering there for 5-6months I could gain a high understanding of the lifestyle and culture of the Australian population.

Thanks for reading and I’ll keep you all informed of my progress with Lattitude and my experience’s I have.

James

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