Right everyone! Finally got round to starting my first of many blog entries. I got my official acceptance to the project - Teaching in Ghana, September 2013 - over the Christmas break. Since then I have began various fundraising activities.
My name is Struan James and I am from a small village called Ullapool on the West Coast Highlands. I applied for this amazing project as the opportunity to go to somewhere like Ghana is a rare one. I also see teaching as a more than likely career option for me so the experience would be very helpful if I decide to study education in university.
I started my fundraising with a few bag packing days in my local Tesco and one in Inverness. As these were quite small stores I was raising less than a £100 per time but I welcome anything small or large towards my fundraising total. I have this problem due to where I live as my school is small so making big money quick is harder than it must be for those in big schools in the city. However this did make me eligible to claim a £500 bursary which makes me feel much more comfortable about reaching my goal by September. I also wrote over 100 letters to grants and trusts however received nothing but negative replies from them all which was quite unfortunate. After that it was a few small events like table top sales and bake sales until I decided to enter the Inverness Half Marathon.
I participated in the half marathon with my friend who was fundraising for her gap year in Honduras with the organisation Project Trust. Marathon day was on the 17th of March and i had being training for two months prior to it. I had raised roughly £800 in sponsors which was a massive bonus towards my fundraising total. I ran in my Lattitude t-shirt through rain, wind and cold! Got a bit of a battering and it was harder than expected but I finished the 13 miles in a time of 02:04:50.
Before Run
After Run
I have now had nearly all my vaccinations other than yellow fever and am currently focusing my attention on my higher exams. After them I start part time work so if I do happen to fail to fundraise my total I can pay the rest myself. I am in discussion about a possible Africa night in the village which could raise almost all of the remainder needed as I am roughly £1000 away from finishing. I would also like to organize a ceilidh during the summer and if that happens I shall definitely be done!
Not the most exciting blog post but I cant wait until departure time and by then I will hopefully have much more exciting news to share!!
