So I lost you for 3 months this year to a place called Africa. Why
was that?
As part of the International Citizen Service I went to Botswana as a
volunteer for three months with Skillshare International. I had been looking
into volunteering and just stumbled across this programme and it sounded
perfect. I wanted to work with children and all the Africa ICS programmes are
based around working with children.
Wow, you must have been really nervous?
Yeah, I was nervous but I knew I was going with other people which
was good. I think I would have felt way worse if I was going alone. I’d already
met the people at training so was more excited to see them again than nervous
and excited for an adventure.
So what did you do when you got there?
I had a week in Gaborone the capital doing cultural activities like
learning the language and learning to cook, which was an epic fail! We went to
a village called Thamaga and the people performed traditional welcome dances
for us which was amazing. Then me and three other girls went off to Kang where
our placement was based, four people stayed in Gabs and four went to Maun.
Traditional dances hey, did you join in?
You bet your bottom dollar I did! I was so good they asked me to join!
So was this your most memorable point in the trip?
No actually, it was amazing to give them credit but there was one
day that will always stick in my mind. At Matsha which is one of the schools I
worked at we had to teach guidance lessons (like PSE) and we were compiling
list of subjects the students wanted to learn about and in the three classes I
taught the first subject was suicide. A girl in the last class told me that
suicide was a very important issue at the school and she knew that a few
members of her form wanted to commit suicide. After the lesson I went to talk
to the Peace Corp volunteer about it who told me that in one week just before I
came to Kang three students committed suicide in a week, and she did a class on
dealing with situations as the kids lack knowledge of how to reason out
situations etc. She said “if your friends fell out with you how would you solve
the issue?” the only answer the class could come up with was to commit suicide!
It seems like they don’t understand how to deal with their
emotions.
Yeah completely, they aren't really taught how to deal with situations
and seem know a lot about certain things like HIV/AIDs but don’t really seem to
understand what the consequences are. We did lots on HIV/AIDs as 1/3 of the
population of Kang is HIV+. The kids would answer our questions about it and
seemed to know everything but didn't appear to understand, like they knew what
ARV’s did and what the CD4 count was, but didn't understand the relationship
between the two of them.
We're really lucky here aren't we?
Yes. I got told that around 80% of the students I taught were
orphans, but everyday they came to school with big happy smiley faces and were
so keen to learn and so excited to hear about my life back home and everything.
They pretty much have nothing and even told me that they didn't expect to go to
university or do well in school. When I first got there I felt sorry for them
and the opportunities I had handed to me on a plate they would never get. But
by the end I realised that they are happy with what they have and don’t want
anything else, other than a good education. They are so inspirational how they
can deal with situations which I think would just ruin my own life. They have
changed my complete outlook on life.
It’s hard to even imagine such a way of life. You must have met some
really inspirational people then?
Yeah there was so many amazing people I met. Too many to mention
them all but one guy holds a special place in my heart. I helped him write his
application for University in England. He lived on the streets until he was 14
after both his parents died in the space of a week at the age of 7, at 14 he
got taken to a place called Hope Mission where some other volunteers worked and
went to school for the first ever time. He got adopted by the most amazing
woman ever; my Africa Mummy, and finished school (which takes 7 years) in just
3! While I was in Botswana we met the Education Secretary and told him about
this boy, he was so amazed he offered him a scholarship to any university in
the world. He has been offered a place at Leeds Met to study Law in September
with funding for a masters anywhere he wants! Not only is he such a lovely
person, he is proof of how much you can achieve if you are given second
chances.
I’ve seen the adorable pictures of you with the little kids!
Yes, the little ones were so cute! They loved having their pictures
taken and posing! I literally have hundred’s of pictures of them being lions
and elephants! I worked at a Pre-School and had to teach English... which was
really hard as they literally had no idea! We also painted the school and
sorted out building a fence and flush toilets so it can get registered and
taken over by the government.
Didn’t you have a English tea party with them?
Yeah, we did an English children’s party for them with games like
pass the parcel and musical bumps. They loved musical bumps so much and got so competitive! We had to encourage the local people to send their kids to school
so thought it would be a good way to encourage them into education. We made up
games with simple English to get them learning a little bit, and taught them
nursery rhymes and stuff. They loved the hokey kokey!
What are you doing now you're back?
I am going back to uni in September to do my masters but am working
with the Botswana Skillshare on some ongoing projects. I’m also working with
some other volunteers to raise funds to climb Kilimanjaro to raise money for
our placements then go back to Botswana next summer to do some more
volunteering.
How can other people find out about Skillshare?
Well Skillshare is part of ICS and has loads of different
volunteering opportunities.If you look at my
blog it will give you an
in depth account of my experience and what you can expect if you did
volunteering. You don’t necessarily have to go abroad though, there are loads
of amazing opportunities at home.
So would you recommend volunteering?
Yes definitely, it was such an amazing experience!
You can find out more about Skillshare via their website, and ICS via their website. Don't forget to read Faye's blog about her experience in Africa. It's really funny and insightful.
Hope you enjoyed this post! I know it's different for my blog, but I really wanted to share Faye's story, especially to promote Skillshare and their amazing work!
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