My first taste of Honduras

On the plane, London - Miami
where we could later catch
the plane to San Pedro Sula

I have now been in Honduras for a total of two weeks and I am loving it! The scenery is so beautiful. When I typed in Honduras or La Union into Google it only came up with dirt tracks and some rather dull scenery but the mountains here are breathtaking and the land is covered in lots of lush forestry. It seems like a very relaxing place, quite the opposite to the tone portrayed in the media. The journey here though was completely different and has highly stressful. Terminal five was shut down in Heathrow airport and quite a few of the Project Trust volunteers still had their luggage stuck in London when they arrived in Honduras! As a result it had to be sent to each of the individual projects, taking 2-3 days. Luckily everyone had packed some spare pairs of underwear in their hand luggage so it wasn't the end of the world! Getting to our actual project from Honduras was quite relaxing though. We stopped off at the airport, had a typical american fried chicken dish with fries (which we got advised to eat so there would be no upset stomachs for the bus journey!). Then after that we hoped onto the mini bus and had a short journey into San Pedro Sula where we got to our hotel. It was quite a nice hotel, and even had a swimming pool, but all of us were so tired from the journey we couldn't bare the thought of doing any exercise!

Training in Gracias 

The Project Trust Life Abundant Teachers

The next day we headed off to the town of Gracias which was about three hours away. We stayed in small rooms, one between two and spent our first few days there. One of the best things about the place we were staying in was the hammocks outside our rooms- they were so relaxing to lay in. The purpose of going to Gracias for this amount of time was so that we could meet the American teachers who were also helping out at the Vida Abundante schools near the area. After a quick introduction we headed out to the school in Gracias to start our teacher training which consisted of several different workshops lead by experienced teachers in the area. It was very useful and provided us with a good insight to what teaching would be like and the main differences about Honduran/Western cultures.

Arriving at La Union 

The journey to la Union provided us with some fantastic scenery as we spent most of the journey travelling in the back of a pick up truck! It gave us an amazing opportunity to see all the forests, small villages and coffee plantations but it also gave us some very stiff muscles the next day- the journey was so bumpy and lasted about 3 hours! When we got there we got introduced to our Host Ana, her husband and her seven year old daughter. They were all very nice and provided us with a very warm welcome. Ana also showed us around our accommodation, an annex at the bottom of her garden which the family had built themselves. It's a very nice place to live, the washing up bowl is directly by the window so when me and my partner Maia are washing up we have a superb view to look at!

Some of the fantastic views!

After a day of settling in we spent the next week at the school helping teachers with their displays and setting up our own. We also did a lot of planning lessons and it did our Spanish a lot of good to communicate with the Honduran teachers. In the evenings we met up with the American teachers and often did things like watching films together and eating pizza. There is also a small café in the town called Café Zazzo which sells such good ice cream. It also is one of the only public places apart from the school which has wifi so many of the teachers use it to mark work ect. One of the things me and Maia have enjoyed most in our project is cooking our own food. There are so many fresh fruit and vegetables to buy and the tortillas we can use can make really tasty and quick meals. We're quite lucky about living with a host family as they're so nice and Ana often gives us advice and ideas about what to cook and eat. The scariest part of the project was without doubt the 13th of August- Results day!! Maia and I had to stay over the American teachers house to receive them due to the fact that we had no wifi and due to the time difference we had to stay up to two in the morning to receive them. But luckily all the waiting paid off and we both got into uni:) So we had some celebrational pancakes in the morning to celebrate!

The National Three Peaks Challege

Three mountains in 24 hours- Are we crazy?! - July 2015

Ben Nevis with the weather conditions fighting against us

I had never heard of the Three Peaks Challenge myself before it was mentioned in one of the Project Trust fundraising meetings, so for those who don't know it's a rather difficult challenge...

In brief, what the Three Peaks consists of is climbing the highest 3 mountains in England, Scotland and Wales in under 24 hours. Not only do you climb these three mountains (Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon) in such a short amount of time but you also have to include travel time into it- which means no lay-ins between mountain walks, no nice warm showers and certainly no tea breaks or picture taking (although luckily we had the guides to take pictures for us). What that time also meant was that we had to walk some of the mountains in the dark, and at times, pitch black (which was interesting!) 

The first mountain we climbed was Ben Nevis- The highest and apparently the hardest out of the three. At the beginning it seemed quite easy, the sun was out and there was not a cloud in sight, also the track was fairly flat to begin with- but we knew it was going to get a lot steeper from the sights ahead of us... It was all going okay until we got about three quarters of the way up and the wind started to pick up, shortly followed by the rain. There was no room for sightseeing and gazing at the views at this point as one wrong move we would have been blown over. As we approached the summit of the mountain many of those who brought poles were more than happy that they'd brought them. Not only did they help us stick to the path due to the strong winds but the also helped us conquer the snow at the top of the mountain which was a big surprise for us all!- At the bottom of the mountain we had been in shorts and T-shirts and to think that there was snow at the top in July was more than a bit if a shock!

Daybreak at Scafell 

 After getting down the mountain and travelling to the Lake District we were were approximately an hour behind time due to the weather conditions. Next up was Scafell Pike which many had argued was more difficult than Ben Nevis. The trouble was Scafell was that it was very rocky and there were loose stones everywhere. It was extremely exhausting because you were physically tired out from stepping on all the high rocks and mentally warn out too from having to concentrate all the time on footwork and placing the poles. The dark didn't make it much easier- but luckily we all had head-torches, knowing that as long as they didn't run out of battery they would all be fine!

My parents and cousin on the last Summit at Snowdon 

 The last and final mountain we climbed was Snowdon in Wales. This, for both me and my cousin, was the first time we had visited Wales so the views were all very new to us. When we got to Snowdon we were separated into a few different groups, groups of those who wanted to stick together with friends/family and those who wanted to go different speeds. I went in a group with my uncle in order to try and make up some of the time we lost on Ben Nevis. It was very hard work! On the last climb my legs were extremely stiff and sleep deprivation meant that you had to put in extra effort when stepping up higher rocks. However once we got into the climb it did seem easier to establish a better pace. In the end we managed to save some time on the walk- taking only 3 hours hours 50 mins instead of the estimated 4 and a half hours. However even with this time we weren't quite at 24 hours (only 45 mins over!) however speaking to the guides this was unavoidable because of the weather at Ben Nevis. - some of the later groups had to turn back due to the winds so we were quite lucky that didn't happen to us!  Unfortunately one of the people in our group couldn't make it to the top due to knee problems- however her friends wrote her name on a Rock named "Michelle" and brought that to the mountain (as you can see in the photo) - Such a lovely idea! All in all it was a very hard, yet enjoyable experience- and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is prepared to train really hard and see some amazing sights! :) 

Back up to Coll (Training!)

Training: One week to train for one year - June 2015

On the 23th of June I had my 2nd voyage to Coll. Even though I had already made the journey once in training it was still very daunting- each week there is only one ferry which goes up to Coll and if you miss that...you miss the whole training week. So it's quite important to make sure you catch it! Not that I didn't trust my train catching skills (which admittedly aren't the best!) I decided to catch the earliest train possible and to say in Oban over night. The ferry was scheduled at 5:30 in the morning so I would definitely of needed a rest and a good nights sleep after a whole day tackling the trains. - What I did get in fact was a goods night sleep as we got an email in the evening saying that due to the ferry strikes it didn't leave till 9:30- So there were lie-ins for all!! :D Although not for the people who didn't check their emails- arriving at the ferry station at 5:30...they were not very happy at all!

The Honduras Gang

Arriving at Coll we were straight into the training. Us Hondurans were sharing our week with the group from Zambia and Guyana (However previously these volunteers were meant to be going to Nepal but due to problems created by the earthquake they were unable to go). The first couple of hours were all very exciting- as we got to find our out who our partners were!! It seemed unreal how in a matter of 10 seconds we were all going to meet the person who we'd be spending a whole year with!  

After we had al met our partners we stated with some paper work from the One Award Booklet (documentation which when completed would provide us with a certificated demonstrating our skills learnt abroad). Even though after finishing college the thought of writing in booklets seemed a bit painstaking it was actually quite a good way to organise our thoughts and plan out our year abroad. The staff really looked after us because as soon as we had a long writing session we would immediately get a coffee and cake break. On the last day it was Sam's 18th Birthday (one of the volunteers going to Honduras) so including desert, two coffee breaks and a birthday cake we ended up having 4 pieces of cake in one day! 

Swimming in the Coll sea

One of the sessions which many volunteers were dreading was the teaching sessions. We had to plan one lesson of a 10 minute duration and one of a 20 minute duration. This was incredibly daunting as few of us had ever given a lesson before- plus we had to make it fun and amusing because the people we were going to be teaching weren't going to be the same age as us but a whole decade younger. To make the lessons more fun we were advised to use lots of stickers, games and songs. I gave my lesson on parts of the body as when in my teaching project I'll be teaching English and Science as my main subjects (although with music and art as extra-curricular). It seemed a little strange standing in front of a group of 18 year-olds and making them sing "heads, shoulders, knees and toes" but it was highly amusing!- Especially as many people hadn't sung a song like that since primary school...The use of stickers, songs and games just made I want to go back! 

We also had to cover more serious aspects of our time abroad such a health problems, staying safe and a few other administrative aspects such as passports and paperwork. The health lecture was definitively the most daunting! There were lots of gruesome photos being shown to us- One thing all of the volunteers had drilled into them was the fact that wearing shoes is of paramount importance!! There are so many dangers in not doing this; cuts (which can then lead to some rather gruesome infections) and most importantly the threat of worms; which lay gets on your feet and grow in the skin beside them.- Never ever am I going outside in the streets of Honduras with bare feet after seeing that!

More fantastic scenery!

With all the gruesome photos and stories behind there were any aspects of the week where we could relax and take time to meet our partners. On the Wednesday many of the volunteers went swimming (although I didn't as it was far too cold for my liking), me and my partner spent most of our time taking pictures of the landscape of Coll- which we thought was a far more enjoyable activity that swimming in the ice cold waters of Coll- Think we'll wait for the sea in Honduras before we go swimming! On the last day we also had a Ceilidh- which was quite amusing considering there was a power cut on the same day. However all went to plan as we managed to borrow a generator from the Island- as there weren't enough sockets to fit the speakers for all the instruments some of the Project Trust staff decided to play the drums- a technique which many of them had learnt on their travels abroad. It was a really fun evening and put everyone in the right spirits to embark on their year abroad. - We all left the next day feeling very tired from all the dancing...although equally excited and nervous considering that the next time we would ever see each other would be in the airport for our year abroad! 

Fundraising Update - June 2014

How my fundraising's been getting on so far 

My Handmade Xmas Cards

At the start of Selection the thought of raising £5900 for Project Trust seemed almost impossible but now thanks to family, friends and some very generous charitable trusts and businesses it's seemed all the more possible!

My first fundraising idea was to take full advantage of the festive spirits and sell Xmas cards at village fairs. Even though it's June now I'll still never forget how much time and effort this took- making Xmas cards is harder than you think! After ordering lots of material off eBay and visiting lots of crafty shops I decided to stick to five basic designs- all of which you can see in the picture. By the end of November I had made over 200 Christmas cards, most of which I sold at fêtes and some I sold in batches to family and friends, the biggest help I had along the way was that of my lovely twin sister- who was my card-making assistant and head candy cane maker. I even had some of my friends who offered to cut out Xmas tree templates for me at college lunch break which is real dedication when food is on offer!

All the Xmas fêtes went really well. The hardest time was selling them at the outdoors fêtes- as in December the weather was really not suited to stilling still and selling cards, but I had may generous people buy them and there were even some people who gave me hot drinks to help get me by.

The next challenge was writing to Charitable Trusts and local businesses to ask for sponsorship for my year abroad. This was probably one of the most useful experiences I have had in concern to fundraising as I could finally see my GCSE English letter writing skills come into play. I made sure that each letter I sent was accompanied with a leaflet which was a easier and less formal way to show companies what my teaching project was about. I had great fun making the leaflets and in the end ordered over 500!!

I also got busy making a Facebook page (www.facebook.com/alicesyearinhonduras) so my technology skills were definitely being but to the test. It now had over 100 views which I can hardly believe- I'm so happy with all the support :) 

After the Christmas period was over I started to get some really positive responses from charitable trusts and businesses- I'm so grateful of all the money donated and found it really good to see so many people interested. After attending a Project Trust coffee morning which offered further help with fundraising one of the returned volunteers also suggested that I did a sponsored event to gain extra funds. As a family we all agreed that something like the Three Peaks Challenge would be good as it would certainly be a challenge but hopefully something we could all achieve. Mum booked it quite early on with a guided company to ensure there was no getting lost on the mountains! The more we read up on the challenge the more daunting it seemed- we weren't quite sure what we'd got ourselves into!


     

My Voyage to Coll (Selection!)

My selection week on the Isle of Coll  - October 2014

So, I have officially got into Project Trust!!! But, before I post all about my fundraising activities (and eventually my year abroad!) I will just explain about my week on the Isle of Coll. It may have been a month ago but it was such a great experience...it just has to have a mention!!

After filling in a few forms on the internet to be sitting on a train to a country I barely knew It did feel a bit surreal. In truth, I had only been to Scotland once before and  never, ever, had I caught a train/ferry on my own (I had never even been on a ferry in my life!)....so having to travel from Norfolk to a remote island off the west-coast of Scotland by myself seemed more than a little bit daunting. But getting there was a very pleasant experience- I met some really nice people on the train who were also going on the Project Trust selection week and the Scottish scenery was to die for! - Coming from Norfolk I could barely believe how many hills and mountains I saw!

Once we got there we were introduced to all the staff at Project Trust. After a brief settling in session we went to meet our host families on the Island. I was staying with two other girls on the course, and we all go on really well with each other. None of us could quite believe how different the surroundings were- it was so nice to wake up in the morning and see the beach just outside our window!

We were given several activities to do through the week. One of the first in fact was suddenly jumping out the car one morning and herding some sheep away from the road and into a gateway. Running up and down a road wasn't ideal for an early morning activity but coming from a farming back ground where escapee sheep are quite the norm made me feel very at home! 

We were also given the challenge to set up our own own 10 minute lesson which we had to teach to a group of 5 people. As I am currently studying Spanish for A Level, and I wanted to volunteer in a Latin American country, I decided to teach a Spanish lesson. Racking my brains about what to base my lesson on, and bearing in mind the fact that none of my group could speak Spanish, I chose to do my lesson on "Los Animales" (Animals) as I always remember that topic as being a fun topic to study. Considering we were being assessed on this lesson it was rather nerve racking, however the lesson went very well and I was able to name most of the house-hold animals people kept as pets. All except from Guinea Pig, which I looked up afterwards and found out it was "Cobayo" or "Conejillo de Indias" (little rabbit of the Indies). Looking up this fact I also learnt that some people eat this in Latin America- so if I see this on a menu I'll know what to watch out for!

One of my favorite parts of the course was the hill walk we did across one of the bigger hills of the island. Contrary to the views we saw on our train journey up to Oban, most of the scenery was very flat and had lots of big rocks scattered across it- rather like a moonscape. As a result, when we got up to the top we could see for miles and we could even see some of the other islands surrounding Coll. The view was amazing- I took so many pictures that my camera ran out of memory on the second day!

 Another thing I found amazing was the Scottish customs and traditions in general. We spent a lot of our week practicing and preparing for the "Ceilidh" we were going to do on our last night. Coming from England I had no idea what a "Ceilidh" was- a type of music, food, festival?? What is was in fact was a type of social gathering where you do lots of dancing (the dance moves are very confusing to learn!) whilst there is live music played in the background. It's often done at weddings and is incredibly popular in Scotland-I don't think that the Scottish people on the course could quite believe that no one knew what it was! But after the Ceilidh night everyone was converted to the newly learnt tradition. Our hard work learning all the dance moves payed off and we all had such a great time- despite being shattered the next morning!