Training

Well this is a very late update regarding my Project Trust training week... it was back in July that I returned to the Isle of Coll for the first time since my unforgettable selection course. Well, where do I start? It was an intense and very exciting week! I can now say for sure that all the mystery surrounding my year in Uganda has been unravelled and all my curious questions have been answered as we were bombarded with so much information!

Steph and I found out lots more information about our project in Bulenga, including our address:

Nicola Cameron,

Bulenga Modern Primary School,

PO BOX 29967,

Kampala,

Uganda,

East Africa.

So please write to me while I am away I'm sure it'll be really exciting to hear news from home, and any parcels will, of course, be greatly appreciated!!

Our training timetable was filled up with a rotation of classes covering different topics from health & safety to house keeping to insurance so I'll spare you the boring bits and all I'll say is that they went into great detail!

My typical working day is from Monday to Friday, having to be up bright and early for the first lesson starting at 7.30am (!) and finishing at 5.30pm - so a much longer school day than here in the UK! Then somehow we'll have to fit our extra-curricular clubs around these hours, in the evening perhaps, we'll have to wait and see.

During the week I was also given the chance to practise my teaching skills and learn new tactics that will help me in the classroom, these range from how to keep the children's attention to how best to gain their respect as their teacher through fair discipline methods.

Other than these few days I've had absolutely no experience, so it'll be really strange going straight from being the pupil to taking on the role of the teacher!

Aside from all the hard work, I was told about the time off I will receive in the holidays. I get two months at Christmas and one month in the Spring which gives plenty of time for travelling into Tanzania, Rwanda, Kenya and visiting other volunteer's projects around Uganda. The no go areas include Sudan, The Congo and anywhere in Uganda north of Lake Albert (which there are no PT projects) for safety reasons.

I also found out that there are internet cafes in Kampala so I'll be able to update this blog regularly, when I have the time and money to travel the short distance into the capital.

The aspect I was most looking forward to about my week in Coll was finally getting to meet the other volunteers; the people I'll be spending my year in Uganda with. We're a fantastic bunch of people... eight guys and eight girls which I think is an ideal number because it'll be good fun in a large group but its small enough to get to know every individual.

The guys are: Chris and Josh, Nathan and Peter, Kieran and Richard, Mark and Ollie.

The girls are: Steph and I, Jess and Sarah, Ashleigh and Kimberly, Kasia and Siobhan.

We all got on really well at training and I'm sure we'll have a great year together!

The photograph I've included is of all the Ugandan, Guyanese and Japanese volunteers posing briefly before the start of the traditional PT ceilidh :)

Our departure date is 5th September which leaves... 15 days to go! I can't believe it is getting so close! While I put all my final preparations into place, I'm thinking its going to be harder and harder to say all my goodbyes!

My Project Profile :)

Background

Bulenga Modern was set up a few years ago by a forward thinking and energetic Ugandan. Although relatively close to the capital, Bulenga's chickens and dirt tracks give it a rural feel.
The school is small by Ugandan standards with only 188 pupils aged 4 - 13. Classrooms are basic - a blackboard and chalk and nothing more - though teachers have done their best to jolly them up with the few resources they do have.
Volunteers in the past have taught English, Maths and Science to P1 - P4 (so this is most likey what I'll be doing).
The headmaster is also keen that I get involved with the running of extracurricular activities, eg. art & craft, sport etc.
The school does not have a lot of money to spare so resources are scarce - initiative will be needed when it comes to devising lessons and activities. Discipline, however, is relatively good and because of the small class sizes there is scope for imaginative teaching.

Accommodation

I will be housed in a purpose-built compound about 10 minutes walk from the school. I'll have two rooms: one for sleeping in and another as my 'living room'. I share an open-air washroom and long drop with the other teachers.

Life in Uganda

Uganda will be a fascinating country in which to spend a year and was justifiably described by Winston Churchill as the 'Pearl of Africa'. The country's lush, green vegetation, rich red soils and blue skies are very different from typical media images of the African continent.
Almost 90% of the population is employed in agriculture. Sadly most people associate Uganda with Idi Amin, Aids and the Bwindi massacre; but Uganda has a rich an fascinating culture. Despite their difficult past, Ugandans are extremely hospitable and will warmly welcome the other volunteers and I into their communties.
There has been some instability around the country's border areas and there will be certain out of bounds areas to us for this reason. Apart from this, personal safety is good.
I will have over two months holiday during the year which I will use to explore the country. Highlights include white water rafting on the Nile (the River Nile's source is found in Uganda) and game-spotting in national parks. There may be opportunities to venture into Tanzania and Kenya.
The advantage of Uganda is that it is a comparatively cheap country to travel around.

This is exactly the gap year I was hoping for, and even though my Maths skills need updating before I go... I'm sure I'll cope! Bring on the training week!

Bulenga Modern Primary School

My desk officer, Keish, emailed to finally let me know the name of my project :)
I'm going to "Bulenga Modern Primary School". Although I'll have to wait for the rest of the details in the post, after a quick internet search I found out that Bulenga is 30 minutes away from the Ugandan capital of Kampala. So not too far out into the middle of nowhere!

Its great to finally be able to put a name to the place I'll be living and working in for the whole year, and the excitment is building! Just have to wait for the postman now!

Fundraising

I'm not going to say a whole lot about it here as I have a seperate fundraising page for that at www.justgiving.com/nicolacameron , other than since last August I've been busy busy busy raising funds towards my target of £4480. It was daunting at the start as I opened up a letter titled "FUNDRAISING DEADLINES" in bold but I've really embraced the challenge and after getting my head round all the organising I can honestly say its been enjoyable... PHEW!

The story so far

Okay, so I've started this blog to keep a sort of online journal of my gap year that I'm going to be taking in Uganda, Africa. Even though I'm not entirely sure what kind of internet connection I'll have out there!

So basically, in August I'm planning on spending an entire twelve months in Uganda, running youth clubs and providing activities for the children including sports clubs and arts & crafts classes.
I'll be working alongside the local people which means living exactly as they do, ie. surviving without technology and at times running water and electricity.

I will be going out with a partner, who I have yet to meet, but I'm sure we'll get along fine :)
This gap year is organised by the non-profit charity Project Trust, who are based on the Isle of Coll.

To do this I had to raise £4480 for Project Trust, which pays for flights, insurance, overseas support, food, etc.

This year will certainly be challenging but hopefully an experience of a lifetime and beneficial for my host community!

So why did I choose to take a gap year?

Well I had originally planned to go straight to university after school, but after 5th year I was still unsure of what course to apply for since I kept changing my mind. So one of the reasons for taking a year out is rather than to enter further education for the sake of getting a degree, I'm removing myself from the academic system to allow myself to decide upon what I really want to study.

Looking into various options, I decided I didn't want to purchase a round the world ticket going from backpacker’s hostel to backpackers hostel. Although this would be great fun, I wanted something more meaningful to use my year with that will make a difference.

Project Trust seems the perfect choice because I will be totally emersed a culture completely different from my own and I will be doing this as one of the locals, not a tourist.

Selection course

After applying for Project trust, I was invited to the PT headquarters on the Isle of Coll for a compulsory selection week. It was an exciting few days where I threw myself into all the tasks such as the lazy bed digging where we basically had to plough a field with a spade! We were also tested on spelling, essay writing & presentation skills. This allowed PT to see what our strengths and weaknesses were and let us talk about country options.

I met some fantastic people during my time on Coll and came back just wanting to leave for my gap there and then! A week later I got my acceptance letter confirming my placement in Uganda :)

Now, I'm very much looking forward to my training course back at the Hebridean Centre where I will learn all the essential information about the country and meet everyone else traveling with me!