Jack the Changing Worlds representative based in Yantai has gaps in his summer programme. He writes:
Dear David,
I am sending you information about our Program Information Package of Chinese Summer Program to learn Chinese mandarin language and culture in Yantai University for your persual.
Hopefully you could send over a few volunteers for this cultural and language immersion program in July/August.
Please let me know if you have any queries. Please launch this program at your site asap. Thanks.
For English video on Yantai University, please refer to the following video links:http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTY2MzIxMjAw.html
For English video link for Yantai City, here is the video link athttp://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTY1OTQwMjE2.html
Hoping th is is ok and helpful. Please feedback. Thanks. Regards.
The summer programme includes:
Chinese Summer Program 2010
Project:
Conversational Chinese Mandarin
Dates: July and/or August
Courses:
l Chinese Listening and Speaking;
l Chinese Reading and Writing;
l Tours and Visits to Chinese ancient relics and heritage cultural sites in Yantai.
Schedule and Timetable
4 hours per day, Monday to Friday
Program Placement:
Yantai University, China
Accommodation Residence: International hostel on campus in Yantai University, China.
Program Fee:
USD2600 per student for four weeks.
Including the followings:
l Accommodation on campus for a single room with all beddings, the simple furniture, air-conditioner, the private bathroom, TV, phone, internet access.
l Tuition fee;
l Internet cost;
l All textbooks and DVDS,
l Airport service at Yantai.
l Local city tours upon arrival
l Program orientation and supervision
l 24/7 emergency service in case of any need.
The Program Fee does not include the followings:
l The round-trip airfare to and from China,
l The visa application fee for entry in China, and the visa renewal cost within China;
l Overseas insurance and medical cost if any;
l Any other personal costs such as the busfare, taxi, phone bills and drinks etc.
Notes:
l Program is conducted on one-on-one basis by private tutoring with tailored courses specifically designed to meet the need and requirement of each individual candidate.
l The dates for arrival and departure are flexibly designed as per the convenience of each individual candidate.
Showing posts with label news. Show all posts
Showing posts with label news. Show all posts
Thursday, 10 June 2010
Tuesday, 25 May 2010
Beccky updates on fundraising for St Stephens orphanage
Becky continues her efforts to raise funds for St. Stephens orphanage in Nakuru in Kenya. Becky and Ben Lock are former volunteers who went away with Changing Worlds last year. Becky writes via Facebook:
Hi David,
hope you are well.
Things are going well with fundrasing now.
Myself, Ben Lock and a few friends and family completed the London-Brighton cycle on sunday, it was good but very tough.
Once i have collected my sponsorship from that as well as another event at church i should have around £1000 which is my target to have by july when i go back to kenya for 4 weeks.
I also know that some of the others have had/ have coming up fundraising events for the orphanage and Zoe's Nakuru workers feeding programme.
The only concern that many of us still have with the orphanage is the issue of running it. We dont want to put a few more thousand into the building if there are going to be no children living there but we definitely dont want to waste the money already gone into it.
It is difficult to communicate with Karanja about this because he is so busy do you know any more about this issue?
In addition to this i am in the process of setting up a link between my mums school in worthing and Kiamaina. I did 2 assemblies there yesterday and hopefully the children are going to write letters and raise a bit of money.
Becky
We wish Becky continued good luck with her fundraising. If you feel you would like to mkae a donation, however small, it would be appreciated. Let me know via e-mail to:
david@changingworlds.co.uk
Hi David,
hope you are well.
Things are going well with fundrasing now.
Myself, Ben Lock and a few friends and family completed the London-Brighton cycle on sunday, it was good but very tough.
Once i have collected my sponsorship from that as well as another event at church i should have around £1000 which is my target to have by july when i go back to kenya for 4 weeks.
I also know that some of the others have had/ have coming up fundraising events for the orphanage and Zoe's Nakuru workers feeding programme.
The only concern that many of us still have with the orphanage is the issue of running it. We dont want to put a few more thousand into the building if there are going to be no children living there but we definitely dont want to waste the money already gone into it.
It is difficult to communicate with Karanja about this because he is so busy do you know any more about this issue?
In addition to this i am in the process of setting up a link between my mums school in worthing and Kiamaina. I did 2 assemblies there yesterday and hopefully the children are going to write letters and raise a bit of money.
Becky
We wish Becky continued good luck with her fundraising. If you feel you would like to mkae a donation, however small, it would be appreciated. Let me know via e-mail to:
david@changingworlds.co.uk
Thursday, 20 May 2010
Read our Newsletter for April 2010
Our latest updates in our April 2010 newsletter.
Features include issues of fundraising, updates on our placements in Brazil and China and an interesting video of one of volunteers playing the part of a pop star whilst in Kenya.
http://www.changingworlds.co.uk/Home.aspx?vurl=%2f%2fRoot%2fContent%2fNewsletterApril2010
Enjoy!
Features include issues of fundraising, updates on our placements in Brazil and China and an interesting video of one of volunteers playing the part of a pop star whilst in Kenya.
http://www.changingworlds.co.uk/Home.aspx?vurl=%2f%2fRoot%2fContent%2fNewsletterApril2010
Enjoy!
Friday, 30 April 2010
Livvy completes the London Marathon and raises funds for the children in Kenya
Huge congratulations to Livvy Partington for successfully completing the gruelling London Marathon last week.
Livvy writes via Facebook:
Hope you are well, I did the marathon on Sunday and I have got £1000 for the orhanage from it so hopefully with all our fundraising we'll be able to get it off the ground this year! Speak soon, Livvy'
Livvy, a former Rugby School student, went to Nakuru last summer with Changing Worlds. She spent three months working in an orphanage for street children.
Such is the impact these kids had on her life Livvy is determined to not only give her own time but to continue to work for their benefit.
Well done Livvy!
Livvy writes via Facebook:
Hope you are well, I did the marathon on Sunday and I have got £1000 for the orhanage from it so hopefully with all our fundraising we'll be able to get it off the ground this year! Speak soon, Livvy'
Livvy, a former Rugby School student, went to Nakuru last summer with Changing Worlds. She spent three months working in an orphanage for street children.
Such is the impact these kids had on her life Livvy is determined to not only give her own time but to continue to work for their benefit.
Well done Livvy!
Monday, 26 April 2010
News Update - read the March 2010 Changing Worlds newsletter
Read our latest March 2010 newsletter at:
http://www.changingworlds.co.uk/Home.aspx?vurl=%2f%2fRoot%2fContent%2fNewsletterMarch2010
News updates includes further information about the on going political situation in Bangkok, Thailand, our new Changing Worlds placements in Germany and New Zealand and updates from participants from around the World.
http://www.changingworlds.co.uk/Home.aspx?vurl=%2f%2fRoot%2fContent%2fNewsletterMarch2010
News updates includes further information about the on going political situation in Bangkok, Thailand, our new Changing Worlds placements in Germany and New Zealand and updates from participants from around the World.
Wednesday, 10 March 2010
News Update - read the February 2010 Changing Worlds newsletter
Find out about our exciting new developments at Changing Worlds.
News updates include our new martial arts programme in China and a video of a Great White shark off South Africa.
Find out more at:
http://www.changingworlds.co.uk/Home.aspx?vurl=%2f%2fRoot%2fContent%2fNewsletterFebruary2010
Enjoy!
News updates include our new martial arts programme in China and a video of a Great White shark off South Africa.
Find out more at:
http://www.changingworlds.co.uk/Home.aspx?vurl=%2f%2fRoot%2fContent%2fNewsletterFebruary2010
Enjoy!
Wednesday, 10 February 2010
News Update - read the Changing Worlds January 2010 newsletter
I am delighted to release our latest newsletter for January 2010.
http://www.changingworlds.co.uk/Home.aspx?vurl=%2f%2fRoot%2fContent%2fNewsletterJanuary2010
It includes some really useful information about fundraising ideas that will be very useful to those looking to find potential sponsors for their gap year.
Regards
David
http://www.changingworlds.co.uk/Home.aspx?vurl=%2f%2fRoot%2fContent%2fNewsletterJanuary2010
It includes some really useful information about fundraising ideas that will be very useful to those looking to find potential sponsors for their gap year.
Regards
David
Friday, 29 January 2010
Sergio gives fund raising advice
Sergio recently went over seas.
He is very keen to help others in important development work overseas and kindly produced some excellent advice on fund raising:
Let me start by saying that, no matter how daunting the prospect of fundraising might seem, once you get started it gets easier and easier, to the point where you’ll really enjoy doing it. Once it is all over, you will look back and consider this stage an integral part of your volunteering project.
My partner and I are originally from Spain, where the concept of individuals fundraising for their own cause/charity is virtually non-existent. So you can imagine how we faced the prospect of “having to ask for money”. Even so more considering we were only two and a half months away from starting our stay in Cambodia, and both of us worked full time. “But, hey, even if it is a few quid, it’ll help” we thought. In the end, out of our £5.400 target we managed, in 2 months, to raise… over £7.600!! Never in our wildest dreams could we’ve dreamt such a response…
How did we do it?
Let me start from the basics. After attending a fundraising workshop and reading a couple of books on the subject, my absolute top two tips would be the following:
· Be ready to tell everyone: network, network, network!!
· Base your fundraising events on things you enjoy / your hobbies.
Taking into account these premises, what follows is a set of more or less random thoughts and ideas for fundraising based on our experience.
1) THE BLOG.
First thing, set up a blog, you don’t need any specific web design knowledge for this (I started from scratch, didn’t actually have a clue of what a blog was before giving it a go). However, it pays to spend sometime thinking of the layout and the information you want to include, and to experiment with different add-ons and widgets (a portable chunk of code that can be copy-pasted and executed by you, the end user). It took me a good three weeks before I was happy with the result. Once this is done, the blog is a very easy way of conveying your message, it can become quite interactive and adding/removing information is relatively simple.
The blog serves 3 purposes:
· Before leaving, it helps raising awareness and supports your fundraising efforts.
· During the project, it allows you to stay in touch with friends, family & sponsors back at home, hence also showing that you are delivering on your promises. Keep the blog up-to-date, with a couple of postings a week and lots of pics (internet connectivity in Cambodia was awful, so if we managed, anyone can!) For the photographs, we used links from the blog to picasa web albums. I’d recommend that people take an old laptop with them to their host countries – this way, you can write the postings at your leisure, and leave the laptop to upload them alongside the pics at the cyber-café while you savour the local delicacies!
Picasa web albums: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/
Google Documents: http://docs.google.com/
· When you come back, the information on your blog will help you putting together a presentation with the highlights of your experience. You can then deliver this presentation to friends, family or institutions (Rotary, Lions Club, Round Table, Women’s International…) to thank them for their donations/support, and maybe raise further funds.
Tips for your blog
· Think of a catchy name that people can remember and associate with you. In our case, we named it “ESC-APE!!” which stood for “Elena & Sergio in Cambodia – A Project’s Experiences!!” It just so happens that “to escape” is the same word and has the same meaning in English and in Spanish: “to remove oneself from a familiar environment”.
· Start populating the blog with a section explaining the who, when, what and how. You can do this as a PowerPoint presentation, upload it through Google Documents and then embed it into the blog.
· We imported a widget to show photographs of ourselves, and another to leave a recorded a voice message- all this helped to make the blog more personal, especially towards people who didn’t know us.
· Create a block with links to past and future fundraising events.
· Be clear about the target amount you want raise, what it is for and what will cover. Show your progress: a simple “fundraising thermometer” updated every couple of days is a very visual and effective way of doing this.
· Include a widget that offers the possibility of subscribing to the blog by email or RSS. This way, people will receive one email per day with links to updates / new postings (and only one per day; no postings/ updates, no email)
· We had a “donate directly” through PayPal widget, but I don’t think anyone used it. Most people would transfer money directly into our account, or give it to us in cash.
· It helps if you have a friend who can design a nice banner for the blog’s main header (the first thing visitors to your blog will see!)
· Include a link to your blog in the signature block of all your email accounts, and your social networks.
For our blog, we used “blogger” (formerly known as “blogspot”):
https://www.blogger.com/start
Blog ESC-APE!!: http://elena-sergio-in-cambodia.blogspot.com/
2) THE EMAIL ACCOUNT.
It helps a lot keeping separate your private email from your “project’s” email, especially if you are going to ask professional institutions / business for sponsorship.
Hence open a specific email account for your project – keep it consistent with your blog’s name/theme.
3) THE BUSINESS CARDS.
Get some business cards printed, and hand them out to everyone!! I can’t stress this enough… EVERYONE!! Include your name, email address, blog address and, if you want, your mobile/phone number.
Keep some of them to hand out in your host country.
You can get 250 business cards for free from VistaPrint (you pay only for postage and processing and any product upgrades you select)
VistaPrint : http://www.vistaprint.co.uk/
4) THE LEAFLETS.
Produce a simple leaflet briefly describing the who, what, how, when. Include your contact and bank details. You can then hand them out at your fundraising events / presentations.
5) FUNDRAISING EVENTS.
· As said above, sit down and brainstorm for half an hour about things you enjoy doing, your hobbies: Sports? Dancing? Walking? Photography? Cinema?... Then try to link them together. “Can I organize a sponsored walk, take some photos and then hire a room somewhere to exhibit them, sell them, have a raffle and maybe a wine tasting event?”
· On your list, don’t forget to organize events where people get something in return for their money. It is OK for you to train and run a10km race, but it is much better to have a salsa night.
· Keep up-to-date records of the amounts fundraised (a simple spreadsheet would do) – the more transparent you can be about it, the more people will trust you.
· Use the media! Go to your local newspaper, explain your project, hand them out your business card and your leaflets and ask them to write an article about you.
· You can always have a raffle, anywhere! Go to your local corner-shops, explain your project, hand them out your business card and your leaflets and ask them to contribute with something: a bottle of wine, some cheese, a pair of socks… Tell them you’ll be publicising their business in the upcoming article that the local newspaper is going to write about you, and at the raffle itself.
· Talk to people, explain your project, hand them out your business card and your leaflets… (spot a recurring theme here?). You’ll be surprised how imaginative people can be, and the amount of useful advice they could give, usually from the most unexpected individuals!. Most of our fundraising ideas where shaped by contributions from others. For example, since we play squash, we thought of organizing a squash competition. When we discussed the idea with the board of our local squash club (after handing them out our business cards and leaflets) they agreed to let us use two courts on a Saturday free of charge. Not only that, but they suggested that rather than a competition, we organized a “24 hr squash marathon”: have 2 courts for 12 hours, divide the time into 15min slots, at £2 per slot and person. This way, more players could take part and we wouldn’t have to buy prizes!!
5) FUNDRAISING WHEN YOU COME BACK.
As mentioned above, once you are back from your project it might be worth contacting some of the local institutions that sponsored you and ask them if they’d be interested in a presentation about your project at their monthly meeting. This is a nice way of thanking them, as you can show where they contribution has gone.
But you should also target institutions that haven’t sponsored you. We, for example, delivered a presentation about our experiences to our local Rotary Club, just with the intention of raising awareness. Two days later we received from them a £500 cheque in the post, which we donated to the NGO we worked for in Cambodia.
*********************************************************************
Hope this helps!!
Good luck with your fundraising.
If you have any queries, don’t hesitate to ask. I’m only one email away!!
Kind regards,
Sergio Gallego-Schmid
sergio.gallego.schmid@gmail.com
Do contact Sergio for further help and advice.
Thank you Sergio!
He is very keen to help others in important development work overseas and kindly produced some excellent advice on fund raising:
Let me start by saying that, no matter how daunting the prospect of fundraising might seem, once you get started it gets easier and easier, to the point where you’ll really enjoy doing it. Once it is all over, you will look back and consider this stage an integral part of your volunteering project.
My partner and I are originally from Spain, where the concept of individuals fundraising for their own cause/charity is virtually non-existent. So you can imagine how we faced the prospect of “having to ask for money”. Even so more considering we were only two and a half months away from starting our stay in Cambodia, and both of us worked full time. “But, hey, even if it is a few quid, it’ll help” we thought. In the end, out of our £5.400 target we managed, in 2 months, to raise… over £7.600!! Never in our wildest dreams could we’ve dreamt such a response…
How did we do it?
Let me start from the basics. After attending a fundraising workshop and reading a couple of books on the subject, my absolute top two tips would be the following:
· Be ready to tell everyone: network, network, network!!
· Base your fundraising events on things you enjoy / your hobbies.
Taking into account these premises, what follows is a set of more or less random thoughts and ideas for fundraising based on our experience.
1) THE BLOG.
First thing, set up a blog, you don’t need any specific web design knowledge for this (I started from scratch, didn’t actually have a clue of what a blog was before giving it a go). However, it pays to spend sometime thinking of the layout and the information you want to include, and to experiment with different add-ons and widgets (a portable chunk of code that can be copy-pasted and executed by you, the end user). It took me a good three weeks before I was happy with the result. Once this is done, the blog is a very easy way of conveying your message, it can become quite interactive and adding/removing information is relatively simple.
The blog serves 3 purposes:
· Before leaving, it helps raising awareness and supports your fundraising efforts.
· During the project, it allows you to stay in touch with friends, family & sponsors back at home, hence also showing that you are delivering on your promises. Keep the blog up-to-date, with a couple of postings a week and lots of pics (internet connectivity in Cambodia was awful, so if we managed, anyone can!) For the photographs, we used links from the blog to picasa web albums. I’d recommend that people take an old laptop with them to their host countries – this way, you can write the postings at your leisure, and leave the laptop to upload them alongside the pics at the cyber-café while you savour the local delicacies!
Picasa web albums: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/
Google Documents: http://docs.google.com/
· When you come back, the information on your blog will help you putting together a presentation with the highlights of your experience. You can then deliver this presentation to friends, family or institutions (Rotary, Lions Club, Round Table, Women’s International…) to thank them for their donations/support, and maybe raise further funds.
Tips for your blog
· Think of a catchy name that people can remember and associate with you. In our case, we named it “ESC-APE!!” which stood for “Elena & Sergio in Cambodia – A Project’s Experiences!!” It just so happens that “to escape” is the same word and has the same meaning in English and in Spanish: “to remove oneself from a familiar environment”.
· Start populating the blog with a section explaining the who, when, what and how. You can do this as a PowerPoint presentation, upload it through Google Documents and then embed it into the blog.
· We imported a widget to show photographs of ourselves, and another to leave a recorded a voice message- all this helped to make the blog more personal, especially towards people who didn’t know us.
· Create a block with links to past and future fundraising events.
· Be clear about the target amount you want raise, what it is for and what will cover. Show your progress: a simple “fundraising thermometer” updated every couple of days is a very visual and effective way of doing this.
· Include a widget that offers the possibility of subscribing to the blog by email or RSS. This way, people will receive one email per day with links to updates / new postings (and only one per day; no postings/ updates, no email)
· We had a “donate directly” through PayPal widget, but I don’t think anyone used it. Most people would transfer money directly into our account, or give it to us in cash.
· It helps if you have a friend who can design a nice banner for the blog’s main header (the first thing visitors to your blog will see!)
· Include a link to your blog in the signature block of all your email accounts, and your social networks.
For our blog, we used “blogger” (formerly known as “blogspot”):
https://www.blogger.com/start
Blog ESC-APE!!: http://elena-sergio-in-cambodia.blogspot.com/
2) THE EMAIL ACCOUNT.
It helps a lot keeping separate your private email from your “project’s” email, especially if you are going to ask professional institutions / business for sponsorship.
Hence open a specific email account for your project – keep it consistent with your blog’s name/theme.
3) THE BUSINESS CARDS.
Get some business cards printed, and hand them out to everyone!! I can’t stress this enough… EVERYONE!! Include your name, email address, blog address and, if you want, your mobile/phone number.
Keep some of them to hand out in your host country.
You can get 250 business cards for free from VistaPrint (you pay only for postage and processing and any product upgrades you select)
VistaPrint : http://www.vistaprint.co.uk/
4) THE LEAFLETS.
Produce a simple leaflet briefly describing the who, what, how, when. Include your contact and bank details. You can then hand them out at your fundraising events / presentations.
5) FUNDRAISING EVENTS.
· As said above, sit down and brainstorm for half an hour about things you enjoy doing, your hobbies: Sports? Dancing? Walking? Photography? Cinema?... Then try to link them together. “Can I organize a sponsored walk, take some photos and then hire a room somewhere to exhibit them, sell them, have a raffle and maybe a wine tasting event?”
· On your list, don’t forget to organize events where people get something in return for their money. It is OK for you to train and run a10km race, but it is much better to have a salsa night.
· Keep up-to-date records of the amounts fundraised (a simple spreadsheet would do) – the more transparent you can be about it, the more people will trust you.
· Use the media! Go to your local newspaper, explain your project, hand them out your business card and your leaflets and ask them to write an article about you.
· You can always have a raffle, anywhere! Go to your local corner-shops, explain your project, hand them out your business card and your leaflets and ask them to contribute with something: a bottle of wine, some cheese, a pair of socks… Tell them you’ll be publicising their business in the upcoming article that the local newspaper is going to write about you, and at the raffle itself.
· Talk to people, explain your project, hand them out your business card and your leaflets… (spot a recurring theme here?). You’ll be surprised how imaginative people can be, and the amount of useful advice they could give, usually from the most unexpected individuals!. Most of our fundraising ideas where shaped by contributions from others. For example, since we play squash, we thought of organizing a squash competition. When we discussed the idea with the board of our local squash club (after handing them out our business cards and leaflets) they agreed to let us use two courts on a Saturday free of charge. Not only that, but they suggested that rather than a competition, we organized a “24 hr squash marathon”: have 2 courts for 12 hours, divide the time into 15min slots, at £2 per slot and person. This way, more players could take part and we wouldn’t have to buy prizes!!
5) FUNDRAISING WHEN YOU COME BACK.
As mentioned above, once you are back from your project it might be worth contacting some of the local institutions that sponsored you and ask them if they’d be interested in a presentation about your project at their monthly meeting. This is a nice way of thanking them, as you can show where they contribution has gone.
But you should also target institutions that haven’t sponsored you. We, for example, delivered a presentation about our experiences to our local Rotary Club, just with the intention of raising awareness. Two days later we received from them a £500 cheque in the post, which we donated to the NGO we worked for in Cambodia.
*********************************************************************
Hope this helps!!
Good luck with your fundraising.
If you have any queries, don’t hesitate to ask. I’m only one email away!!
Kind regards,
Sergio Gallego-Schmid
sergio.gallego.schmid@gmail.com
Do contact Sergio for further help and advice.
Thank you Sergio!
Wednesday, 13 January 2010
Jon, our first volunteer to South Africa, reports back
Our first volunteer to Umtata in South Africa reports back:
David,
I cant begin explaining how amazing it is here!! Mr Unni is extremely welcoming and Siliziwe is showing me round fantastically,
Jon
Jon is suffering with thirty degree heat...he got no sympathy!
More details to follow!
David,
I cant begin explaining how amazing it is here!! Mr Unni is extremely welcoming and Siliziwe is showing me round fantastically,
Jon
Jon is suffering with thirty degree heat...he got no sympathy!
More details to follow!
Monday, 11 January 2010
News update - read the Changing Worlds December 2009 news letter
Here is the latest news letter for December 2009.
Find the link at:
http://www.changingworlds.co.uk/Home.aspx?vurl=%2f%2fRoot%2fContent%2fNewsletterDecember2009
If you would like to contribute to the monthly newsletter then don't hesitate to contact me at: david@changingworlds.co.uk
Find the link at:
http://www.changingworlds.co.uk/Home.aspx?vurl=%2f%2fRoot%2fContent%2fNewsletterDecember2009
If you would like to contribute to the monthly newsletter then don't hesitate to contact me at: david@changingworlds.co.uk
Wednesday, 23 December 2009
Christmas wishes from India
We received a charming postcard from Prema Vasam, one of our orphanages in Chennai, India.
We want to thank Selvyan and his staff for all their hard work and support. We hope the children enjoy a wonderful Christmas with our volunteers.
I hear through the grapevine there is a nativity play in the offing!
Merry Christmas everyone.
David and Shirleyxx
Tuesday, 22 December 2009
Abby's Christmas plans in Kenya
This is what Abby is doing for Christmas - certainly different!
MERRY CHRISTMAS TOOOO!!!!
thanks so much for everything, got so much to do before i leave.
Will just let you know what we have been up to, we did a huge street feed for 100 boys 2 days ago, we are taking cookies and presents to all the orphanages we know, we redecorated an orphanage a few weeks ago and we babys at 4 orphans for the night from a lady named sherry who has her own orphanage/rescue home, we plan on taking food to the mums and children on ward 6 on christmas eve too!
xxxxxxxxxx
Carry on the good work Abby and have a wonderful Xmas!
MERRY CHRISTMAS TOOOO!!!!
thanks so much for everything, got so much to do before i leave.
Will just let you know what we have been up to, we did a huge street feed for 100 boys 2 days ago, we are taking cookies and presents to all the orphanages we know, we redecorated an orphanage a few weeks ago and we babys at 4 orphans for the night from a lady named sherry who has her own orphanage/rescue home, we plan on taking food to the mums and children on ward 6 on christmas eve too!
xxxxxxxxxx
Carry on the good work Abby and have a wonderful Xmas!
Wednesday, 16 December 2009
News update - read the Changing Worlds November newsletter
Here's a link to our latest e-newsletter that I hope you enjoy reading.
http://www.changingworlds.co.uk/Home.aspx?vurl=%2f%2fRoot%2fContent%2fNewsletterNovember2009
If you feel you would like to contribute to our blog or our newsletter then do drop me a line to david@changingworlds.co.uk
Merry Christmas
David
http://www.changingworlds.co.uk/Home.aspx?vurl=%2f%2fRoot%2fContent%2fNewsletterNovember2009
If you feel you would like to contribute to our blog or our newsletter then do drop me a line to david@changingworlds.co.uk
Merry Christmas
David
Friday, 27 November 2009
David reports in from South Africa
I have enjoyed a fantastic week in South Africa.
Harry, Siliziwe, Leslie and I have travelled over 3 500 kilometres in six days. Our journey started in Cape Town and took us first to Gaasbaii where we experienced swimming with the Great White sharks.
This new placement is a marvellous opportunity to join research scientists and find out about these wonderful creatures. The habits of the sharks are changing and we know very little about them - you can complete a one to three month placement joining the team of dedicated specialists to help understand their migration and eating habits.From Gaasbaai we headed off to Umtata in Eastern Province where we visited schools and an orphanage for special needs children. Every one was very keen to take on volunteers in the future. Opportunities include the formal teaching of English but also the chances to coach sports, drama, music and dance.
The local children come from poorer parts of the town.
Whilst in Umtata we went to the home of Nelson Mandela and found out much more about this wonderful man.
From Umtata we headed north to Lydenburg where we saw yet more schools in this mining town. A very different type of South Africa from the true African town of Umtata. Lydenburg seemed to be caught in a time lag - racial segregation is still obvious in the town. Nevertheless fantastic opportunities for volunteers to help in English, IT and sports.
More details to follow.
Thursday, 19 November 2009
Jill continues her journey through North Island, New Zealand
Jill continues her fact finding trip in New Zealand. She continues:
Avondale Stud in Masterton is one of the venues that I particularly wanted to visit becuase it is such an unusual placement. It is set in beautiful surroundings owned and operated by Catriona and Sam who were most welcoming. I had the opportunity to learn much of what happens between October and January and what the Changing World's delegates do. It is demanding and tiring, but rewarding, work.
Hayley, Emily and Marise have been working primarily with young stock which has presented them with a steep learning curve. However, the rewards have included observing a foaling and caring for an injured foal.
I also visited Lakeview School and met with the Principal, Ed Hodgkinson. Ed told me about the school's unique position because of its population and said how much the school had benefitted and enjoyed having Changing Worlds volunteers work with their students.
It was also delightful to meet Anne and Andrew, the Changing Worlds' representatives in Masterton and I was pleased to be able to pass on the girls' thanks to them for such a thorough orientation on their arrival in Masterton.
Will be in touch, Regards, Jill x
More to follow.
Avondale Stud in Masterton is one of the venues that I particularly wanted to visit becuase it is such an unusual placement. It is set in beautiful surroundings owned and operated by Catriona and Sam who were most welcoming. I had the opportunity to learn much of what happens between October and January and what the Changing World's delegates do. It is demanding and tiring, but rewarding, work.
Hayley, Emily and Marise have been working primarily with young stock which has presented them with a steep learning curve. However, the rewards have included observing a foaling and caring for an injured foal.
I also visited Lakeview School and met with the Principal, Ed Hodgkinson. Ed told me about the school's unique position because of its population and said how much the school had benefitted and enjoyed having Changing Worlds volunteers work with their students.
It was also delightful to meet Anne and Andrew, the Changing Worlds' representatives in Masterton and I was pleased to be able to pass on the girls' thanks to them for such a thorough orientation on their arrival in Masterton.
Will be in touch, Regards, Jill x
More to follow.
Tuesday, 17 November 2009
Jill is on the Changing Worlds trail in New Zealand
We have sent Jill Baughen to New Zealand and Australia this year as part of the Changing Worlds team.
This is the first time Jill has been to this part of the World.
Whilst doing some work for Changing Worlds Jill, and her husband Jeff, are clearly enjoying their four week trip. This is the first of their despatches:
Our first observation has to be that NZ is a long way away; the second is it's worth it! Our first stop was Auckland, where NZ's America's Cup success is clearly in evidence as is all things sailing. It is a lively, modern city with a steady, enjoyable pace.
We moved on up to Paihia on the first C part of the trip where we met the CW representatives, Roger and Carol. We chatted about the NZ side of the CW operation and some wider issues, including beef farming and NZ politics. It was a pleasure to meet Roger and Carol, having heard so much about them.
Next part of the process was meeting up with Lyndsey, who is working at the horse trekking placement, together with Claire, the owner. Claire was most welcoming and her explanationof the nZ Quality Mark Award, which the trekking centre has been awarded, was really useful and very relevant to the CW operation.
The really fun part was going out riding with Lyndsey; I don't know who ached the most by the end of the 2 hours - me because I haven't ridden in a long time or Lyndsey who had taken a fall the day before. Lyndsey is thoroughly enjoying her placement - she is staying in accommodation in a beautiful location very close to where the horses are kept and riding every day.
She has also had 2 parachute jumps since being in Paihia. Lyndsey loves flying (and obviously the thrills of parachute jumping too!)
Paihia is a delightful place but since moving on, we have seen more stunning scenery visiting Tauranga, Rotorua and Lake Taupo. I am now in the library in Masterton and will be visiting Marise, Emily and Hayley at the stud this afternoon.
More to follow probably from the next library on our route!'
More to follow.
This is the first time Jill has been to this part of the World.
Whilst doing some work for Changing Worlds Jill, and her husband Jeff, are clearly enjoying their four week trip. This is the first of their despatches:
Our first observation has to be that NZ is a long way away; the second is it's worth it! Our first stop was Auckland, where NZ's America's Cup success is clearly in evidence as is all things sailing. It is a lively, modern city with a steady, enjoyable pace.
We moved on up to Paihia on the first C part of the trip where we met the CW representatives, Roger and Carol. We chatted about the NZ side of the CW operation and some wider issues, including beef farming and NZ politics. It was a pleasure to meet Roger and Carol, having heard so much about them.
Next part of the process was meeting up with Lyndsey, who is working at the horse trekking placement, together with Claire, the owner. Claire was most welcoming and her explanationof the nZ Quality Mark Award, which the trekking centre has been awarded, was really useful and very relevant to the CW operation.
The really fun part was going out riding with Lyndsey; I don't know who ached the most by the end of the 2 hours - me because I haven't ridden in a long time or Lyndsey who had taken a fall the day before. Lyndsey is thoroughly enjoying her placement - she is staying in accommodation in a beautiful location very close to where the horses are kept and riding every day.
She has also had 2 parachute jumps since being in Paihia. Lyndsey loves flying (and obviously the thrills of parachute jumping too!)
Paihia is a delightful place but since moving on, we have seen more stunning scenery visiting Tauranga, Rotorua and Lake Taupo. I am now in the library in Masterton and will be visiting Marise, Emily and Hayley at the stud this afternoon.
More to follow probably from the next library on our route!'
More to follow.
Friday, 13 November 2009
Sammie and Lizzie send feeback from India
Sammie and Lizzie went out to Southern India in September 2009. They are keen to let their peers know what life and work is like at their orphanage. They write:
'We have almost reached the 2 month mark now in India, and the time has gone so fast.
We have experienced several celebrations, including birthdays and Diwali (the Indian equivalent of Christmas), and have done some sightseeing around and outside the city we live; Chennai.
Since the moment we touched down at the airport in Chennai on Wednesday 16th September, we knew that this was it; there was no going back now! On first impressions as we got off the plane, we both thought ‘get us home’. The first thing that hit us was the heat, the smell, the people, and the airport was just chaotic even at 5am. We really were not mentally prepared for the reality that we were facing right then at that moment in time. We thought the place is so dirty, and we witnessed a huge amount of poverty, where people just sleep on the side of the road. It honestly was a massive culture shock, but it was obviously something we had to get used to very quickly. We were so scared and it felt like it was just the two of us against the whole of India. After getting through customs (which was very stressful as we did not know our address and had many forms to fill in) we then had to endure the most terrifying taxi ride of our lives; we thought we were going to die! The traffic is a nightmare, and there are literally no road rules what so ever; find a space, fill it! At around 5.30am we finally arrived at the YWCA guesthouse, which we stayed for two nights before transferring to the orphanage (Prema Vasam) on Friday 18th September. Those first two days seemed like the longest days ever, and it was the waiting around that really made us think about home and how much we just wanted our families as there was nothing else to do or think about. The only thing we just wanted to do was to get to Prema Vasam and begin our placement. From the moment we arrived here at the orphanage, life in India changed for the better and from then on we absolutely loved it. Everyday brings new experiences for us, and there is so much to be doing, whether that is entertaining the children, helping out in physio, or doing domestic things, for example; washing our clothes, changing the children or just sleeping during free time.
Now we have got into the swing of things, our daily routine is as follows; 8.30am feed the 'special' children, then change them, and carry them down to the basement where they have physio from Monday- Friday and every other Saturday. We then have free time until 12.30 at 12.30 we go down to the basement to feed the special children their lunch, they have to be hand fed, with our right hands ( very difficult to get used to at first as we are both left handed, and don’t eat with our fingers at home, let alone a whole different hand!) after feeding, we have free time again till 3.30 when we have to carry them back up to their rooms, and maybe change them if they need it; mostly the carers do things like that. we have free time again until 8pm when it is feeding time, so again the same as before, feed, change, entertain etc and dinner for the staff is at 9pm.
We very quickly settled into life and a daily routine here at the orphanage, however it did take a good month to get to know our bearings of the city, by which we had to start with traveling by buses and auto rickshaws. These were whole new experiences within themselves for us as we had never traveled ‘Indian style’ before. The buses are sometimes so packed that people are literally hanging on to the window bars; something which we have not yet done, and do not wish to do. Due to the mass of poverty here, when we go out for day trips using auto rickshaws, the drivers try to rip us off because as we are ‘white’. They associate us with money, and therefore class us as ‘rich’; which we are not, so we have learnt to haggle the price to that of an average Indian. We have tried telling them that we are not tourists; we live here in Chennai as volunteers so have no money. It sometimes works, but the majority of the time, it doesn’t!
We have recently celebrated Diwali, so all of the children here received new outfits, and a few small gifts from visitors who donated them. The celebration lasted for 3 days, with specially donated meals, and hundreds of fireworks. It was a big privilege to experience this main event with the children and staff as this is the only time of the year that the children receive new dresses and gifts except for on their birthdays. The fireworks were definitely something we both will never forget as they make our fireworks back home look ridiculous. There is no health and safety, they allow the children to play near them, and set them off. The fire-crackers were the worst; they were so loud, and extremely dangerous, as they were flying off in all directions. At the time we were certainly petrified and were probably more worried about getting burnt than actually enjoying them. But looking back now, they were fine, apart from the noise and give you a great adrenaline rush! We also wore our sari’s on the Saturday to take the children to the temple just 30mins down the road in an auto-bus. At first it was exciting to wear them, however the novelty soon wore off as it was the hottest day ever and we were literally sweating inside them, it was very unpleasant. They are very difficult to walk in, let alone climb the temple stairs! We couldn’t wait to get out of them; now they are only worn on very special occasions.
We also get the chance to do a bit of traveling during our placement as the orphanage is very flexible with time off. They even encourage us to take a break from the kids once in a while, whether that is just a day trip, a weekend or a few weeks away.
If we want to go out during the day, or have to meet our representative in Chennai central, we usually travel by bus which takes just over an hour. We often go to a massive shopping mall called Spencer Plaza which has everything you need, but is quite expensive; only the ‘rich’ shop there. Here we buy our supplies, withdraw money; go for pampering sessions at the salon, eat lunch, and just have a good day out!
On the other hand, our first experience traveling outside of Chennai was to a French city called Pondicherry three hours away from home. It is definitely a contrast to Chennai; cleaner, more built up and very touristy. It was like visiting a mini French town. There were lots of things to do, places to eat, and we went on a half-day tour round the area. It was a good place to visit and start our travels.
Prema Vasam not only has the orphanage were we are currently staying; it has a ‘boys home’ just over one hour away. This was basically set up for the boys here because when they turn 13, they have to move there as this is mainly an all girls orphanage. The older college girls live here and Selvyn (the founder) does not want the boys and girls ‘mixing’ as they are brought up as siblings. We get several opportunities to visit the boys home if we wish to. It is a lot of fun, and they love it when volunteers from the main orphanage go to see them. They also come here about three or four times a month and have volleyball tournaments with the girls, as well as special occasions such as Diwali.
Overall, we have had an amazing two months here, although it did take time to get used to everything. We still have a lot to learn and are taking each new day ‘as it comes’. Every experience is different, and we look forward to what the next four months has install for us. We are extremely thankful that we got sent to such an amazing place as this. In our opinions, we obviously got the best pick out of the orphanages we could have been sent, and we hope that the next set of students to be sent out are equally as fortunate as us.'
They are stying in India for six months - and despite the initial shock of India they are relishing their remaining time in this part of the World.
'We have almost reached the 2 month mark now in India, and the time has gone so fast.
We have experienced several celebrations, including birthdays and Diwali (the Indian equivalent of Christmas), and have done some sightseeing around and outside the city we live; Chennai.
Since the moment we touched down at the airport in Chennai on Wednesday 16th September, we knew that this was it; there was no going back now! On first impressions as we got off the plane, we both thought ‘get us home’. The first thing that hit us was the heat, the smell, the people, and the airport was just chaotic even at 5am. We really were not mentally prepared for the reality that we were facing right then at that moment in time. We thought the place is so dirty, and we witnessed a huge amount of poverty, where people just sleep on the side of the road. It honestly was a massive culture shock, but it was obviously something we had to get used to very quickly. We were so scared and it felt like it was just the two of us against the whole of India. After getting through customs (which was very stressful as we did not know our address and had many forms to fill in) we then had to endure the most terrifying taxi ride of our lives; we thought we were going to die! The traffic is a nightmare, and there are literally no road rules what so ever; find a space, fill it! At around 5.30am we finally arrived at the YWCA guesthouse, which we stayed for two nights before transferring to the orphanage (Prema Vasam) on Friday 18th September. Those first two days seemed like the longest days ever, and it was the waiting around that really made us think about home and how much we just wanted our families as there was nothing else to do or think about. The only thing we just wanted to do was to get to Prema Vasam and begin our placement. From the moment we arrived here at the orphanage, life in India changed for the better and from then on we absolutely loved it. Everyday brings new experiences for us, and there is so much to be doing, whether that is entertaining the children, helping out in physio, or doing domestic things, for example; washing our clothes, changing the children or just sleeping during free time.
Now we have got into the swing of things, our daily routine is as follows; 8.30am feed the 'special' children, then change them, and carry them down to the basement where they have physio from Monday- Friday and every other Saturday. We then have free time until 12.30 at 12.30 we go down to the basement to feed the special children their lunch, they have to be hand fed, with our right hands ( very difficult to get used to at first as we are both left handed, and don’t eat with our fingers at home, let alone a whole different hand!) after feeding, we have free time again till 3.30 when we have to carry them back up to their rooms, and maybe change them if they need it; mostly the carers do things like that. we have free time again until 8pm when it is feeding time, so again the same as before, feed, change, entertain etc and dinner for the staff is at 9pm.
We very quickly settled into life and a daily routine here at the orphanage, however it did take a good month to get to know our bearings of the city, by which we had to start with traveling by buses and auto rickshaws. These were whole new experiences within themselves for us as we had never traveled ‘Indian style’ before. The buses are sometimes so packed that people are literally hanging on to the window bars; something which we have not yet done, and do not wish to do. Due to the mass of poverty here, when we go out for day trips using auto rickshaws, the drivers try to rip us off because as we are ‘white’. They associate us with money, and therefore class us as ‘rich’; which we are not, so we have learnt to haggle the price to that of an average Indian. We have tried telling them that we are not tourists; we live here in Chennai as volunteers so have no money. It sometimes works, but the majority of the time, it doesn’t!
We have recently celebrated Diwali, so all of the children here received new outfits, and a few small gifts from visitors who donated them. The celebration lasted for 3 days, with specially donated meals, and hundreds of fireworks. It was a big privilege to experience this main event with the children and staff as this is the only time of the year that the children receive new dresses and gifts except for on their birthdays. The fireworks were definitely something we both will never forget as they make our fireworks back home look ridiculous. There is no health and safety, they allow the children to play near them, and set them off. The fire-crackers were the worst; they were so loud, and extremely dangerous, as they were flying off in all directions. At the time we were certainly petrified and were probably more worried about getting burnt than actually enjoying them. But looking back now, they were fine, apart from the noise and give you a great adrenaline rush! We also wore our sari’s on the Saturday to take the children to the temple just 30mins down the road in an auto-bus. At first it was exciting to wear them, however the novelty soon wore off as it was the hottest day ever and we were literally sweating inside them, it was very unpleasant. They are very difficult to walk in, let alone climb the temple stairs! We couldn’t wait to get out of them; now they are only worn on very special occasions.
We also get the chance to do a bit of traveling during our placement as the orphanage is very flexible with time off. They even encourage us to take a break from the kids once in a while, whether that is just a day trip, a weekend or a few weeks away.
If we want to go out during the day, or have to meet our representative in Chennai central, we usually travel by bus which takes just over an hour. We often go to a massive shopping mall called Spencer Plaza which has everything you need, but is quite expensive; only the ‘rich’ shop there. Here we buy our supplies, withdraw money; go for pampering sessions at the salon, eat lunch, and just have a good day out!
On the other hand, our first experience traveling outside of Chennai was to a French city called Pondicherry three hours away from home. It is definitely a contrast to Chennai; cleaner, more built up and very touristy. It was like visiting a mini French town. There were lots of things to do, places to eat, and we went on a half-day tour round the area. It was a good place to visit and start our travels.
Prema Vasam not only has the orphanage were we are currently staying; it has a ‘boys home’ just over one hour away. This was basically set up for the boys here because when they turn 13, they have to move there as this is mainly an all girls orphanage. The older college girls live here and Selvyn (the founder) does not want the boys and girls ‘mixing’ as they are brought up as siblings. We get several opportunities to visit the boys home if we wish to. It is a lot of fun, and they love it when volunteers from the main orphanage go to see them. They also come here about three or four times a month and have volleyball tournaments with the girls, as well as special occasions such as Diwali.
Overall, we have had an amazing two months here, although it did take time to get used to everything. We still have a lot to learn and are taking each new day ‘as it comes’. Every experience is different, and we look forward to what the next four months has install for us. We are extremely thankful that we got sent to such an amazing place as this. In our opinions, we obviously got the best pick out of the orphanages we could have been sent, and we hope that the next set of students to be sent out are equally as fortunate as us.'
They are stying in India for six months - and despite the initial shock of India they are relishing their remaining time in this part of the World.
Friday, 6 November 2009
October 2009 Newsletter
Here is the latest from the news desk at Changing Worlds.
Click on: http://www.changingworlds.co.uk/Home.aspx?vurl=%2f%2fRoot%2fContent%2fNewsletterOctober2009
Click on: http://www.changingworlds.co.uk/Home.aspx?vurl=%2f%2fRoot%2fContent%2fNewsletterOctober2009
Tuesday, 3 November 2009
Jay in Argentina invites you to share in his blog
Jay went out to Mendoza in Argentina last month. He is suffering in the heat at the moment (poor thing!)...it certainly sounds like he is having a ball and making the most of his time...
Find out more at his blog: http://www.offexploring.com/jayharlow
Don't hesitate to contact Jay via his blog to find out more.
Find out more at his blog: http://www.offexploring.com/jayharlow
Don't hesitate to contact Jay via his blog to find out more.
Friday, 30 October 2009
Congratulations to Azafady
Congratulations to Mark Jacob and the Azafady team on this news!
Dear Friend of Azafady,
We wanted to give you a short update on everything going on with Azafady this October. We have some exciting developments with Pictet & Cie, a leading private Swiss Bank, who have chosen to support Azafady as part of their commitment to the Pictet photography prize and global sustainability. The Prix Pictet is an annual search for photographs which communicate powerful messages of global environmental significance under the theme, this year, of 'Earth'. And, for 2009, Pictet & Cie will support Azafady's Voly Hazo project that aims to preserve the earth from degradation and the eventual desertification that is seen so widely in Madagascar, with a programme of tree planting and conservation of the natural forest.
We wanted to give you a short update on everything going on with Azafady this October. We have some exciting developments with Pictet & Cie, a leading private Swiss Bank, who have chosen to support Azafady as part of their commitment to the Pictet photography prize and global sustainability. The Prix Pictet is an annual search for photographs which communicate powerful messages of global environmental significance under the theme, this year, of 'Earth'. And, for 2009, Pictet & Cie will support Azafady's Voly Hazo project that aims to preserve the earth from degradation and the eventual desertification that is seen so widely in Madagascar, with a programme of tree planting and conservation of the natural forest.
Mark and his team
One of the short listed photographers for the Prix Pictet, Ed Kashi, has been commissioned to visit Madagascar with the Azafady team in order to produce a series of photographs that will highlight many of the issues that we are focusing on in this unique and endangered environment. Ed Kashi will visit Madagascar in January with an exhibition of his work following in the Spring. Please see the press release below for more information on the Prix Pictet.
This is really exciting news for everyone at Azafady, so we hope you will share in our excitement and keep in touch with everything going in Madagascar and with Azafady. We have recently launched a new blog at: www.azafady.us/blog and, if you are not already, please do become a facebook fan of Azafady at: www.facebook.com/AzafadyMadagascar - where there are lots of updates, pictures and news from our projects in Madagascar.
Finally, thank you all for your continued support of Azafady and our work in Madagascar.
Best wishes,
Mark
Mark Jacobs
Managing Director
Azafady Studio 7 1a Beethoven Street London, W10 4LG Telephone +44 (0) 20 8960 6629 Fax +44 (0) 20 8962 0126 Email mark@azafady.org Internet www.madagascar.co.uk
Skype Azafadyoffice
Become a fan of Azafady on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AzafadyMadagascar
Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/azafady
Mark and his team are working really hard to improve the quality of life for the peoples of Madagascar. To find out more about their volunteering options do hit:
http://www.changingworlds.co.uk/default.aspx?qlink=MadagascarOverview
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