NewVIc students have returned after volunteering on a 10 week expedition helping communities and businesses worldwide.
Eight students were selected to work in Rwanda, Nepal, Tanzania, Borneo, Costa Rica and Nicaragua on programmes organised by Raleigh International and Challenge Worldwide. Working side by side with communities on environmental and business projects, they faced challenges in some of the most areas of the world like the rainforest terrains of Borneo, Costa Rica to Rwanda an economy recovering from the atrocities of the Rwandan genocide.
Projects covered business, water, sanitation, hygiene livelihoods, peer-to-peer education, raising awareness, and community infrastructure and resource development. Students stayed with selected families where they learnt about each other’s cultures.
Agnes Thiongo, studying A levels in Government & olitics, Mathematics and Economics, volunteered in Tanzania said ‘’It was life changing for me, I have come out with a different perspective on life. In the west we take sanitation for granted, things like proper toilet facilities can change and save lives. I loved that the people I lived with and worked with in Tanzania appreciate the simple things in life. I really miss them, they were positive and happy regardless of what life throws at them, that’s something we can all learn from.”
