The Story of Logistical Nightmares, New Friends and Honey Badgers!

" I look like a Honey Badger..."  Claire Doherty

Last Friday was my final day working at Regenersis and it was a day of mixed emotions. I was excited that I was finally breaking away from my old life and taking the first tentative steps into the new one, however, it was a sad day. I made a lot of friends there and learned some really important lessons and skills, not just from the customers but from my fellow staff members as well. I did not have much time to think as I made my way to Birmingham (my mother's birth place) for a training weekend with Restless Development.

It was a fantastic weekend which was expertly run by the lovely Rachael and the awesome Frank (See picture 1), their energy was infectious and really set the tone for the rest of the weekend. I have to commend them for their work because it takes a lot of energy to do what they do and still keep smiling, listening and laughing. While I was there I was staying with 2 other Sierra Leonean volunteers, Claire and Laura, we gelled immediately and spent most of the weekend talking about Honey Badgers and how we wake up most mornings looking and feeling like them! (See picture 2)  Meeting new people is always scary and you never really know if you will mix well, however, from my experience when you are afraid you judge people before you know them. It is natural to judge people when you first meet them based on your previous experiences, however, what I have learned is that people can surprise you. I think that was a lesson that we all learned during the weekend and will stand us in good sted for when we find ourselves in a different country, surrounded by a different culture and society.

On a more practical note, we found out that we will be teaching employability skills to the young people in Sierra Leone! I am so excited about this, it really plays to my strengths and skill set. We will be working in schools and youth centres, running employability workshops and support with CV writing as well as career fairs. We will be there for 11 weeks and be staying two to a room, with a western toilet and probably an outside shower. We will have a further 10 days of in country training when we get there and then be split off into 3 groups between Mikeni, Freetown and Bo. We will be carrying on the work of previous volunteers, helping to make this whole project sustainable and transferable through the local community and hopefully the following generations. For me that is what development means, it is sustainable, transferable and goal orientated. Most importantly it is not dictated by some leader in a far off "developed" western country. You can build as many schools as you like but unless you have people to fill them there really isn't much point.

However, I won't be going anywhere without being fully vaccinated! A word of advice to anyone doing something similar, get your vaccinations sorted ASAP because some need to be administered over a month and there will always be that one vaccine that is a pain in the backside to organise. For me that has been the Rabies vaccine, it has been the bane of my life for the last 3 days. Luckily I got it organised just in time and by the skin of my teeth, do not let that be the case for you as you  may not be so lucky.

I have a lot more that I would love to talk about but I like to keep these blogs as short and sweet as possible. To make up for this I have numbered some of the important things to keep in mind if you get choosen to be an ICS volunteer. If you want any more information on number 2 and how I set mine up get in touch and I will more than happy to help.

1. Sort out vaccines before anything else
2. Set up a social media web ASAP
3. Keep in regular contact with your organiser, do not always wait for them to contact you
4. Read up on your country - especially about the customs and societal expectations
5. Keep in regular contact with other volunteers, share ideas, resources and information

Have a good weekend everyone and my blog and I will see you in a weeks time!