Our UniBreak In The Maldives: ‘An Eye-Opening Experience’

COUNTRY: Maldives
PROGRAM: UniBreak
PROJECT: Teaching and Sports Coaching
WRITTEN BY: Katy Brown

After a month of making memories and building friendships that will last a lifetime, our time in the Maldives has finally come to an end. Whilst we are all excited to see our families again, we all feel devastated to be saying goodbye to this place we have called home and these people we have called family for the last month.

With a once in a lifetime trip like this, you have to be open to a few hiccups along the way. From a touch of sickness, to a couple of communication errors, we had our fair share of tiny dramas. But there was no way these were going to effect us in a negative way.

In total, we managed to sneak away for a snorkelling trip on an uninhabited island about twice a week. These were highlights for the group as it was time we could get away and relax and just enjoy each other’s company, not to mention the company of our island dad Momo. Between our snorkelling and fishing trips, as a group we were lucky enough to see 4 turtles, about a dozen dolphins, a manta-ray, a stingray, a handful of sharks and hundreds and hundreds of fish. Not to mention the amazing coral reefs.

In the afternoons when school time came around, we were all eager to see our students and expectant for a crazy afternoon. The kids were always so excited coming to class which just made us even more excited. When sport came around, the boys would all rock up in their soccer gear ready to show off their tricks, and the girls would come ready to learn some new netball skills off the Aussie experts.

Our favourite weekends were, of course, the two we spent at Robinson’s resort. We feel so privileged to have been able to see this magical place. It was truly breathtaking, and not to mention the many friends we made who work there. I think we were all most excited about the buffet at every meal, not that we didn’t love Sid (our cafe chef)'s cooking, it was just nice to have so many options! We have all promised that we will return one day!

Our last week at Kolamaafushi was, without a doubt, crazy and one of the best! We decided that rather than stress too much about each days activities, we would spend our time enjoying the company of the kids and the locals. We enjoyed having our final lessons with our classes, which meant a mass water bomb fight for the older kids and a crazy party with the little ones. They absolutely loved it and it was a perfect way to end our time with them. In the afternoons for our last week, we enjoyed hanging out at the sports park, playing soccer with the boys and netball with the girls. Then we headed to sunset point and saw the most incredible sunset with our students.

Our final week on Kolamaafushi also meant our final week together as a group. We spent one afternoon/night at an uninhabited island watching the sunset on the beach and having a bonfire and BBQ fish and potatoes. After dinner we had a dance party on the beach, being laughed at by our Maldivian guides, but it was well worth it. This was a personal favourite night for a few of us.

By Wednesday, half the group had left Kolamaafushi and it was just 3 of us remaining for the last couple of nights. We made the most of it, going for an adventure (we attempted to walk to a nearby island but were scared away by leopard eels). We also enjoyed some time jumping off the jetty with some of the local boys and girls. On our last day Momo took us to an island to have one final snorkelling trip and to spend some time with him and his two little girls who were adorable!

Saying goodbye to everyone on Kolamaafushi was extremely difficult. The teachers, students, parents and island people in general welcomed us with open arms and treated us so well. We will definitely miss them all, especially Momo, who really was like a father to us. As we headed off, we had a group of students at the jetty to wave goodbye, which made it really sink in that we were leaving.

We finished our trip with a night in Thinadoo – we were all a bit shocked by how big it was after being on such a tiny island- then saying our final goodbyes to each other at Singapore airport as we headed off in our separate directions.

Without a doubt, this month has been one of the best of my life, and I'm sure most of the group could say the same thing. Spending a month on such a small island meant that we certainly stuck out, and it will be hard to get used to going home and not having every person on the street saying hello to us. We have all learnt so much about ourselves and about the Maldivian culture; it was an eye-opening experience as to how different their world truly is.

Together, we have made lifelong friendships, already with plans to catch up again later on this year, and maybe even another Antips trip together in the future! I am so greatful to Antips for providing us with such an amazing opportunity: it truly is something I would recommend to anyone.

A Beneficial Eye-Opening Experience In India

COUNTRY: India
PROGRAM: UniBreak Groups
PROJECT: Teaching
WRITTEN BY: Jasmine Horrocks, Newcastle University

Our trip to India was not easy; it was challenging and exhausting, yet eye-opening. Despite the many difficulties and frustrations that resulted while volunteering in Delhi, I can still say that it was an experience I wouldn’t have missed and in no way regret.

The problem is that no one can adequately prepare you for being pushed outside your comfort zone in a culture and amongst people you’ve never met before (including in my case my fellow university team members). It is easy now to look back and see how much I have gained and learned from these experiences.

After surviving and even eventually relishing this experience, where we were all expected to teach from day one with no teaching background, I now feel that I’m capable of pushing myself further than I previously thought. I’m able to embark with confidence on new adventures that are somewhat uncomfortable!

One of the greatest things I have gained from my UniBreak was a real experience of the culture and daily life of Delhi citizens. Unlike a trip to India as another tourist, I got to taste and see the true underbelly of this city where the minority elite live in gated luxury next door to the child sleeping in the middle of a highway. Working at the project, a street and slum children’s learning centre, allowed me to understand a little of the poverty and hopelessness these people experience daily. While forcing me to grapple with emotions of anger and despair, it has renewed my thankfulness for all the blessings I enjoy in Australia and continued my passion to be part of the global fight against poverty.

A Night In Paradise - The Maldives

COUNTRY: Maldives
PROGRAM: UniBreak
PROJECT: Teaching and swimming coaching
WRITTEN BY: Vivienne Zhu

Waking up early, we were very excited to go to the Robinson Club. It started raining as we were boarding the speedboat, and we hoped it would clear up later in the day. Unfortunately the rain kept coming but that didn’t stop us from enjoying our little getaway in paradise.

When we arrived, we were welcomed by the staff at the resort and greeted with champagne and small starters (mini sandwiches and fruit). After reception we were taken to our rooms, and they were beyond imaginable! The outdoor egg bed, soft sofas and hot garden showers were a treat from the cold showers and hot nights at the guesthouse!

With our bikinis on, we headed to the pool for a little swim under the spitting rain and grabbed drinks from the friendly bartender. The buffet lunch was gourmet and absolutely mouth watering: beef, pesto pasta, pizza, salad and grilled fish were some of options available to us.

Some of us booked massages at the spa, a bit pricey, but worth it because YOHO (you’re only here once). There were various massages including hot stone, Balinese, Thai, as well as manicures and pedicures and we were treated to ginger tea after our massage.

The next morning, we woke up early to watch the sunrise. We walked in the dark to the jetty and sat on the beach waiting patiently for the moment the sun peeks over the horizon. To say the least, the sunrise was breathtaking, and we saw a small baby shark swimming close to the shoreline. A breakfast fit for kings was available, including amazing omelettes cooked before us, muesli, yoghurt and waffles to name a few. We took a table by the ocean and enjoyed the sunny day ahead.

We went for a short stroll to the beach and laid out our towels for a nice morning sunbathe. We saw some honeymooners with wives wearing their wedding dress and the husband setting up timed cameras (it was not a rare sight). We had fun taking photos of ourselves lying in hammocks, climbing trees and jumping with the Maldivian blue ocean in the background.

Janelle and I went for a snorkel, however the coral reefs weren’t as vast as the other reefs we’d seen. The fish didn’t dart away from us, and a long eel-like fish with a barb-like tail caused us to abort mission.

At midday, it was time to checkout, and we met the Kolamaafushi group at reception. It was nice to see new faces, and we all headed to the pool for a final swim before lunch. Without a doubt, it was a great idea to go to the resort during the middle of our trip because we were able to relax, regroup and eat some delicious western food before our final two weeks!

"Hello Teacher!" the rewards of volunteering in India

COUNTRY: India
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Teaching & Car Work
WRITTEN BY: Cassy Miller-Crispe

Four planes, 5 taxis, 2 buses and a Tuk tuk later and I had arrived in Marjorda, Goa. Of course the journey straight to Goa would not have taken that long, however I chose to do some traveling before starting my Antips placement. Everyone had said to prepare for sensory overload upon arrival in India, and they were definitely not exaggerating! The sights, sounds, smell and feel of India hits you the moment you get off the plane. Sweet, sour and spicy smells come from each direction and you’re blown away by the chaotic nature of the roads.

The road to Goa turned from chaotic city roads to beautiful green landscapes dotted with houses and apartment buildings, some teeming with life, others abandoned, left to be recaptured by nature. Arriving at the camp, I was welcomed by a number of smiling staff members, each of whom introduced themselves and chatted happily to me. The camp itself surrounds a large green grassed area with hammocks and a volleyball court. It felt instantly welcoming and homely.

The rest of the volunteers arrived a few hours later, and we ate a delicious first meal of dhal together. After introductions were made, we had our orientation and learned of our placements. I would be working at the school for handicapped children.

The next day we were taken on a tour of the town, showing us the beach and markets, followed by a hindi lesson. For the next few days we began our placement in the morning, followed by activities in the afternoon, such as yoga lessons, a Bollywood dance class a cooking class, dinner with the host family and henna lessons, it’s safe to say we had a pretty busy week!

By far the most rewarding is turning up to school each day and seeing your students smile and say “hello Teacher”. They are excited you’re there and want to work with you, and each smile you receive makes you want to try even harder. Don’t get me wrong, its a big challenge to engage the students and keep the focused, but what would volunteering be without a challenge! Overall the beginning week has been incredible and I am looking forward to the next few weeks of placement!

Week 2 in China for UniBreak

COUNTRY: China
PROGRAM: UniBreak
PROJECT: Teaching
WRITTEN BY: Declan

Hello again everyone, Greetings from the beachfront in Sanya where the weather is 26 degrees – a little warmer than the last time I wrote! How has everyone been over the past week? I hope life is treating you all well. :)

First lesson at Fengyan Primary School and Gongcheng Primary School As part of the program, we teach English for three hours a day at local primary schools. We are responsible for devising our own lesson plans. This week we taught our first lessons at Fengyan Primary School and at Gongcheng Primary School. The students were all extremely polite and we were all very impressed with how much English they actually knew! As part of our lesson we planned to teach the kids anagrams. We expected them to have absolutely no idea what anagrams were (let alone be able to solve them) but they solved them as soon as we wrote them on the whiteboard. The kids were so excited to have a teacher from a foreign country. After class they swarmed our desk asking us to sign our name on their books and take pictures with them. Even on the way out of the school all the kids stopped to wave at us and say hello. We felt like celebrities!

Bamboo rafting This week Golden took us to a place called the ‘Model Village’ - named because all of the houses in the village are built identically. The model village is separated by a river, which we went bamboo rafting on. It was very relaxing drifting slowly down the river on the bamboo raft and soaking up the breathtaking scenery of the mountains and countryside.

Learning the art of Chinese calligraphy at the Wen Temple The Wen Temple (also named the Confucius Temple) is an ancient temple located in Gongcheng County. It was constructed in AD1410 for people to pay homage to Confucius. Renee and Golden gave us a tour of the Wen Temple and then taught us the art of Chinese calligraphy. What I didn't realise about Chinese characters is that they are all drawn using a combination of only five strokes. We were also given our Chinese names on that day. My Chinese name is Shangzhi, which translates directly to appreciate (Shang) wisdom (zhi).

Visiting Yangshuo for Merren's birthday On Friday, we all went to Yangshuo County to celebrate Merren's 19th birthday. Yangshuo is a very popular destination with tourists in China mainly because of "West Street". West Street (as the name implies) is an entire street devoted to western culture – restaurants and markets and such. It was like a little slice of home! As Merren is from Germany, we took her out to a German restaurant for dinner and drinks. Afterwards we went to a rooftop bar and played beer pong all night (surprisingly, Chinese people love beer pong!), which resulted in a slight headache the next morning. The next morning we all went out for a traditional English breakfast which tasted like heaven after two weeks of eating nothing but rice and dumplings for breakfast.

Bartering in Chinese One of our lessons this week with Golden was Chinese numbers and bartering techniques. Whilst in Yangshuo I had the chance to put these techniques to good use. Golden explained that shopkeepers usually triple the price for westerners. So, after our lesson I went in search of a new backpack at the market. The shopkeeper assured me that the backpack I had chosen was the best that money could buy and that she would give me a "special tourist discount". Her starting price was 300 yuan (approximately $45) but thanks to Golden’s advice, I eventually got the price down to 100 yuan (approximately $15) which isn't a bad price for the "best backpack money can buy", right?

Road trip to Sanya We travelled over 24 hours by bus from Fengyan village to Sanya but it was well worth the journey. Sanya is located in the Hainan province in the south of China – which means warm weather! When I left Fengyan village I was wearing seven layers of clothing but by the time we arrived in Sanya I was down to one. This trip was an opportunity to have a holiday away from our holiday and to participate in a new volunteer project that our project manager’s company has started in Sanya. The program aims to assist children living with mental disabilities in this area. Today will actually be our first day of the program, so I shall keep you posted. Apart from that we've spent most of our time on the beach soaking up the sun, meeting other travellers from across the world and going to the markets on the promenade.

And that's been my week so far!

Keep in touch guys,
- Declan