Adeus Timor Leste

 COUNTRY: Timor-Leste
PROGRAM: UniBreak
PROJECT: Health Science
WRITTEN BY: Georgia, Tim, Katie and Jess - University of Queensland

What an amazing experience! As our time in beautiful Timor Leste comes to an end, mixed emotions have set in. While we’re so excited to come home to Australia and see our family and friends, we are sad to leave our new friends and the clients we’ve been working with for the past four weeks.

We have faced some challenging and complex clinical cases during our time but have also had many instances of joy. We’ve been so encouraged by our clients’ commitment to their rehabilitation and their perseverance and have been humbled by their gratitude and efforts during therapy – this is something we will never forget. We also acknowledge the staff at CNR for their dedication to their clients in what is often a complex situation.

We feel privileged to have learnt about Timor and the Timorese people and are inspired by their passion, resilience, and happiness. We were lucky enough to travel outside of Dili and experience some beautiful parts of Timor. Most recently, we climbed Mt Ramelau, the highest mountain in Timor Leste. The picturesque views at sunrise were simply stunning and well worth the 2:45am alarm!

To our beautiful butterflies (i.e., the students), we’ve watched you grow and develop across our time in Timor and are so proud of all you have achieved. While there were many challenges along the way, you’ve taken it all in your stride and will be better clinicians because of this experience. It has been a pleasure to share it with you and to support you in your clinical journeys. Continue to reflect on your experiences and draw on them in your practice in Australia. Next year’s team have a lot to live up to!

Adeus!

A paradise called Fiji

COUNTRY: Fiji
PROGRAM: UniBreak
PROJECT: Teaching
WRITTEN BY: Issy Steadman

Our time in Fiji is truly flying by and so week three for the four volunteers meant beach, beach and more beach. Our normal school week meant the usual 7am wake up calls were thankfully getting much easier and we were successfully making the early bus to school in a bid to stay away from the peak hour traffic. Our days at school are also feeling more natural getting as we have built up trusting relationships with most of the students and teachers at the Nadi special school.

This week though consisted of Michaela's class taking a trip to the local swimming pool, which was a bit stressful on all the teachers as the children run a muck in the water but was definitely a worthwhile adventure when you saw the smiles on all the kids faces whether they could swim or not.

During lunchtimes the weekly soccer and volleyball games were in abundance and it may be a stretch to say but we think our skills are improving thanks to the handy tips from all the kids. The schools project for the term is to build a garden for the school community and so this week meant our hands got dirty pulling our roots, raking the soil and planting our vegetables.
We also got creative with our recycling bottles and cartons this week, making coin purses out of milk cartons and candle holders out if coke cans as part of the South Pacific Schools recycling project.

It seems after three weeks we have become accustomed with the lifestyle here and are finding it easier and easier to get around. Afternoons after school involved trips to Denarau, to take advantage of the swimming facilities at the resorts, watching the sun go down at Smugglers Cove and catching up with our in country partner Shabreen.

We can't forget just how welcoming our host family is and it always makes our afternoon when we walk home and from the top of the street are greeted by the excited squeals of our host brothers yelling to play before we even reach the yard.

On Thursday afternoon we celebrated our host dads birthday the Fijian way. This meant relaxing outside all afternoon waiting for the meat and veggies to heat up on the Lovo, essentially an underground earth oven.
How the Fijians manage to not under or over cook the food amazes us, as after only two hours an abundance of foil wrapped food is hauled off the hot rocks and taken into the kitchen and we discover it's all cooked absolutely perfectly.
Once everyone had eaten it was time for birthday cake and to sit back and cheer for Fiji in the 2015 Pacific games.

This weekend all four volunteers headed to a picturesque marine sanctuary in the heart of the Mamanuca Islands; Beachcomber Island. With its white sandy beaches, clear blue water and perfect weather all weekend long there was nothing quite like it.
Our time on the island involved (of course) more kava, snorkelling amongst the schools of fish and the colourful coral, lots of swimming, water trampolines and plenty more beach activities. Night time entertainment on the island included watching the sunset, fire dancing and lots of limbo.

Our time in Fiji is nearly drawing to an end and it's safe to say that for all of the volunteers this has been one of the most enriching and fulfilling experiences we have ever done.
We can't wait to head back to school for our final week and we know the goodbyes will be hard, but we are so grateful to have had the chance to fully explore this little piece of paradise called Fiji.

5 must do's In Palampur

COUNTRY: Peru
PROGRAM: UniBreak
PROJECT: Healthcare
WRITTEN BY: Shannon Hickey

Top 5 ‘must-dos’ when volunteering in Palampur


- A long weekend trip to Manali – Have dinner at Johnsons and spend a day at Solang Valley. Don’t pass up the horse ride to the temple; for 500 rupees it’ll be a definite highlight of the entire trip.

- Buy a big box of mixed sweets at Gobind Sweets – The Gulab Jamun and Coconut Burfi were crowd favourites. While you’re there grab a few samosas as well!

- Market shopping at Dharamsala – The scarves are particularly beautiful but don’t forget to barter! A walk to the waterfall while you’re there is well worth the effort for the magnificent photo opportunities.

- Hang out on the rooftop of the volunteer house – When the sky is clear grab a yoga mat and your camera to practice your downward dog with a Himalayan backdrop.

- Embrace everything as a learning experience – It’s really easy to get stressed by how different life is in Palampur to Australia and many of us found our expectations quite different to the reality. The most essential ‘must-do’ of all while you are here is to leave your expectations at home and enjoy India for everything that it is, rather than becoming fixated on what you had thought it would be.

UniBreak conquers Machu Picchu

COUNTRY: Peru
PROGRAM: UniBreak
PROJECT: Teaching
WRITTEN BY: Laura Manzi

Someone once said that waking up at 4am was hard; well, waking up at 4am, walking to the gate of Machu Picchu, waiting in a ginormous line and then trekking up the side of a 4km mountain is hard! Never under estimate the real fulfilment that you get from a day in the ruins of the city of Machu Picchu -- the serene hills, the fresh air, the excitement from other tourists, and the chance to get a “money-shot,” is what makes the morning struggle feel worthwhile.

We decided to buy a bus ticket for the return back down the mountain because, for most of us, the trek took just over an hour to complete. We explored the hills after watching the sun rise over the mountain; we had the best weather because usually the area is very foggy before 6am and it’s quite rare to have no fog, but we were very fortunate and managed to get the best photos.

We tagged along on one of the circling tours, baked in the warmth of the sun near the edge of the Condor Temple and made friends with a variety of people from America, Europe and Mexico – this experience has made our trip to Cusco one that will always be remembered.

We met Jerry, one of the in-country-partners, this week when he tagged along with us to school on Monday. Jerry’s story made everyone smile because, after living in a suburban life in Australia, Jerry decided that he was going to use his good fortune to make a difference in the world and that’s when he joined the Peru’s Challenge team.

Jerry’s smile brightens a room and his optimism is extremely contagious and we all feel grateful for his support at Pumamarca primary.
I actually started painting a mural with the kids this week after noticing that my group had most of the art classes, which was convenient.

I painted a tree and then we had students put their hand-prints around the tree like leaves. It’s coming along very nicely and I feel that it captures the school’s mission to bring the community together and create a sense of belongingness.

Funnily enough, we had accidentally bought plaster instead of paint but this was easily sorted with the ICPs. While Alex and Hannah were assisting kids to print their hands on the mural, I had the year 4’s and 3’s making animals out of rocks and blowing bubbles into paint-water in order to participate bubble-printing.

The ICP’s are great when we need to organise resources and bring our lessons to life. My roommate, Jade, has been very successful with the older years in computer classes – she had the kids make acrostic poems out of their names by using English words and Australian animals.
Today Jade has gone to laminate the end results which look absolutely fantastic. The other girls, Jemma and Elle, made butterflies with the little kids and the boys, Zac and Josh, did AFL skills in sport this week.

I unfortunately rolled my ankle on the way back from Machu Picchu which meant that I had to miss out on school today – this was so hard because school is the most exciting part of the day and really makes our efforts and contributions feel appreciated, and seeing the smiles on the kids’ faces every day makes every cell in our bodies feel alive!

Nicco took us down to an Incan Palace near the school which was really interesting, however we were distracted by a puppy that kept following us down the mountain. It was adorable and none of us could let the poor thing go. It’s cool to see how casual people are with the dogs here and it almost feels as if the dogs roam run the streets.

In the community Jerry also took us to see a jewellery maker who sits in his little workshop handcrafting some of the finest jewellery that we have ever seen. Yet again, this week in Cusco and Pumamarca has proven to change our lives and help to grow the students and our perspective of living and life outside of Peru and beyond, as well.

Week 3 Cambodia: Beauty and the Beasts

COUNTRY: Cambodia
PROGRAM: UniBreak
PROJECT: Education and Teaching
WRITTEN BY: Isabelle Khaicy

Culture
The Royal Palace offered beautifully detailed architecture on their luscious green grounds. Our tour guide was fantastic as she explained, in detail, every aspect of the Palace and how time haschanged certain traditions and practices.

Children of Bassac Cambodian Dancer Performance is a must see! The vibrant colours and energetic performance proves to be very entertaining, from traditional movements to country/folk tell­tales. We were all cheering for more!
Angkor Wat offers both breath­taking beauty and culture in one massive compound. Unfortunately our sunrise view was clouded by some overcast weather, but I would recommend the early start to anyone who wants explore the temple before they get swarmed with tourists. We opted for a short temple tour and filled our cameras with pictures of ancient remains. Many selfies to come!

History
The National Museum shows great detail of Cambodia's religious findings. Many artefacts in the museum are left intact and are attached with English blurbs so we were hooked onto every word.
Visiting the S21 Killing Fields Genocide Museum is not for the faint hearted. Walking through the killing fields with our tour guide, who was a survivor of the Pol Pot regime, we were told horrifying stories of what the Cambodian victims had to endure. It's was an extremely confronting morning as we walked through the mostly ­untouched fields and prison.

Food
I've experienced cuisines of different forms during my stay here. From bring introduced to road-side food by locals, that were interesting to say the least, to dinner at the Foreign Correspondent's Club, I'm delighted to say that I haven't been disappointed. The most adventurous I've been was having a red- ant salad at the Friends Restaurant. I'm glad I took a bite before our tour guide pointed out the 'juicy leaders' and how succulent they look. The Friends Restaurant has been a regular destination for our group, and we've vowed to tick off everything on the menu before we leave. Only 20 or so meals to go!

Adventure
For someone who loves a rush of adrenalin every now and again, I was impressed with what Cambodia had to offer. Zip­-lining through treetops and quad biking into the sunset were on our agenda for our weekend away in Siem Reap, although I was only able to experience one of them.
Julia and I jumped on a tandem quad bike and rode for an hour through Cambodian fields and took a few failed jumping shots (mostly hers) against the sunset, before riding back and signing our names against the centre's signature wall; #AwesomeExperience #Antips2015. The rest of our group had the opportunity to go for the treetop zip­-lining and came back with great reviews, so that's definitely on my list for next time!

Entertainment/Leisure
Aeon Mall is a new shopping mall, which caters for many entertainment options. After our late afternoon dips in the hotel pool, we have headed to the mall on numerous occasions to fill up our spare time, ticking off karaoke, ice skating and 4D movies off our list. The mall is also great for shopping, if you're willing to spend a little extra, although I'd still recommend the Russian and Central Markets for bargain hunters. Working through our 'Cambodian Bucket List' we still have a number of items to tick off!

A Day in the Life of a PIO Teacher

COUNTRY: Cambodia
PROGRAM: UniBreak
PROJECT: Education and Teaching
WRITTEN BY: Nami Wickramatilake

A day in the life of a PIO teacher can be tough, challenging but also inspiring and rewarding when you are greeted so loudly by your adoring students. By tough and challenging, I mean it was hard putting behind an Australian understanding of an educational system completely alien to me. From enforcing behaviour management constantly in Australian contexts, the theorised positive behaviour for learning module was definitely shining through here at PIO.

Instead of constantly probing students, it was suddenly so easy to ask a student a question. You begin to quickly understand that these students are here to learn, that these students are here to see you and only you, because you become the instiller of all knowledge in their eyes. Their eagerness is something that attracts myself to PIO. Despite living in poor living conditions, I have come to realise these students are still nothing but happy, always smiling, always sharing with each other a single pen. There is no such thing as bullying here. A harmonious environment is what I'd definitely call PIO.

On my third day at PIO, I had grown attached to my Year 6 students, and noticing my hair was out of its usual bun, they had offered to braid my hair.
I was so touched by their desire to help me (look decent enough to teach). These kids have an amazing set of skills, commonly unnoticed unless monitored and I could not believe the amount of creativity these students have.

Each day I left carrying a present from a student, mostly drawings, sometimes origami and these were not simple everyday paper aeroplanes type of origami, I'm talking paper cranes, frogs and even roses. Creativity does not only lie with their ability to beautifully craft origami, but their strong desire to sing.
They knew more songs that I did! (A little bit embarrassing, I felt incredibly old) From the Frozen soundtrack, to Jesse J's Price Tag to Happy by Pharrell Williams, these kids knew how to belt out an amazing medley of songs.

So that's when I decided to integrate music into teaching English - hence, all the theory of engagement through a deeper understanding of the intrinsic interests of students really paid off! It does get tiring... 3 hours of English a day can be tiring for both students and teacher, especially in the dry Cambodian heat, but it is definitely a rewarding experience; a definite life-time changing experience.

Arequipa, Football and the flight of the Condors

COUNTRY: Peru
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Teaching
WRITTEN BY: Luke Sheepway

Arequipa is a small town in Peru and the group decided for our weekend activity to travel by bus down to the city of beautiful architecture and volcanoes. After everyone was packed and ready to go on Thursday night, we traveled the 10 hour bus ride over night to arrive in Arequipa around 6:30am.

I can honestly say it was definitely not the most comfortable bus ride I’ve ever had, but for around 20 Australian dollars I wasn't in any position to complain, too much.

Arequipa

The city was quiet and sound when we arrived, probably because the sun only just peaked over the horizon. The cab driver was quick to point out that just in front of us was “Misty”, one of many active volcanoes in the region.
After arriving in the city and dropping our bags off at our hostel, we enjoyed a lovely breakfast on the balcony of this restaurant overlooking the main square.

After a walking tour of the city seeing an abundance of churches and old buildings, a few of us decided to indulge in a few of the lighter things in life, for example ham and cheese… pepperoni… supreme… pizza’s. Oh how we’ve been craving a good pizza since we arrived. Dinner was on a rooftop of a close restaurant; an Argentinian style steak went down quite nicely!

A very early start the next morning meant we wouldn't be staying out too late. At 7am our tour guide for the weekend arrived and we were ushered off into a bus. This bus trip would take us out of the city into the desert lands where we’d be blessed with great views of valleys, mountains and volcanoes.
The majestic mountains were our backdrops for the four-hour bus ride, I’ll admit I, along with a few others nodded off from time to time. Arriving in a small town for the night we were all excited at the thought of ‘Hot Springs’, we were definitely not disappointed on the hot part.

The volcanic water dripping off the mountains arriving in pools of relaxation. After the beauty of the first swim we’ve had since we left Australia, we were delighted with the honour of witnessing a traditional Peruvian dance and song whilst enjoying a lovely dinner in a small pizzeria. Some of us even had the chance to prove our alleged dancing abilities when called upon by the two Peruvian dances.

First off was Liv, she did not disappoint as she danced her way around the tables and people eating their meals. Next up was Luke, and although he was a little worse for wear in the dancing part, we were all surprised.

After dinner we were told to be up and awake at 5:30am for breakfast if we were to see the majestic condors flying throughout the valley. You could see the faces of all us drop at the thought of being up before sunrise. However we were up and ready to go without a problem by 6am after all of us had breakfast. We arrived deep into the valley a few hours later where we should be able to get a great view of the mighty and sacred condor.

After about 15 minutes of waiting and watching, a condor appeared out of the mountain below, however you had to be quick to see. Not everyone saw that one but as we all kept watch we eventually started to see more and more and were blessed with an amazing treat as multiple condors flew overhead and put on an aerobatic show, gliding through the air above us.

Then returning to Arequipa with another 5-hour journey this time we all basked in the shadows of moutons and gorges, don’t think we’ve ever felt so small under hundreds of metres of mountains towering over us as we slipped past. Back in Arequipa we enjoyed a beautiful family dinner on the rooftop of a restaurant above the main square as the sun set.

The colours radiating in the sky was truly spectacular, and I personally will never forget the sight of the sun setting over Arequipa. Next morning we arrived safe and tired back in Cusco, ready for some good food and an even better sleep!


Barcelona

Now not many of us follow the beautiful game of football, however Luke and the rest of South America do. So after constant reminders and notices that the UEFA champions league grand final was on Saturday, and the few pleads from Luke to go watch it, we all decided to head into the city and watch the game at our bar of choice, The Nortons. Arriving a few hours early, the pub was already starting to fill up. The game was being played by Barcelona and Juventus, Spain vs Italy.

The group set up on a few tables in good view of the TV’s next to a few passionate Italians. Most of didn't really know who to support, but Luke had a fair idea that Barcelona were the ones to put our money on (figuratively). The game went on and the boys were in their element, screaming in a sea of people, having a few casual drinks on an amazing Cusco day.

The game progressed and the Italians were being quite vocal as they equalised to be tying at 1 a piece. The pub started to erupt
as anticipation grew and when Barcelona took the lead late on in the game, the majority of the pub stood on their feet and cheered for the mighty Spanish giants. Chants began and the thrill of the excitement began to boil. Barcelona scored again to surely seal the fate of the final, 3-1.

The Italians became quiet; the Peruvian people erupted again to sound the end of the game. Hunter and Luke were easily inclined to give a little banter towards our in country partner, Nico, as he was supporting Juventus. All in all, even though most of us don’t follow soccer, or football as it’s called here, we had an amazing time being involved in the excitement and thrill of the Champions league final.

The Long Road Ahead...

COUNTRY: Peru
PROGRAM: UniBreak
PROJECT: Teaching
WRITTEN BY: Laura Manzi

The first day of school was daunting for most of us because we were unsure of what Pumamarca was going to be like. As soon as we walked through the bright blue gates we were greeted by a tidal wave of miniature humans who smothered us with hugs, kisses, smiles and howls of laughter…

I have never felt so welcomed in my life and the simple words “Hola Amigos!” made each one of us feel like the contribution that we would be making over the next four weeks would be greatly appreciated. In a way, though, by experiencing Cusco from this viewpoint, I feel that we will grow not just as teachers, but as healthy human-beings as well -- most of my fellow teachers have described this experience as soul-fulfilling and spirit-rising.

We were then ushered around the school grounds and given the chance to take it all in. Llamas (and not alpacas, which have shorter necks) reside in a little paddock, beautifully decorated by recycled materials; greenhouses line the back wall, which are used as learning tools for agriculture; and bright blue buildings covered in marvellous murals have been carefully arranged around green grass and a soccer field which tells visitors that the school functions like a small community.

The newly formed kindy area was the first place that we visited. Small, beady-eyes and screams of excitement pulled each one us and made it extremely hard to leave the place at the end of the day. It just goes to show, though, that these kids hold a certain level of resilience and compassion that children that grow up in the city don’t have.
These qualities tell me that these kids have a heart for experience and are not strangers to the idea of family and acceptance. Near the end of the day we had gravitated back towards kindy again. I had lifted one girl on my shoulder so that she could reach the monkey-bars and suddenly, moments later, I had a line of five year olds eager to have a turn.

I was more than happy to give every child a go because I knew that they would be grateful. It really puts a smile on my face to be a part of a project that not only support healthy child development but also directly feeds into the community and thus helps the futures of under-privileged kids.
Over the next couple of days we started to fall into a regular routine and each volunteer naturally moved into their positions without hassle. We spent the morning cutting up fruit and showing the little kids how to wash their hands. One of the volunteers had told me that a little girl had struggled to understand how to apply moisturiser and simply slapped it on her face in excitement.

Even though there exists a small language barrier between us and the children, the small connections that we make and the way that we communicate with the kids is a rewarding experience. We visited the homes of one of the children’s families which proved to be a very humbling experience. We brought groceries to this struggling family which turned into a very emotional visit – we all cried together and gave the mother a round of hugs and kisses.
If we continue to improve the lives of a small community, let alone one family, then happiness will spread like a wildfire. I have no idea what the road ahead of us has install, but all I know is that it will prove to be an extremely long one.

Exploring the Secret Valley & Peruvian home visits

COUNTRY: Peru
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Teaching
WRITTEN BY: Luke Sheepway

Our first home visit.
Throughout our time here in Cusco we will be visiting the houses of the children that go to the school to get a greater understanding on how they are being brought up and also show us how important the school is for them.

Our house visits consist of 4 of us walking to the child’s house and presenting the family with a box of food and household supplies (toothpaste, soap, detergent…).

The four of us that went were Sebastian, Liv, Ruby and myself, after around 1km of walking the same way the children take to school each morning and afternoon, we arrived at their home. However, upon arrival we were all in quite a shock to find these kids are basically living in a garbage tip.

There were rubbish piles everywhere, no concrete floors, stray dogs rummaging through whatever they could find and there weren’t any secure doors.

Nico began to give us some general information about this specific family; three children (6, 8 and 12 years old), the mother and father work on different farms trying to gather as much money or food as they possibly can and also I think was one of the sadder moments was when Nico told us how their father was an alcoholic.

We were escorted into the kitchen ‘shed’, now I call it a shed because it was basically four walls and most of a roof. No floor, no electricity, no windows.
The only furniture in this room was a small stand where a wood fire stove in placed and a tiny concrete bench made from cinder blocks. What happened next truly opened our eyes to the importance of the work Peru’s Challenge and Antipodeans do for these communities.

The mother arrived home and we presented her with the box of food and household supplies, she immediately broke down into tears and continued to mumble words in spanish we couldn't quite understand.

All I could make out was the constant repetition of “gracias” (Thank you). As her tears fell down her cheeks, I couldn't help but notice the eldest boy, 12 years old was already man of the house. From what I’ve witnessed he takes care of his younger brothers and I believe the sentimental value of the food and supplies also brought this young man to tears. I could see the fight in him to stay strong and give off that vibe of being brave.

After numerous hugs and thank you’s from the kids and mother we eventually headed back home, a little more wiser about the effort it must take these kids to get to school each day, and a little more wiser to the fact that they need the school to provide for them so they too can have a better lifestyle sometime in the future.

Sacred Valley Tour.

After last weekend’s quad biking and not actually seeing the parts of the sacred valley we were meant to, we all went on an all day bus tour. Waking up at 7am on a cold Peruvian day was not an ideal start but by the end of the tour we knew it was worth it.
After a two-hour bus ride we arrived in a small village by the name of “Pisac”, this little market village sat in the bottom of the valley completely surrounded by these towering mountains. At the top of one of these mountains was a structure reminiscent of an old Incan watch tour.

This area was used largely for agricultural purposes and it was quite astonishing to witness the way the Incan’s carved into the mountain to create these layers and levels of different agricultural farmlands. The watch tour ruins had a great view of the valley and Pisac below, however the climb to the top was strenuous and hard to say the least.
After photos were taken and we caught our breath we made our way back down the ruins to the bus and onwards back into Pisac for shopping.

We were treated with an educational lesson on silver, they explained how to tell real from fake. Afterwards, we all ventured into the long tunnels of markets in search of anything interesting from musical instruments to an array of knifes and deadly weapons (we kept our distance from them) to probably the softest rug I have ever had the pleasure of rubbing my cheek up against. These markets had everything. However with a long tour a head of us and also a buffet lunch on its way, we opted to continue on before we spent all our money.

The drive through the valley was mesmerising with these vast mountains on either side of us that over time have just amounted to sheer cliffs and jagged rocks. Lunch too, was something spectacular.
Nothing can make a hungry teenager happier than the words “Buffet Lunch”; this small eatery had this beautiful garden entrance with a water feature and even a church out the back.
We were gifted with a wedding happening inside the church but as we sat down to eat our food everyone started to clear our the church in their fancy dresses and mostly well-made suits.

After thirds and possibly fourths (we lost count) for lunch, we continued on for another hour or so to another Incan ruin, this too sat on the side of a mountain. This fortress was forged thousands of years ago when the Spanish were invading.
Some of these rocks were enormous and we’re still having a hard time trying to figure out how they moved them.

The view from the top of this ruin stretched down the valley where we could see the mountains, rivers and gullies that make up the Sacred Valley. The 2-hour bus ride back after the long day was exhausting and most of us tried to have quick nap at some point or another. It was truly a great experience seeing the Sacred Valley.

Bonjour from Albi!

Bonjour! I’m currently in Albi, which is a fairly large city near Toulouse in the South of France. It’s quite famous in terms of domestic tourism, largely due to the Cathedral Saint-Cecile, the largest brick cathedral in the world. It’s hard to grasp the sheer size of it from photos alone, so trust me when I say that every time I see it, I feel like 13th Century Albigeois builders and the ancient Egyptians would’ve had a lot to talk about.

COUNTRY: France
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Tutoring & Immersion
WRITTEN BY: Jennifer Khouw

A day in the Life- Albi

I’ve been here for about three weeks with my host family, who are lovely. Unfortunately, I arrived here at the end of the school year, so most organised activities like choirs, sports teams, and music schools aren’t taking new pupils, so I spend most of my days exploring the region, and the others tutoring English to my host brother.

A day in the life- eg Cordes-sur-ciel

I started the day by walking to the bus station in town, which is about 30-40 minutes away. It’s funny that in Sydney I balk at the idea of making the 10 minute walk from the station to home, but here, an hour’s walk is no big deal.
I caught the Tarn Bus (Tarn is the region) to Cordes, my destination to explore for the day. The journey took about an hour and only cost €2, which is just under $3 AUD. I arrived in Cordes around lunch however most shops, including the Tourism Office, close from 12:30-2pm for lunch. It’s very annoying.

I went to Cordes to see ‘France’s favourite village,’ an ancient fortified village called Cordes-sur-ciel, meaning ‘Cordes in the sky’. I should’ve realised from the name that I would have to hike up a mountain to get to this sky city. The beautiful, sunny weather of the Midi (South France) climbed to 36°C as I slowly walked up, while I watched middle-aged French tourists get driven up in a cute little sightseeing train.

Walking through the village was literally like stepping back in time. The streets were made of cobblestones and every building looked straight out of a medieval movie. Signs hung out from shops with pictures of their craft, eg scissors for the hairdresser and necklaces for the jeweller’s, which is very Middle Ages.

I also went to the Museum of Sugar and Chocolate Arts, which is an art gallery comprising only sculptures made out of chocolate and/or sugar products. It’s a permanent museum and the only one of its kind in the world! The sculptures were pretty amazing- who knew sugar was not just for eating?

I got back to Albi around 5pm and walked back. I spent the rest of the afternoon watching episodes of Once Upon a Time. It’s an American TV show that I’ve been watching in French to improve my listening skills, and I am totally addicted! So that’s an example of one of my adventurous days. Other days I stay in and watch TV, go to dance classes, walk around etc before I give a lesson in the afternoon, but my exploring days tend to be more exciting!

Cuzco: A City of Firsts

COUNTRY: Peru
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Teaching
WRITTEN BY: Luke Sheepway

First Day of School.

Getting up at 7:00am on a Monday morning had become a very foreign concept for most of us since school had finished. However through the onset tiredness and gloomy weather there was a feeling of excitement and also nervousness. As we got to the taxi’s to take us up the mountain to school we became aware, for some, it wouldn't be like any taxi we’ve taken before. Three brave souls opted to sit rear facing in the back off the taxi to get a view few have seen. The ride up the mountain through small villages and stretches of farm land only takes about 10 minutes and costs around S./ 7, which is roughly just above $2Au.


Arriving at the school for the first time was a daunting experience and nothing could prepare us for what was to come. As the nine of us walked through this big blue door we were immediately greeted by the faces of many young kids sitting in chairs on their somewhat rugged football (soccer) field. Out of the blue, one small boy maybe 7 years old runs from his chair shouting “Amigos” and continues to basically crash hug into Luke. Before we all knew it, we were surrounded by little kids asking for hugs and to be picked up, some of us even thought they gained a bit of muscle from all the lifting. We were then gifted with a special mothers day performance from every grade in the school, was truly wonderful to watch. We didn't get to start teaching on Monday, but we were all keen for Wednesday.



First Day of Construction.

For those who don’t know, our construction project we’re undertaking during our stay in Peru is building a kitchen for a local kindergarten/pre-school. Before I go on, all of us want to thank everyone who donated and helped out. Together we raised well over $5000au! The foundations of the kitchen were already built and our job over the next two months is to plaster, concrete, build a roof and path to kitchen and hopefully if we have time, paint. The first day of construction was long, tiring, hot, hard and pretty much any word meaning strenuous. We arrived and walked up a hill only about 30 meters long, not very steep and were already out of breathe. It was at that point we knew it’d be tough. At the top of the hill waiting for us was roughly around 2000 strips of bamboo waiting for our gracious presence to be stripped, by hand. Four hours later, with cuts, splinters and the occasional blister, we managed to get through about 2/3 of the bamboo, a solid effort by everyone. It was all worth it as the week before the group discovered a small little cafe near the heart of the city which serves probably the best milkshakes I have ever seen or had the pleasure of drinking. We will surely be there a few times a week.

First Day Teaching.

I would be lying if I said it was easy, and I also would be lying if I said I didn't gain a lot of respect for teachers, especially after thinking about the way some of us acted in school. Teaching young kids in general can be difficult as they love to talk and scream and cant really sit still, but teaching young kids in a different language is a new challenge all together. From feed backs from the three teaching groups all in all it was a good starting point and was also a lot of fun. Preparing fruit salad and teaching hygiene to the kids is an experience all in itself. It makes you realise how unsanitary third world countries can be and also respect the efforts made by the teachers to teach the young kids the importance of washing their hands and eating clean food.

Lost.

The title of this segment pretty much says it all. Lost. It was our first Saturday outing as a group and we decided we’d go Quad Biking through the Sacred Valley on a guided tour. The day started out pretty rough with a 6:30am wake up but after around 40 minutes on a minibus we arrived in an area with snowy mountains and vast gorges. It was a beautiful ride in and we were all very excited for the quad biking. After everyone had been given their quad bikes and helmets (of course), we took off around this gorgeous flat lake with a backdrop of snowy mountains. After circling the lake and taking photos down near the water, the group made its way into a small town.

Just to repeat myself, all of us want to thank everyone who donated and helped out. Together we raised well over $5000!

That's a wrap! First week in Tanzania includes lots of hard work, football and laughs

COUNTRY: Tanzania
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Building, renovation & conservation
WRITTEN BY: Tanzania Gappers 2014

Jambo from Tanzania!! Habari gani? (How are you?)

After 28 hours of travel we arrived at the Keys Hotel in Moshi which is where we spent our first night! When we arrived we met 13 people from around Europe who would be joining us for the next 2/3 months and greeted by Eliphas, our group leader!

On our second day we had a 8 hour bus trip to our camp in Tanga! The bus ride went pretty fast. During the journey we were stopped on the road due to road works and then bombarded by the locals who were trying to sell us oranges, drinks, and other fruits through the windows. One of our new friends Jonny tried to trade Eilish and I for a bag of oranges!

When we arrived at our camp we were greeted by our lovely camp manager Eustace. Our new home away from home is overlooking the beach, which is very relaxing! We are fortunate to have flushing toilets, but we have cold showers, which is (sometimes) very nice after working in the sun all day!

We have 3 lovely cooks who provide us with breakfast, lunch and dinner! We eat a lot of carbohydrates to provide us with a lot of energy! We eat rice/pasta/potatoes and lots of veggies (getting our 5 a day!) and different types of meats.

Friday to Sunday was orientation around the camp, town and village! We made a visit to the school we will be working at and was greeted with plenty of smiles and children who loved posing for photos! We had a tour around Tanga town, where we went grocery shopping and brought lots of snacks and chocolate. Sunday we had a relaxing day and had a tour around the village and the beaches.

Everyone was up early Monday and excited for our first day of working at the school. The school we are working at has 792 students and 16 teachers and 10 classrooms! The smallest class has around 50 students and some have up to 120 students. The most shocking part to us all I think, is that there is only 4 toilets for all the students to use! And the older kids are unable to use the toilets and have to go into the villages. The 16 teachers (male and female) also share one toilet.

We have begun 3 projects at the school; building a new toilet block, re-flooring a classroom and repairing desks. We spilt into 3 groups to get it done as fast as we could. Our first week of work was tiring, hot, sweaty and dirty! We all worked so hard as a team and put in a wonderful effort and surprised our leaders at how fast we can work, or maybe the just had lower expectations for us! In our first week we made around 30 desks, tore up the concrete and laid the foundation for the new cement and dug 7foot deep in a 10x20foot hole for the toilet block! Friday afternoon we finished a bit earlier as reward for our hard efforts and being so far ahead!

We also have 2 Swahili lessons a week and we are learning pretty fast! We try to impress the locals with our attempt to talk to them.

For those who are a fan of football(soccer) there was an opportunity for them to go into the village and watch the World Cup! In the village they had a small tube TV which was brought out on to the front porch and everyone from around the villages would come over and just sit around outside and watch it!

We got to experience the Tanzanian nightlife. We went to a place with a live band and lots of people who very friendly there was lots of dancing and maybe a drink or two! We didn't get home until after 3! (Only because the football was on at 1am)

Kwaheri! (Goodbye)
Lots of love, Madi, Eilish, Imogen, Emily, Ben, Leon and Nick!

Relaxing into village life and a mysterious sticker thief

COUNTRY: Nepal
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Teaching, living with a host family
WRITTEN BY: Jack Murphy

So another fortnight has passed in stunning Nepal – Man its flying past – and with it comes a whole load of new experiences/adventures/stories to share. This past week has seen the group and I hit relax mode, as we take a break from our adrenalin dosed adventures. Instead we’ve put more focus into our time in the village, school and our weekends in crazy Kathmandu, which means more 'browniccinos' and 35 rupee choc donuts – Yum!

This week has unfortunately seen the group suffer a minor heartbreak as our much-loved Nurse (Steph) returned home. The start of the week was a little quiet/slow without the happy, selfie- taking and general quirkiness of our older Aussie. We’ll miss you Steph! The girls are very much looking forward to a meet up post Nepal back in Brissy.

P.s thanks for introducing me to hippie pants and Sangria, I’m a changed man.

So it seems that when our time is not taken up by jumping off high places or bonding with elephants it is replaced with teaching and more immersion in our lovely village. These past two weeks have been a real teaching trek for the group and I, and only now are we enjoying our brief respite in Kathmandu. Teaching still remains the most regular challenge for the group, and at the conclusion of each day the group all discusses which students were; the naughtiest, the best behaved and the continuing mystery of the disappearing stickers. The culprit is yet to be caught. However for me at least, school this past fortnight has been more enjoyable then it was previous, as I feel now I’m forming strong bonds with all of my students and the very charming kindergarten class. Activities these past two weeks have been more focused on the fun side of schooling mainly because of our dwindling time left in the village and also because text book work is boring. Each school day has been full of colorful drawings, shoulder rides, portrait photos with my sunglasses on, trips to the newly discovered library and lunch time boot camp, directed by the commando (me).

As if school life wasn’t fun enough this week I was also lucky enough to trek down the hill to Liv and Bear’s school for a lunchtime of play with the kids. Seeing as though this is only my second visit to their school, being two meters tall, as well as it happening to have 285 more students then my school, I was let’s say, slightly shocked by the greeting I got. Safe to say in all my 18 years I have never felt so popular. The lunch hour saw me being dragged from student to student, nagged incessantly for shoulder rides and piggy backs as well as lots and lots of high fives and various games. Come Friday I am now blessed to have a full 285 more ‘best friends’ – as they all insisted.

Apart from the aching shoulder and back, I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face for the rest of the day, and I left feeling very cheerful. As schooling becomes more of a delight and less of a chore I’m painfully aware of the short time left before I have to say goodbye to my new found friends. I guess I’ll just have to squeeze as much enjoyment out of this next week and a half as I can before our reluctant farewell.

In other important school news, this past fortnight has seen the first of our donation money being put to good use. At Casper and Liv’s school the paving is underway to cover the dirt courtyard of the school, to make way for a better play area for the kids. At our school, the first of the painting has commenced with white undercoats painted throughout the grey concrete rooms. With the painting comes the difficult choice of choosing the colors for each classroom. So far the consensus from my students is to paint the entire classroom purple, floor, roof, windows, the lot. Hmm maybe. Once we’ve made up our minds and everything is painted beautifully by the three new Nepali Da Vincis we’ll upload some photos to show off our handiwork.

With all the demands teaching brings, our families have stepped up a notch to provide the TLC that we are all so thankful for at the end of each day. And what is the most important feature of our Nepali TLC? Food of course. This week we have been treated with Dhindo, delicious delicious fire cooked Roti, some tasty variants on the standard Dhal Bhat, dozens of delicious plums as the monsoon season kicks off and home brewed Nepali rice wine. The latter being made just up the road in a used mountain dew bottle. Expectation – Japanese premium sake, reality – sour, porridge like moonshine. But for 35 rupees (40 cents) a liter whose complaining? The Nepali hospitality was completed this week with a trip to Nagarkot again for a night of camping, toasted marshmallows and a very in depth talk with our favorite restaurant/shack owner PJ. The perfect afternoon getaway for a six day long teaching week. Alas no Himalayan views, but with another trip planned next week hopefully we’ll have better luck then.

So that wraps up this fortnight and the coming weeks will see us bid a very reluctant farewell to our beautiful families, immerse ourselves in orphanage life in Kathmandu as well as time off in a much anticipated week in Pokhara – can’t wait! All this and more in the next blog.

So until then
Namaste!

5 Antips volunteers, 4 NCP's, 3 meals a day (not really), 2 kombi rides and one week in Mozambique!

COUNTRY: Southern Africa (Swaziland, Mozambique & South Africa)
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Teaching & Care Work
WRITTEN BY: Elise, Laura, Rosie, Lydia and Josh

The past 3 weeks since the last blog post have been so jam-packed and busy that it's been hard to find time to write another one!

After returning from Kruger we dove straight into our NCP (Neighbourhood Care Point) projects across Swaziland, where we would be for 2 weeks. Every morning we catch kombi buses to our individual NCPs, which usually cost around 4 rand per trip (40c) and stay there for a few hours before heading back to our backpacker lodge, Lidwala.

Laura and Dutch volunteer Ingrid have been at Ezulwini NCP, Josh at Bethany NCP, and Lydia and Belgian volunteer Mimi at Ekuzukekeni NCP (where they have to take care of over 50 kids!).
Rosie and I were sent to Mlindazwe school, one of the smallest and most rural (even though it's about 20 minutes drive away) of the NCPs. It had been an amazing yet extremely challenging experience trying to teach the children when they hardly know any English. The teachers always worked very well to support us in controlling the kids and translating when we taught the children new subjects, like animals, shapes, colours, basic Maths etc. Our teacher at Mlindazwe just had a baby last week so sometimes she wasn't around to help us so it definitely proved to be a more difficult challenge! Every morning the children would pray before class and before breakfast, so all of the volunteers quickly learnt the "I am the winner" song that that kids were very enthusiastic to sing! Play time was always filled with screams of "Teacher, teacher push!"(on the swings) or "Teacher ngitsatse!" (which means pick me up) so it was obvious that the kids loved having us around to play, and most of the time we really enjoyed spending time playing games with the kids and hearing their adorable laughter.

It was hard sometimes for us to get into teacher mode, as the kids still saw us as playmates and treated us just the same as all the other children, most of the time quite aggressively, so we assume they experience a lot of violence/abuse at home. We also didn't quite realise how difficult it would be to communicate to them in English when they hardly know any. The Siswati words for 'stop', 'listen' and 'quiet' definitely came in handy!
We also have some sports volunteers working with All Out Africa that come to our NCPs once a week to play games with the kids. The first one that Rosie and I participated in we got to take some of the kids to swim teaching in the hot springs pool down the road. The children were absolutely terrified but it was so enjoyable to see them warming up to the water and playing with us.

Every afternoon after teaching we would be sent off to do other activities - i.e. Visiting the hospital and the orphanage. At Raleigh Fitkin Memorial Hospital we would visit the children's ward and play with the sick/injured children. Most of them went crazy over the balloons but we found it quite hard to put a smile on their faces since they didn't understand much English. At Hope House orphanage we had a really great time with all the kids. Some of us started up a game of hokey pokey that just grew and grew until about half the orphans had joined in! Another time I brought some craft materials to make bracelets and and the kids went so crazy for them that it became really hard to manage! However there was a really amazing group dynamic there and we all really enjoyed ourselves the times we've been there so far.

The weekend between the 2 weeks of volunteering we were taken on the Malolotja Zip-lining tour, where we visited the second largest rock in the world, Sibebe (after Uluru - Aussie pride!) and we stayed overnight in the mountains. The following day we were taken on the zip-lining tour which we all agree was so much fun and an incredible experience, it was like flying through the valley.

After 2 weeks of volunteering at our NCPs, we were taken up to Tofo Bay, Mozambique with our Kruger guide, Wawa, for a week's holiday. The white sands and crystal clear water was the perfect setting for the majority of us girls to get our tan on. However local merchants found this a great opportunity to try and sell us bracelets, fabric and coconut bread, and whilst we were adamant that we didn't want any they would ask to buy our shirts or iPod's instead! Some loved to come touch our hair and even though we all said Josh was our boyfriend they disregarded this and were very confused as to why we couldn't have another. Whilst there we had the opportunity to go snorkeling, some of us lucky enough to swim with dolphins and over a small reef filled with fish. The day after we went kayaking to the small Island of Inhambane, where we were taken on a short tour and served lunch by the chief in his restaurant. The following day Josh, Laura, Dutch volunteer Ingrid and I went scuba diving, Josh had been before so for Laura and I it was extremely nerve-wracking to say the least! However it was an amazing experience, the struggle to remember how to breathe was 'drowned' out by the beauty of the reef and enjoying the proximity between ourselves and the underwater life. Unfortunately no manta rays or whale sharks but the fact that nothing went wrong made it very enjoyable in my opinion!

On Friday we drove the 13 hour journey back to Swaziland with the Mozambique volunteer group in tow as we all were heading off to the 3 day Bushfire Festival in Swaziland which started that night. Thousands of people travel across Africa to come to the annual festival - we met multiple people in Mozambique who we ran into whilst there! The festival was incredibly rich in music, dance and art, and we all thoroughly enjoyed it.

Hey Obruni! One month into GapBreak Ghana

COUNTRY: Ghana
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Teaching & Care work
WRITTEN BY: Robyn McKay

We've made it to the one month mark! And what a crazy, awesome and interesting month it has been.

We have definitely all settled into orphanage life. During the week Maddie and I make the trek from Tina's Care to Helping Hand everyday, where our kids go to school. We get to say "hey" to the other girls and sometimes help look after the younger kids, before heading back for lunch and to hang out with our littlies. The kids are beautiful, and there is most definitely never a dull moment!

On our second weekend we decided to head to Winneba, about 20 minutes away- for a few nights to experience a festival. Massive crowds of people rushing through the streets, kings and queens, cross dressing and multiple invitations for friendship were just a few highlights. We also spent a lovely morning at Sir Charles Beach, which was extremely beautiful, despite resulting in some extreme sunburns.

Skip ahead two weeks and we found ourselves at Wli. We travelled all day Friday to arrive at the gorgeous little village surrounded by mountains. Wli hosted the incredible experience of swimming under the tallest waterfall in western Africa. To describe the waterfall: wow. To describe the feeling: imagine standing amid the craziest storm you can picture.

The second day we travelled out of Wli to visit a monkey sanctuary. Yet another awesome experience.

So that is that. We have settled into Ghana life, yet are still amazed by all this country has to offer. I think it is safe to say that we are used to the heat, jam packed tro-tros, random power outages and the phrase "obruni", but we still say "aww" whenever we see a cute little baby goat.

From henna hair dying to sleeping under the stars India has proved to be magnificant

COUNTRY: India
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Teaching
WRITTEN BY: Bec Farquhar

Namaste!

It is amazing how much one can fit into a day, there is always time for more here in India. Being in a foreign country you realise how much you learn to adapt and live the way the locals live; this makes the travelling experience that much more exciting and interesting.
Since our last blog post, as expected so much has happened and we have seen so much more of the magical state of Rajasthan. Also, our students at both the school and orphanage have been improving before our eyes and have been challenging us now as their level of knowledge has increased. This has meant we have had to continue to meet their requirements of making their work harder & more challenging. Each Friday at the school we assess our students to track their progress and it brings us joy to know that we are making a difference to the upcoming generation. Each child's mark is increasing as the weeks go by which makes it all that much more fulfilling.

Here at the volunteer house we are constantly having a ball & it really feels like home. We've had cooking lessons with our cook Meenaji...Pakora and Samosa anyone? ATTENTION: Familes just you wait for our Indian culinary skills when we get back home. We have also had time to dye our hair with Henna. When applying it looks as though we have smothered our hair in melted chocolate, but the smell will prove otherwise..

Our past three weekends have been jam packed full of adventures. We've travelled far and wide and have had our first experiences with Indian overnight trains & sleeper buses. We've seen many exquiste forts in Jaipur, by which we rode an elephant to reach one of them. We've shopped at grand Indian malls, fine dined at restaurants and our sweet tooths have been treated to many Indian sweets.. would anyone care for a Gulab Jumon?

We've been to Agra, the land of the Taj Mahal, its beauty is mesmerising. More recently we've been to Jodhpur (the Blue City) where we stayed in a quaint guest home with a roof top view like no other. We journeyed through the Mehrangarh Fort and visited a Royal family Memorial which contained transparent marble. From Jodhpur we travelled to the Osian desert by jeep where we had an unforgettable experience staying with a host family who opened up their home to us. We '4WD' up steep sand dunes (getting stuck and having to walk the rest of the way), saw the magical sunset and ate traditional foods of Rajasthan. We also met two other travellers and heard about their travels in India whilst watching (and joining in) traditional Rajasthani dancing performed by two local sisters and their family. Of course, in the desert, there are no city lights to dim the stars' brightness, so sleeping under the star lit night was truely an amazing experience - the calmness and peacefullness was almost overwhelming! Our final day of weekend trips in India consisted of waking up at 6am whilst pitch black for a camel safari to view the sunrise and enjoy the serenity of the Osian Desert. Overall we had a magnificent weekend we will all remember for a long time to come.

India never fails to excite us and we look forward to sharing more with you over the next two weeks.

Lots of Indian love,
Sam, Bec, Lizzie and Georgie