+ 44 (0)1380 729009

AV Updates

Testimonials - Africa and Asia Venture

Testimonials

Malawi - Richard Crossby
It is hard to think of a fuller four months than those I had teaching - living and travelling in Africa. Rather than expanding on just one or two experiences, I've jotted down a list of those that either jump out or, for me at least, encapsulate my time as an AV...

Bright Malawian mornings, off to school at 7(!), knowing no-one at home will believe that I was off to school at 7. The fantastic sounds of the school choir, the national anthem. Trying to make the Reformation interesting, simulating an earthquake drill, teaching rugby / rounders to groups of very keen but unacquainted students. Supervising prep (aka being quizzed about anything and everything by the students.)

Lesson planning, the satisfaction when you know it's sinking in, marking on the steps outside our house and chatting with my Form Ones. Staff room banter, explaining Bonfire Night, morning break with tea and mendazi (local doughnuts). The day the desks and benches went, graduation rehearsals complete with fire breathing. Dancing, noise.

Villa azungu. ‘running' water, hand washing - badly. Executing chickens, eating chicken foot wrapped in chicken intestine, the constant search for dried rat on stick. Daily expeditions to the market, the market getting knocked down, looking for the new market! Mastercheffing, 101 ways to cook rice, tomatoes and onions.

Trips to local villages, trip to immigration, (frequent) trips to the toilet... Africa time. Learning most of my Chichewa in daily sessions playing with the local children, and getting mobbed by them on the way to and from school. Shouts of ‘azungu', constant laughter, Malawian hospitality.

Trying to sneak into Mozambique. Snorkelling in and relaxing on the beaches of Lake Malawi, a boat safari to see elephants in Liwonde National Park, sailing on a dhow. Hiking on the Mulanje Massif and sleeping under the stars, conquering Dedza Mountain.

Minibuses, matolas. Staying in ‘the cesspit' aka The Liwonde Holiday Resort. Voluntarily staying in ‘the cesspit' again. Azungu price, buying huge amounts of tat, Ryan's tat breaking before we had left Zimbabwe (he had bought it in Victoria Falls town when we were walking across the bridge into Zambia). Long drops. Victoria Falls, bungi jumping (why?), rafting grade five rapids and surviving, buying more tat.

Being three hours late for the weekly train to Dar but still arriving 19 hours early... Lazing on Zanzibar, seeing the big five in the Masai Mara. Waking up with elephants outside the tents in South Luwanga - fantastic!
The dreadful reality of saying goodbye, great friendships, four months of constant adventure. AV...
... Trying to carry all that tat home.

Arriving in Pachok, Lepcha, January 2006.
We arrived in Buddabawe Bazaar tired and sore after a three-hour jeep ride. Our rucksacks, containing all our worldly possessions were taken off the jeep and placed in the middle of a crowd of children. I admit I was panicking slightly at this point, but it was my first wake up call. These children, being students at Pachok Lepcha Night School where we would be teaching, had walked for over 40 minutes to come and greet us.

At the house, which would be our home for the next three months, there was a whirlwind of introductions; I forgot all the names seconds later. I remember there being an incredible number of people around, staring and coming into our room. After a ridiculously large meal of rice, dhal, chicken and subgee, our host, Suksing, took us to the night school where a short programme of Lepcha dances and English songs had been prepared. We both got scarves or wreaths from every student or official there, and were consequently soon weighed down. The kids took us outside and we watched them playing and tried to learn a few names. It was the most welcome I've ever felt in my entire life, but the whole experience was so intense that I quickly stopped being able to take things in. It felt like I was another person, watching myself go through it.

We were told it would take us two weeks to settle in, but for me it was closer to two days. By this time, the culture shock had faded considerably, I was over the humiliation of making a child cry in my first lesson, and I no longer suffered the sinking feeling in my stomach when I woke up to see the grey plastic ceiling in the morning. The family we're living with, our family, are the friendliest, most welcoming people I've ever met. India is permanently intense and exhausting, a flurry of colours, flavours and sounds. 4 months later...I just couldn't leave!!


Danielle Cox - Kenya
Let me try to explain, as a hard core AV, why I stayed in Africa for another full term - 3 months - at my school long after my fellow volunteers had departed.
I have been asked many times now: "Why did I choose to return?" And no matter how many times I am asked, the question gets no easier to answer. I will often reply that I would like to get the image of the ‘dusty barren land' out of your head from the start; I have travelled all over East Africa and it is so green and lush, that at times its I forget where I am. This is generally the time I forget my sunscreen and get burnt! No matter how lush it may be, I am still on the Equator.

My home for six months in Kenya - to be precise, a town called Eldoret - is at the Queen of Angels Primary School. I have Internet access, supermarkets, restaurants, nightclubs (always an experience) and, well, everything really - but it's African-style. The Church runs my school so there is a Convent attached, and the sisters are lovely people until they catch you not singing in liturgy!

There are 24 staff in total and it has taken me 5 months to get all their names right! As for the children, I would know names but not faces and faces but not names; because with 450-500 pupils, including nursery (pupils aged 4-14), it was a near impossible feat to learn each child's name.

I teach Maths, P.E., Arts and Swimming and sometimes help with standard 8 science. School for me starts at 08.00am and finishes at 4.00pm. My days vary depending on what I do. I gave up my free afternoon in the 2nd term to coach a Netball and Football team. I often take after school activities or help with preps. I have found the more you get involved, the more you get out of the whole experience. It is not only the children you interact with more, but the staff too, and I have made some great friends this way.

Along with AV project work there is the travel, too, and Africa is such a wonderful continent. It has so much to offer: hot springs, animals, markets, lakes, rivers (white water rafting the Nile) vast areas of open land, amazing and obscure weather and sunsets and sunrises! Believe me, seeing the sunrise over the Indian Ocean is a must...it's beautiful!
Whilst travelling I meet some weird and wonderful people. They are such a friendly nation and l have a 101 questions to ask. I have tried to learn a new language, eat and cook new foods, teach but, most importantly, be independent.

For some, it may be the first time travelling alone or living away from home. No matter what your circumstance, the whole AV experience is a learning curve and an adventurous one at that! The people you travel out with will become lifelong friends and I guarantee that in 40 yrs time I will be able to ring some of these guys and we will be laughing about our time together here in beautiful Africa.



Harry Maitland and Allan Sheriff in Tanzania
Five months shacked up among the foothills of Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, alongside Masai warriors and living on rice and beans, may sound pretty ordinary but being assistant English and PE teachers (and friends) to 300 kids in a school like Nkwarungo Primary was an experience of a lifetime!

Apart from teaching English, we wanted to introduce rugby to the football-obsessed pupils. However, we faced loud and continuous protests until we brought out the footballs and got a game going. A main concern of Africa and Asia Venture (AV) was that we, as volunteer assistant teachers, actually taught something to our classes and didn't waste out time drinking 10p beers. We did drink quite a lot of beer but also taught for 15-20 hours every week and filled masses of our spare time with sports coaching - especially football!

Bizarre experiences were a daily occurrence and some even ceased to be unusual, such waiting for a dalla-dalla (taxi van) for an hour or so before one would zoom past, packed with cows with their heads out of the windows - all behaving as if it was part of their daily routine!

Travelling on our gap year gave us limitless opportunities to do exactly what we wanted. Amongst other things, we managed to tackle raging grade 5 rapids on the Nile (got wet), climb Mt Kilimanjaro (became exhausted walking to the toilet), see the Ngoragora Crater (the unofficial 8th Wonder of the World) and visit Lake Manyara (home of the tree-climbing lion).

We had read loads of quotes of what others had said about their gap years and the same things always came up: "life changing... amazing...unforgettable..." Through AV, we had challenged ourselves beyond what we thought we were capable of and found the experience...
...life changing, amazing and unforgettable.

 

Vicky Walvis - Mexico
Hola! Peter, a.k.a. Pedro from AV, paid a visit and was a reminder of England until we got him dancing on chairs on the last night! In the mornings we learnt a bit more Espanol but mainly Laura gave us teaching techniques and we planned a few lessons. Jess and I work well together; we have just planned our first lesson in which we will introduce ourselves and teach them how to do the same with a bit of basic vocab thrown in. A bit nervous... I really want it to go well!

We also did some more activities: horse riding and water sliding. The former was good fun except that I had the naughtiest horse that had to be in the front; consequently, on the gallop he went a bit psycho and I lost my stirrups and hung on for dear life! We also had a few talks on Mexico; I cannot wait to travel as there is just so much to see, but in too little time!

Yesterday I moved into my new home in Santa Maria with 3 other girls and 2 guys. The house is so cool: it looks exactly like a tree house and has loads of character; the kitchen is outside on a balcony and we sleep in bunks.
I am settling in to life in the village and enjoying my new role as a teacher. I did not actually start teaching on Monday, as planned, because the school had exams but we had a look around anyway and met the headmaster who is friendly and positive. Also watched all the kids sing the national anthem and march around the play ground with the flag - very patriotic! Took advantage of a day off on Tuesday with a couple of others to go to Capulin and see the butterflies, which migrate there every year all the way from Canada. It was a tiring walk up the mountain but well worth it to experience the sight and sound of millions and millions of Monarch butterflies. The air was so full of them that at times they brushed our faces and arms. At the end of the climb we sat quietly and watched the swarms that covered the bark and branches of the pine trees... felt like I was on the TV programme `Planet Earth´!
On Sunday morning I went with a sleepy Mels to get some ´Barbacoa´ (slow-cooked lamb served in tortillas) which is so popular with the locals that there is no more to be found by 10 o-clock. At midday we went to mass in the church (completely full) and a sprinkling of holy water, before accompanying Clara to Luis´ house (one of the guys at the barbecue and Clara's uncle) at the ´Campo de Fútbol´. It was a pretty walk and resulted in a lot of invitations for the week to come:

On Monday Luis and ´Negro´ (Emmanuel who has a very long name and prefers to be so-called on account of his colour) took Mels and I on a surprise trip. The journey in itself was an experience as we travelled in the back of the pick-up, under a hot sun on the way there and under the stars on the way back. We also chatted to some Mexican girls training to be teachers in Valle and picked up some bright sunflowers, which got a bit squashed. The car stopped at the end of a dusty track where we ascended a rock-face, on some rickety steps over-looking a steep-sided valley, to see some faded ancient paintings on the walls drawn by the tribe which lived there even before the Mayas had come in to existence. This was something you would not find in the guide books, as was the sunken village of San-Tómas (which had been completely flooded over 50 years ago) with it's church tower proudly sticking its head out of the water, still in beautiful condition due to the efforts of the locals who take little boats out to it. They believe there is religious significance in the fact that the village still stands even though their former homes have been destroyed. Then Luis and Negro treated us to mangoes (would you like chilli sauce on that? No thanks!!) on the roadside and, in the old town, some of the best ice creams I have ever tasted.

Back to Top