First one!

Hi!

I've never done anything like this before, so I don't know how good I'm going to be at writing interestingly or keeping up to date, but I'll try!

So from the beginning..............
In April 2007 I went to the Isle of Coll (a Hebridean Island) for a selection course to take a gap year with the charity Project Trust (PT). I've always wanted to go to Africa, and my cousings had been away with Project Trust in the past, so it seemed like the best option. We had to do a variety of activities on selection, from writing an essay and doing a spelling test to digging lazy beds and climbing Ben Hogh. It was really amazing to go to Coll, it is very small, fours hours away on a ferry from the mainland, with few inhabitants and limited services, but the scenery and community really strike you. So, I was selected, and my first choice of country was Uganda.

In order to take my place, I had to raise £4480. I have done that now, through cake sales, a 'band night' for my sixth form, a Swing Band concert (which actually raised £2500 of my target!) and from a few donations from trusts and the like.

A couple of weeks ago I went on the compulsory training course, again on the Isle of Coll, and had a great time basically! We were taught about teaching, how to clean, all the nice diseases I could get, more about Uganda and my project in particular, transport, holidays, safety, classroom management etc etc. We were also told our departure date. So............


On the 5th September I will be going to Uganda for the year. I will be living in a town called Kabale, which is right down in the south-west of Uganda, near to the border with Rwanda and over 8 hours away from Kampala (the capital). From what I have found out it is quite a busy town, with loads of tourists passing through (especially to see the Gorillas), there is a market, there are hotels, an internet cafe (!) etc etc. So I'm not in the middle of nowhere!

I will be living in a flat above the school that I will be teaching in (see below), with my PT partner, Kimberley, and the headmistress of the school. The flat has a large living room, two bedrooms, a 'kitchen' area downstairs, a bathroom, a balcony and a flushing toilet! Yay! Much better than a long drop!! It has running water and electricity, although the supply may be erratic.

I am going out there to teach at "Jack and Jill's Primary and Secondary Schools'". I will be teaching English and Maths to both primary and secondary school students, and the students' ages will range from 5 to 16. The class sizes - ready - between 15 and 70 students per class! I will work a typical working week (7 hours a day Mon-Fri) and have the chance to travel during the school holidays (the school year runs from Feb-Feb, so the school holidays will be Dec-Feb, mid April-mid May and then from July till I come home). The school is quite basic, so I will have a blackboard and chalk and very few textbooks.
Aside from the teaching, I will have the chance to set up extra-curricular activities, especially sport and drama, work with orphans and work at a wine-making factory.

So now I just need to buy all my clothes, sort out money issues, finish my injections, buy all the equipment I need, say goodbye, then I'm off!


I can write loads when i get started!