ICS blog

As we come to the end of our second week we have finally started to find our feet, beginning our sessions at the schools and having our first lot of home visits.

1st-7th February: UN Faith & Interharmony Week

On the 22nd January 2013 we had a special visitor, the Chief Executive of Progressio Mark Lister. He came to observe the work of Arise and Shine International (ASI), the organisation we are volunteering with, in Kabudula, Malawi. During his speech he mentioned that this was the first community in Malawi he had the privilege of visiting; which made the members of the community feel very special indeed.

Monile mose, we are now in the fourth week of our placement and time is flying by.

Last week the team went to visit one of our adopted sick patients, Lucy. After chatting with Lucy and her family, we asked whether there were any household chores that we could help them with. As it happens all that needed doing was to fetch the water and so we set off up the track around the back of their house with a collection of buckets.

Our two day cultural exchange experience took place in Kariyangwe, a small town 50km outside of Binga central. The lush green covered mountains supported the reality that we are immersed in Zimbabwe as we travelled over bouncy, degraded dirt roads.

Warm smiles and an open hand awaited us as we arrived in the early hours to our home for the next two days. Our host family proudly own a rather modern homestead, with a concrete house, electricity, a tap and also two mud huts.

Throughout our orientation week we were lucky enough to hear several lectures by some incredible people who have dedicated their lives to the development of El Salvador. Something that has really struck me since staying here is the passion and devotion so many people feel towards this small and not particularly well-known country. After 3 weeks here, I too am falling in love with this beautiful place and would like to share some of the information we received.

Before coming to El Salvador I knew very little about the country or what to expect. I was preparing myself for an entirely different culture, new customs and values totally separate from Western world- whilst this is certainly true in many places in the country I was also shocked by the unexpectedly strong sense of North American culture.