ICS blog

Seeing as week 5 is the week of our mid-term review, I thought that it would be appropriate to change the format of the blog a bit to get feedback from the team and allow everyone to have their say. I also think that now would be a good time to sum up some of the challenges and achievements that we have experienced so far in the cycle.

We are currently under the impression that our relationship with the local community is very positive with regards to sports. Numerous young people in the area have come under the influence of our campaign to increase awareness of and engagement in rugby where we are currently living in Honduras, which has involved passing drills and games with youths ranging in age from five to 13 in the area. This has resulted in a palpable enthusiasm for the sport despite our lack of resources. 

There were many things I had anticipated when arriving in El Salvador with Progressio ICS in July; no more flushing toilets, power showers, air con or wifi. But one thing no one could have prepared me for was the sheer volume and variety of noises created by animals in the early hours of each morning, and how unnecessary my alarm clock would become. 

Over here in sunny La Esperanza we have been lucky enough to be working alongside a group of wonderful national volunteers, both from the local community in La Esperanza and the capital Tegucigalpa. Working with the national volunteers over the last few weeks it has struck me how their volunteering experience differs from ours. In our 5th week now and we UK volunteers still have much to learn about this alien culture, we are still getting used to a diet of refried beans and continue to battle daily with the depths of Spanish grammar.

As the Prince of the Spanish language, our national poet Ruben Dario, said: “Youth, divine treasure, already you go not to return!” If youth is only a short step that without us noticing passes right before our eyes, then in the moment that young men and women take the power to change their conditions and quality of life, they help others, and others join in this change, and in this way we build a different society with the participation of the citizens, with collective decisions, objectives and common benefits.

Since being in Honduras, I've had the privilege of learning so much from a culture more beautiful than I could describe. Based in a small village within Yamaranguila, we are a mixture of UK and Honduran volunteers all with different but equally valuable skill sets, collectively working together for change. With such common goals to us UK volunteers, the youth of Yamaranguila are and continue to be inspiring colleagues to work with.

In order to raise awareness of our partner organisation - the Centre for Girls and Interaction (CEGI) - and our involvement as Progressio ICS volunteers we decided to organise a Community Football and Netball Tournament at our local community ground. As one of our main targets on our programme is to promote HIV testing and counselling (HTC) to as many young people as possible, we also planned to offer free HIV testing. 

Working well in a cross cultural team is one of the most important aspects of being on an ICS placement. Everyone has different experiences on their project so we thought for this blog, as we are coming up to the mid-term review with Progressio, it would be good to hear from a few of our team members reflecting on their time here so far.  Here they share their thoughts and personal experiences of life and work in Malawi…

“The placement has so far been successful, since we started we have been engaged in many different activities due to the awesome team participation.

Santa Marta, the community which I am calling home for the next ten weeks, can be sees as simultaneously the most beautiful and ugly place that I have ever been. Upon arriving, you’re met with luscious mountains, rainbow butterflies wafting through the air, and fresh fruit dripping from the trees. But also rubbish scattered through the streets, and a stream running blue with detergent. Why is it like this here? The problem is complex, but there are at least three issues, which are helping me to understand. 

Over the past three weeks, our work in Yamaranguila has focused on improving the local community centre and planning and delivering three workshops on entrepreneurial skills to the young people of the community.