Training- the journey, the people, the experience...

Introduction-
Charlie Ogilvie is my name and thanks to Project Trust volunteering is my game.

Last July I was selected to spend a year of my life volunteering overseas after a rigorous course on the Isle of Coll in the Hebrides. Recently I returned from my training course where I met others who are going to Mauritius to work in various social projects, including my partner (Sarah) and a number of others going to different countries: mainly Jamaica, Botswana and Thailand.

I have accepted a place at the School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London) to study Social Anthropology and History on my return to the UK in 2011.

Having read a number of pieces of advice on writing a blog I have compiled the following for you:

1. My Project Information:

During my year overseas in Mauritius I will be based in CEDEM, a highly reputed NGO within Mauritius. CEDEM stands for the 'Centre d'Education et de developpement de l'enfant Mauricien'.

I will share a bedroom and small bathroom with my partner in one of the residential care homes in Floreal.We will also have access to a kitchen which is mainly used by staff members to make cups of tea and coffee. This bedroom is in a corridor on the ground floor which consists of a couple of offices, meeting and teaching rooms. The home that we're going to live in focuses on care for boys and girls with Autism, Aspergers and Downs Syndrome. Unfortunately, due to their vulnerability a number of them were also subjected to domestic abuse before they were removed from their homes to a safer place. Within CEDEM there are a number of departments where volunteers can involve themselves:

• Early Childhood Development Centre
• Animation Unit (Mauritius and Africa)
• Family Counselling Unit
• Special Schools for Slow-learners and Handicapped children
• Training Programmes for Social Workers, Educators and Parents (Mauritius and Africa)
• Fundraising Unit
• Shelters for Children in Distress
• Publication of Story Books for Children
• Community Development Programmes (Mauritius and Africa)
• Respite Care
• Administrative Work

This leaves a lot of room for creativity, and diversity in the work that both my partner and I will do during our year; and we are not limited to certain areas which pleases me greatly. There are two Project Trust volunteers there at the moment, and it seems to be a very good project which I very much look forward to living in/ working for.

2. The Journey to Oban-

It began at 9am in Currie (my hometown) on Tuesday the 20th July. With my mother and my little brother I drove to Edinburgh to collect my train tickets from the station problem free. Then on to the bus station to be faced with helpful staff who were unable to find my reservation, regretfully resulting in the purchase of a new return ticket to Glasgow.

The next day began more positively at Glasgow Queen Street when I met up with Chloe- a fellow Mauritius vol. who I knew from a Project Trust selection course last summer. On the train we met increasing numbers of volunteers, most of who were going to Thailand. Card games, conversation and confectionery were successful in bringing us together as were our clear distinguishing features- excitement, youth, and heavy rucksacks. The train journey to Oban was stunning and everybody at my table felt grateful that those who had booked it from Crianlarrich didn't turn up.

For a substantial period Chloe and I were the only Mauritius volunteers present. That was until, to our excitement, there was one sitting in the next carriage along. I ventured through and came across a blond, pretty, Scottish girl who I very quickly discovered was my project partner. We're both going to be living and working at CEDEM which I'll expand on later. As we got to know each other, we got on really well!

3. Backpackers in Oban

For anyone who has never stayed at backpackers in Oban before; do it! It’s really central, not badly priced (£15 odd a night- including breakfast/showers etc) and the staff are extremely friendly. For anyone considering Project Trust if you have to go to Coll, I’d recommend staying the night here beforehand. It was a chance for me to meet loads of other volunteers on neutral ground without having to do any arranged activities etc. (training sessions), play pool, generally hang out and get some rest before the boat trip.

Here I discovered that I am absolutely horrendous at pool, so bad that it’s funny for a bit and then just embarrassing. I also became aware (as did Chloe) that she is incredible at it as she potted about 6 in a row- it was insane.

Also, all of the beds are named. Things like ‘French Fries’, ‘American Pie’, ‘Danish Pastry’ and ‘Brazil Nut’- all foods, mostly yummy. Most of the volunteers here were going to Thailand, and one random backpacker decided to play the game and convinced some of the Thai vols. that he was going to be in the same project with them and was therefore their partner.

To our relief due to bad weather the ferry timetable was changed so instead of getting up at 4am we could get up at 7am. Not bad at all if you ask me. Unfortunately, a small number of people who had booked into the Youth Hostel were not informed/didn’t find out and turned up at the ferry very early despite it being delayed until 7.45am.

4. The Ferry to Coll

Last year, the first time I met anyone from my selection course, was at about 6am at the ferry port and everybody seemed to know each other already. I later found out that this was due to them all staying at the backpacker’s hostel, and me staying in a tent in a nearby campsite; not the best way of keeping dry or making friends in this case.

Most people from backpackers had managed to have some breakfast before traipsing along to the ferry and weren’t too blurry eyed. By this point many people had already discovered their project partners and sussed out which person was going where. A small number of volunteers (including Katy who was the remaining Mauritius girl to be found- Chloe’s partner) who had stayed at the youth hostel appeared and were understandably frustrated that they had risen so early unnecessarily.

On the boat almost one whole passenger lounge was filled with young adults surrounded by guide books of Thailand excluding a few who had them for Mauritius or chose to sleep immediately. Nerves, excitement, interest...and hunger surrounded the room. A stampede formed on the stairs when it was announced that a hot breakfast was for sale. Those who had roused themselves earlier at the hostel seemed content to sleep though. I became aware of the card playing skills of some fellow volunteers, and their kindness to teach and connected with quite a few people here; including a number of those I'd been on selection with last year. It was really nice to see how things had progressed and to feel so relaxed as all of us were sure of our countries, projects, partners and mostly too of our plans for after our gap years.

After a while we all found out that the ferry was set to take about 5 hours, as opposed to what I remember last year of 3.5hrs or similar. Thankfully I was really enjoying the boat ride and the company so its 'extension' was not as bleak a situation as it could have been, and actually went quite quickly.

5. Arrival on Coll/ The First Day

We were met at the ferry port by various Project Trust staff and whizzed up to Ballyhaugh (the PT centre) in a variety of vehicles passing the very rugged landscape or rocks, grass and crashing waves- no trees. Also it must be noted that as we arrived on the island the vols from the previous training course (Honduras, India, Namibia and Senegal) were leaving so we greeted each other, in some cases almost as if we were long lost friends.

When we got to the centre, a lot later than expected, most of us were ravenously hungry and were relieved and grateful to be greeted by an amazing two course meal courtesy of the kitchen staff. After that each partnership was called out so if they hadn't discovered already everybody became aware of their project partners. We had country sessions, getting to know our partner sessions, a section about insurance, one handing in documents/ getting country specific training manuals etc and then it was time for dinner. This was tasty too.

After dinner most of the vols and a couple of staff headed to the football pitch for 'Coll vs. Project.' Project had a rather large team, whereas Coll had a smaller but.... much better team despite having members of the age of about 12 they sincerely beat us. That did not mean that the PT spirit was squashed, we shook hands with them and headed back to the centre- very hot and sweaty- for a bit of free time. Clementine- a Thai vol- and I decided to head down to the beach for a swim because it was a beautiful evening, and we liked the challenge. For those of you who don't know- beautiful was the aesthetic, freezing was the reality. We were getting ourselves hyped up when some other vols ran after us to tell us we weren't allowed to swim as the tide was too dangerous; secretly we were pleased that we had an excuse not to. It was also really nice for us that they joined us on the trip!

Despite tiredness from our varied journeys nobody in my dorm at least could keep quiet. We were all so excited to meet each other at last and eventually got to sleep rather late.


6. Training- The Serious Stuff

Over the next couple of days things became a bit more serious. We were often separated into different sessions for teaching and social care sharing a few things such as:

1. The realities of culture shock
2. The rights of the child
3. The projects volunteers have to submit to PT at the end of the year
4. Safety and security overseas
5. Sex, drugs and alcohol
6. Housekeeping
7. Media

These sessions were not designed to inject fear into our systems, but instead to cover things that maybe we hadn't considered and really should. We found out how to deal with being groped on the bus: "Do everything you can to try and get away; draw attention to your plight by screaming, fight back with keys or anything else to hand. Don't try for the kick in the groin- most men would expect this- unless you have a good aim. Kick shins, stamp on toes, scratch eyes, slam your keys up his nose..." Pretty comprehensive if you ask me, if pretty scary too.

In social care specific sessions we covered:

1. Introduction to Social Work
2. Child to Child method
3. Stages of a Child's Development
4. Running a Club
5. Activities/ Feedback (practical individual tasks to prep. and present)
6. Living in an Institution
7. Behavioural Problems
8. Prevention and Cure of all things Nasty
9. AIDS in the Workplace
10. Bereavement
11. How to be a good volunteer
    

Along with the sessions mentioned about we had a couple in our country groups, so in my case with the 7 others going to Mauritius. There are two boys; Ben and Jimmy who are both English, and 5 other girls- Hannah and Katy who are English, and Chloe, Michelle and Sarah who are all Scottish. We covered things like:

1. Hopes and Fears for the year
2. Problem Solving
3. Politics in the Work Place
4. Country Specific Safety and Security
5. What happens next e.g. who will meet us on arrival to Mauritius, getting visas, banking, ID cards etc.

All in all I think that it's fantastic that we all received some training. Of course, Coll is a bit of an unnatural environment- especially when staying in the PT Centre with a large bunch of very lovely and extremely excited volunteers. PT did a good job of telling us things to look out for, how to deal with problems when they arise and also how to have a good time, stay safe and make the most out of our years.

The Desk Officer for the Mauritius Crew, Ali MacDonald, told us:

"Live every day like it is the last."

I think that she was suggesting that the year can go by so quickly, and that it is extremely important to make the most out of it; to get out of there, to do things, to meet people and to see things that just aren't available at home!

7. Free Time- The Fun Stuff

During our time on Coll we were granted free time at various points both for relaxation, socialising...and lesson preparation/ research.

If you've seen the photographs above you will hopefully have quickly realised that the Project Trust Centre is based in a truly stunning, and unique location on Coll. It is extremely near a lovely beach and beside the highest hill, from which we found out was one of the only places we could find phone signal.

Hence, in the evenings free time was often spent wandering down to the beach/trudging in the rain to it/ skipping gleefully (weather dependent of course...this is Scotland!) I made a habit of visiting the beach every day (no exceptions) and found this to be a good passtime. The first night, as above, was probably the sunniest- but still very cold...I'm not complaining, it was beautiful. The second night was a bit wetter (See right), but that didn't dampen our spirits [the pun was intended] Much paddling in the sea also took place, and someone (Caitlin Rippley) even took her kit off, barring bikini, and went swimming!

Another evening when walking down to the beach I was a little taken back to see dark fins sticking out of the water, swimming around; basking sharks, and later a seal. We were all really excited.

The rest of our free time was mostly spent either climbing the hill- for the view/ for some phone signal (at least an attempt) or just some good old fashioned banter, or hanging out in one of the main teaching rooms which has its own fully stocked bar tended too by the summer staff. There are a couple of sofas, tables, a white board, some chairs and it's a pretty good place to socialise. Personally, my game of choice was usually 'Irish Snap' which at points involved a huge group of us standing in a circle with sofa pillows laid out in the middle and throwing cards down, when there was a snap all chaos was let lose with teens jumping left, right and centre to smack their hands down on the pile before the last person so that they wouldn't have to pick everything up. At points it was somewhat painful, but really enjoyable.

On one of the evenings Aiden, one of the summer staff who was volunteering in Thailand last year, gave a lesson in basic Thai- aimed at the Thai vols, but inclusive of those that were interested. I made up a little Thai phrasebook, and practised a couple of times so now a lot of it is ingrained in my memory. But, sorry to disappoint, as this is a blog about my gap year in Mauritius I think I'll give it a miss for now.

Free time was really a chance for everybody to get to know each other a bit better- especially for project partners and country groups. I always find that relationships formed solely in intense circumstances- e.g problem solving sessions etc are not the same as those based on a mixture of that and relaxation. It was good to get to see different strings to peoples' bows.

8. The Last Night- The Formal Reception Dinner, The Ceilidh, The Games

On the last night after we'd had our 'what happens next' sessions and end of course administration the staff from Project Trust left us with a closing address. An inspirational speech, some poems, warm feelings and well wishing. A number of people got quite emotional. We'd recently received our plane tickets and it had dawned on many of us quite suddenly that we would soon be in far flung corners of the world taking on quite serious roles and responsibilities...not at home- those being the main words. We became aware that we'd soon be stepping out of our comfort zones leaving behind the people...even the country that we know and love for a new place where currently we don't really know anyone!

We had a little free time after this to chill out and I chose to go to the beach with some friends and then come back and get ready. My partner had promised to curl my hair so I had to leave her enough time to do so after preening herself.

Before dinner we received an address from former Project Trust Director, Livinia Maclean Bristol, she appeared to be a wonderful woman and everybody listened attentively as she had a lot of interesting things to say to us, to encourage, to warn, to excite...

Dinner started at about 7.30pm and without being too specific I'll say that it was delicious and there were a couple of courses...and a fair bit of wine. I enjoyed sitting next to Katt, a returned volunteer from an orphanage in Sri Lanka four years ago, who had been leading most of our social work sessions. She told me that her partner had been so environmentally friendly that instead of getting a car, a bus or a train up to Oban for training she'd cycled! I was fairly impressed, but a bit taken back to hear about her feelings against deodourant.

The Party was conducted in true Project Trust style with the Ceilidh Band at the front of the rank room and everybody dressed up really nicely. Ceilidh dances are very long and repetitive, but I always find myself smiling when doing them no matter how much my feet hurt. I must give a shout out to all of the English people who made such a good effort with the Scottish dancing, and did really well...especially to Clem who I taught the Gay Gordons outside beforehand, predicting (correctly) that it would come up next. The staff were also really impressive dancers, this is maybe due to skill...but maybe lots and lots of practice with all the selection, training and debriefing ceilidhs that they attend.

After the dancing a couple of people headed to bed fairly quickly while others chose to hang out a bit longer on for many their last night together as a mixed group of Thai, Mauritian, Botswanan and Jamaican volunteers. Thankfully, I found relief in the fact that we'll all (or...sorry to sound negative- everybody who makes it through the year) be together again next year of debriefing which both seems so close in time, but so far too. Many card games, chats, drawings, massages, random lessons, hugs, more dances and even more dances went on until we chose to head through to the corridors where our dorms were, and eventually into our beds which we knew we would have to get out of fairly early to pack.

As we hadn't managed to get a course photo earlier on in the evening we split into two groups :
1. Mauritius, Jamaica and Botswana(far above left)
2. Thailand (far above right)
and I've added a couple of less formal ones too:

• Jimmy, Rachael, Ben, Elliot and I
• Sarah - Immediate Right- (my project partner) and Camille (my room mate from Selection last year- now Thai vol)

9. The Final Day

It would be fair to say that on the last morning most people, if not everyone were pretty tired from the night before and I had really stiff legs from all that dancing. There was a very final/ excited/ sleepy last breakfast together taking up about 4 of the really big tables. I really enjoyed eating with everybody else for all of the meals and kind of liked that eating was restricted to meal times...not really any snacking unless people had sensibly snuck some fruit from the bowl at meal times or bought crips/ chocolate from the little bar in the evenings.

Before we left many people had to manically pack up their bags and strip the beds, as well as saying their goodbyes to the staff.
When we got down to the boat everybody (at least most people) were surpirsed to come accross some phone signal and surprise messages from friends back home. I even received an invite to a birthday party in Oxford that had already been! We got our photo taken as a group together and then boarded the boat waving goodbye to our beloved Coll for another year...but a fairly important one! I tried to imagine our 'changed' selves arriving onto the pier, possibly donning some outlandish foreign outfit and a deep tan.

The boat ride was long- about 5 hours- as it went from Coll to Tiree, back to Coll and only then on to Oban! (Now maybe I'm thinking that 5 hours isn't so long...to get to Mauritius it'll be 2 consecutive 7 hour flights- the first London Heathrow to Dubai, and then Dubai to Sir Sewoosagar Ramgoolam International in Mauritius!) Many people slept on the boat, read or played cards after enjoying a bite to eat. It was quite a different atmosphere from the way to Coll, a lot more weary and realistic. Many of us got the train back to Glasgow together and went our separate ways, in some cases until we leave for our countries, in others until next year when we go back to Coll for debriefing.

10. How I Feel Now ( 9 days before leaving home/ 13 days before leaving the UK)

At the moment, after a lot of excitement, but in all honesty more so fear and anticipation I feel fairly relaxed. Almost as if there is no big change which will approach within mere days.

I am enjoying my home, my bedroom (despite the fowl mess that it is in due to trying to clear it for the lodger who will move in at the start of the university term when I'm gone), my dear friends, my city (Edinburgh) which is thriving with the excitement and the range of talent brought in by the Fringe Festival.

Although I should be manically packing, sorting out my things- my room, money stuff, everything for travelling etc, saying goodbye to friends and relatives for now I am strangely relaxed. I am spending lots of time in town watching free shows with my friends, driving myself and my mother around practicing for my driving test (which is on Wednesday- 4 days from now!)

I do hope that with the coming week I feel motivated, and have the adrenaline required to get prepared to head off. I will, I'm sure of it- I have to!

Next time I post anything I should be in Mauritius...that's a wild thought!

Look forwards to it.

Over and out from my livingroom at home in Currie at 10.10pm on Saturday 14th August in a dressing gown, wrapped in a fleecy blanket as it's cold... I feel amused at the thought that this cold will no longer be an issue for a year two weeks from now!

Charlie x