Actualités

Un séminaire médical a eu lieu en mars dernier au Sri Lanka  pour l’ensemble de nos volontaires en médecine. L’évènement, organisé par Projects Abroad et le Lions’ Club, a reçu le précieux soutien de plusieurs volontaires de Projects Abroad en mission médecine. Il y avait également trois médecins des hôpitaux gouvernementaux de la région venus prêter main forte à l’occasion de cet évènement. Cela a permis d’enseigner aux volontaires de Projects Abroad comment réaliser des bilans de santé élémentaires.

In January, Projects Abroad started a new project at a primary school in Steenberg, Cape Town. We revisited the school last week and interviewed some students. They had some interesting things to say about our volunteers!

Entre 2007 et 2012, la Jamaïque a adopté un plan de lutte contre le SIDA qui a pour but de privilégier la prévention, en insistant sur l’importance au préalable, de la réduction des risques de transmission du virus. Notre bureau en Jamaïque met en place actuellement une campagne de sensibilisation afin de développer des actions spécifiques. Les volontaires de Projects Abroad pourront bientôt y participer.

Projects Abroad PRO volunteer, Dr Jennifer Caplin, has been working with us since November on an intensive eight month dentistry project in Shanghai. Having completed four years of university and a further four years of dental school, Dr Caplin told us of her need for a change before entering the workforce!

Projects Abroad’s volunteers in Fiji have made an exceptional effort with their Flood Relief Donation Campaign in aiding local Fijians who have been affected by the recent flooding. Volunteers had a brilliant idea of setting up a camp at Nadi International Airport where they had a very successful day collecting donations.

Lizzie Bendle volunteered on a Medicine project with Projects Abroad as a pre-university student in Togo and Ghana in 2001. After deferring her university entry for a year Lizzie decided to use her gap year to gain some worthwhile experience in her chosen field of study - medicine.

I had recently graduated when I saw a small advert in a magazine advertising “Teaching in Moldavia” in 1992. I was slightly intrigued. I didn’t know much about Moldavia but liked the idea of combining some travel and teaching overseas.

L’équipe de Projects Abroad Roumanie a mis en place la 3ème édition de l’événement caritatif « Aimer c’est donner et donner c’est recevoir » aux côtés de la Fondation Rafael (qui travaille avec les personnes handicapées) et en collaboration avec les étudiants du Centre culturel de Brasov. L’objectif est de pouvoir récolter un maximum de fonds au profit de la Fondation Rafael de Codlea.

Projects Abroad volunteers in Tanzania have had a busy year! They are coming to the end of a building project in a school in Engikarat, near Kilimanjaro, and in the next month we hope to see its grand opening… Following on from this success we now have even more ambitious plans to build a primary school in the Maasai village of Meserani, south of Arusha.

Staff at our pioneering Conservation project in Cambodia are keen to have the help of more volunteers this April. We’ve had a record breaking start to 2012, with 40 volunteers joining the project between January and March; however, we need to keep the momentum and consistency going!

Notre publication internationale en ligne Voices of the World est en pleine expansion. Projects Abroad a lancé des clubs d'écriture en Inde, Roumanie, Afrique du Sud et Sénégal. Des jeunes peuvent y participer gratuitement à des ateliers sur le journalisme et publier leurs articles sur le site de la publication www.voices-of-the-world.org .

Following on from a 3 month placement in Ghana, Harriet Walker has been inspired to take on a new challenge, a round the world yacht race! Here she tells us more: ‘This time last year I had just arrived in Cape Coast, Ghana and given half the chance I would get on a flight back over there tomorrow! It was my three month trip of a lifetime that inspired me to take on my next big adventure – The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.

Projects Abroad volunteer, Virginie Thouvenin, from France, has made an unusual and inventive donation to her care placement in Senegal. Noticing the need for a more organized way of storing the children’s books, she sought out a carpenter in order to install four bookshelves.

L'aventure d'une jeune femme au Maroc ne peut être que fascinante alors que l'ensemble de la région du Moyen-Orient et de l'Afrique du Nord est secouée d'une révolution soutenue principalement par des jeunes et…par des femmes ! Certains diront que le Maroc ne fût touché que de façon minime par les révoltes du Printemps Arabe. Toutefois, ceux-ci réaliseraient leur tort s'ils constataient les réformes entreprises par le Maroc suite aux pressions du peuple. Parmi celles-ci, l'adoption d'une Nouvelle Constitution.

Conservation Manager, Richard Munday updates us on the exciting Scarlet Macaw project, which forms part of our Conservation Project in Costa Rica: 'As each month passes we are gradually increasing the rhythm of the Macaw project so that eventually, when we reach April/May we are there 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

Our international, community-focused journalism project, Voices of the World is gaining momentum. We have now established Voices of the World clubs in India, Romania, South Africa and Senegal, thus giving the chance to local young people to attend free workshops on journalism and publish their articles in our online publication – www.voices-of-the-world.org.

Our first donations from the Bring-A-Book programme were presented to Apostolic Preparatory School in Ghana last month by volunteers, Hannah Pascoe-Smith, Harrison Swaine and Thomas Haynes. Bring-A-Book is a programme in which volunteers are asked to bring English children's books with them when they arrive in their destination countries.

Due to the success of our placements in Phnom Penh we have now expanded to Siem Reap. Siem Reap is a large town about 5 hours’ drive from Phnom Penh and is famous for being the closest town to the incredible temple complexes of Angkor Wat.

The Projects Abroad team in Kenya are thrilled to have welcomed their first volunteers onto our Care project - Takuya Yamanaka from Japan and Victoria Strømsodd from Norway! Our Kenya Country Director, Karanja BK, has expressed great excitement about the future of our projects in Nakuru.

Volunteers often return from their projects overseas inspired to do more. Many stay in touch with their placements and host families, some raise money to make donations of books or toys and some volunteers even start planning their return trip.

Projects Abroad is currently carrying out a survey in conjunction with Massey University in New Zealand in order to find out the motivations of our volunteers. Whether you are on a gap year, at university, on a career break, or even a retiree, we would like to know what made you decide to volunteer!

Projects Abroad volunteer, Lauren Brant, had a unique opportunity during her Music Project to make an appearance on one of Bolivia’s biggest television channels. Lauren volunteered with us last year and after 3 months of teaching music to blind children, both hers and the student’s hard work was recognised.

Projects Abroad’s Conservation team in Costa Rica has embarked on an exciting and essential mission to help save the Scarlet Macaws. These beautiful birds are at grave risk of extinction and our aim is to put an end to this devastation.

Alexandra Ichim, Projects Manager in Romania tells us about a recent charity show that the Projects Abroad Romania staff team and volunteers from a variety of projects, helped to arrange.