The Road To Chile

The Beginning

Well it's been a long time coming but I'm finally starting to feel prepared for my gap year. It all began in June 2011 when we were given a talk at my school by a returned volunteer who told us about Project Trust. They are an organisation that send 17-19 year old abroad for a year to Asia, Africa or the Americas. They hope that by staying in the country for a year the volunteers will become true members of the community, knowing the language, culture and traditions of the country.
I had never been one who wanted to go on a gap year, I always thought it would be too expensive and that it would be best just to go straight to uni. But after 5 minutes I was hooked. The idea of travelling and getting to know a country so well really appealed to me. I had never been abroad before (this was before my family holiday to Spain in 2012) and I suddenly wanted to see more of the world. As Project Trust volunteers fund their year by fundraising this takes away most of the overall cost; the year was seeming a lot more obtainable now. Hearing that volunteers always travelled in pairs sealed the deal for me, as I had been a bit nervous about travelling alone. I went home and immediately signed up for a selection course so that my journey could begin.

sunrise on the Isle of Coll

Selection

Selection courses are held on the Isle of Coll where Project Trust's headquarters are. My course was during September. The weather was so bad on the first day that the ferry to Coll was cancelled, so we had to spend the day in Oban with some PT staff. We did lessons and wrote essays and talked about the different gap years available. On the second day we made it to Coll. Over the week we learned about fundraising, problem solving, the projects and countries and had to do a presentation. I had a great time. 

When it came to deciding our countries I wanted to go somewhere that spoke Spanish, seeing as I had taken it at Higher. I was considering going to Honduras seeing as my father was born there, but when I heard about the projects in Chile, they just sounded right for me. The volunteers start as teachers assistants teaching English and take small groups for closer work. They also get to live with host families which I think is a great way of learning the language and customs. I picked Chile as my country of choice and went home hoping that I would be selected.

A week later I received my letter, I was in.

Fundraising

I had to raise £5,100 to cover the year away. I started by searching for charitable trusts that give grants to volunteers. I wrote around 100 letters and sent them out hopefully. Sadly I only had one positive response and I would like to thank the Anson Charitable Trust for their donation. 

At our Christmas family party we held a homebaking auction and raised £410 while having a great time. I held a few events at school such as bake sales and a Guess The Birthday of The Bear competition to raise money. The main event, though, had to be the sponsored walk of Hadrian's Wall. My parents, brother, aunt, grandpa and myself walked about 103 miles overall in April. The walk started in Newcastle and ended 5 days later in Bowness-On-Solway. It was exhausting but the scenery was amazing and we felt such a sense of achievement on completing the walk. Through generous donations we raised overall around £1,700.

The thing I have realised through fundraising is just how generous people are for a good cause and I would like to thank everyone again who has donated to my year away.

Training

I have recently returned from my training course, again on the Isle of Coll. It was an intense week of getting to know the staff, learning more about teaching, learning about our projects, meeting our partners and country groups and more practical things like insurance, travel and how to deal with culture shock and homesickness.

Our training group

There was a ceilidh on the last night which was great fun, and I've really gotten to know my partner, Amina, over this week as well. The week was great and I came away feeling very prepared for my year away and really excited about getting stuck in in my new community.

My Project

I have realised that I haven't mentioned my project yet which seems silly seeing as that's the best part! I will be living in Lautaro which is in Chile's Region IX. Lautaro is a large town which is situated in some of Chile's only remaining Mapuche territory. As many indigenous groups in the Americas, the Mapuches feel marginalised by the state, and are aware that their traditions are being eroded. I will become fully aware of Mapuche customs and beliefs as the Mapuche are extremely proud people; they were the only indigenous people's to repel the attempted Incan conquest of their country.

I shall be working in a school in the town and a couple of days a week I shall go out to a rural Mapuche school and teach the children there. I'm really excited about this! I'll be able to experience city and rural life. The nearest city to Lautaro is Temuco where I shall be able to visit on my free days as well. I'll have plenty of time to set up extra-curricular activities as well as my teaching work. 

I will be living with a host family that are really friendly and I can't wait to start learning the language and culture, even if it will be a bit overwhelming to start with.

I'm hoping that's clued you in a bit more about my year. I'll be leaving from Heathrow on the 18th August which is not long now! I'm really busy getting things prepared but at least I have my visa - I visited the embassy on Monday to get it. I'm so excited! Feel free to ask me questions and send me emails. I'll try and respond as quickly as possible, but something tells me I'm going to have a really busy year! Hasta luego!