ICS blog

The volunteer we decided to produce a case study on is Delvia Martínez. This is because she stood out as a volunteer who has many different responsibilities to take care of and has learnt how to balance these in her day-to-day life. She is 25 years old and from the community of El Bramadero, Nicaragua. Delvia lives with her husband, who works in agriculture, harvesting maize and beans. Together they have two children, who are 4 and 8 years old.

Muchos de nuestros voluntarios/as ICS cuando llegan a Nicaragua no hablan el castellano. Este blog fue escrito por los/as voluntarios/as ICS después de haber pasado 12 semanas trabajando y viviendo en la comunidad de El Bramadero, y sirve como ejemplo del tremendo aprendizaje del idioma en 12 semanas. 

Holly Barber-Rowe

La construcción de filtros de esta semana fue muy buena y estamos felices con la nueva experiencia que hemos vivido a través de ICS. Hemos aprendido como construir eco-estufas y estamos felices porque 26 familias podrán tomar agua sin contaminación por los filtros de agua que construimos. 

While I’m sure you've kept up to date with every blog, Tweet and Facebook update, by now you might be wondering what exactly we do at school every day. Working a 42-hour week, you could probably argue that our plates are pretty full. The majority of us are in bed by nine o'clock and I think that level of fatigue speaks for itself. You've read about our adjustment to Honduran life with our new families, our involvement in school events and the lessons we are learning relentlessly. Now for the important bit: how are we making our time here count?

It was true what they said when it was explained to us at pre-departure training that this experience would fly by in a blink of an eye. What feels like a week, has actually been a quarter of a year full of achieving the impossible, learning aspects of ourselves we never knew existed, and creating unforgettable memories. 

Throughout the 1980s, El Salvador was involved in a severe and violent conflict, with protests, kidnappings, assaults, seizures of churches, and death squads, that sent the country into turmoil with repercussions across multiple institutions within society. The education sector was one of those that was hit hard. This era saw a lot of authoritative attention shift from public sectors towards the support and funding of military forces.

They say goodbye is the saddest word but sadly it’s time for Team MASO (Midlands AIDS Service Organisation) to say goodbye! Anxious we were at the beginning of the placement but realised it was all for nothing!

Our UK volunteers share their experience as members of the LGBTI community and tell us what their ICS placements were like in Southern Africa and Central America. Thank you on behalf of Progressio for the wonderful testimonies. 

Nathan Penman (Malawi)

Midlands AIDS Service Organisation (MASO) Sexual and Reproductive Health ICS project, Gueru, January 2016

The community in Gweru has the highest HIV prevalence rate in the Midlands Province at 23%.  There is a need to reach young people to increase awareness about prevention with the goal of creating an HIV free Generation.   There is also a major challenge in increasing community uptake of services such as STI treatment, ART and, HIV counselling and testing. 

As we are at the end of our placement we have decided to write a group blog about how the placement has been for everyone in Team Nyenyezi:

Faith