Want a deeper insight into what an ICS placement looks like? Read the amazing blogs written by our past and present volunteers. Enjoy the journey!
Every afternoon for the past two weeks, our formidable development team has broken off into teams of expertise to contribute to one of the most challenging, but most rewarding, aspects of development. Education.
Katengeza village in Lilongwe is one of the poorest villages in the Malili constituency chosen to benefit from Arise and Shine International (ASI) and Progressio ICS. The community are eager to work with Progressio and ASI and really appreciate our presence.
Since January when Progressio ICS volunteers first teamed up with ASI in Katengeza, maize, beans and moringa trees have been planted and all crops are being well taken care of.
The Basilwizi volunteer team departed at Binga Basilwizi office at around 09.30am for the two hour drive to Lubu.The event was attended by village heads and the cultural dance group of Lubu 10.
“Will you be able to learn some Spanish before you go? “ The answer came easily, “of course I’ve got 8 months”. And that was it, I was committed to volunteering in Spanish-speaking El Salvador with the inability to say anything other than ‘Gracias’. Gracias being the only word I knew because I thought it was ‘grassy ass’ as a child.
International Citizen Service volunteer, Mudabbir Khalid, looks back at his first few weeks working in the El Salvadorian communities of Los Schull and El Escalon
Coming from a working class heritage I’ve always had an earful from my father about not knowing the true meaning of hard work, not knowing what it’s like to have every strip of your muscle ache, working a whole day in the blazing heat to earn nothing more than peanuts, just enough to buy maybe one loaf of bread.
Wawa! Masukani! Hie Feel free! These were our welcoming words for our UK volunteers on 1st October 2013 at Messa’s Lodge in Lilongwe city. On Wednesday, 2nd October 2013, we started our orientation lessons on the culture of Malawi and the common language used in Malawi i.e. Chichewa. By the end of the orientation lessons, UK volunteers were able to understand Malawian culture and language. For example they were able to greet one another in Chichewa “Mwadzuka bwanji? which corresponds to Good morning! in English.
On 21st October 2013, we visited Kampanje village where we went to clean the house of Alima Malijani, one of the elderly who is benefiting from SWAM. We also went there to see if materials given to her were used, the materials given included window frames, door frame and black sheet of paper for roofing her house. It was found that the materials were indeed used.
Star Circle Issues
As in many developing countries, Honduras faces the debilitating problem of a high level of gender inequality. Whether formally or informally, the majority of women in society do not enjoy equal rights as men, in both the public and private spheres. This is a very real issue that’s holding back the progress of Honduran social and economic development.
Mudabbir Khalid reflects on his first experiences of El Salvador, as an International Citizen Service volunteer.
Throughout my preparation for travelling and volunteering in El Salvador, I did my hardest to keep my expectations to a minimum, just so reality wouldn’t be as big of a slap in the face. Yet, in the first two weeks of orientation, the reality of the situation in the vulnerable yet proud nation still managed to leave my jaw hanging and my eyes bulging.
Upon arrival in Lilongwe, we were greeted by in-country staff members who were very welcoming and able to answer our hundreds of enthusiastic questions. For many of us, this was our first time in Africa. During the short bus journey to our accommodation we all agreed that Lilongwe was not what we expected; for a capital city it is very sparse and spread out, yet sights from the bus window including colourful markets, goats and a lot of waving locals gave the area a comfortable, stress-free atmosphere.
