GX Team Featured on Crisis Website - 01/10/2011

A member of my team has just bought to my attention an article on the Crisis webpage talking about our Global Xchange project in Newcastle. Check it out here. It may give you a better idea of what we'll be doing in the UK.

Chilton Cake Sale - 30/09/11

Yesterday and Monday I took ten minute talks in assemblies at my old school, Chilton Trinity Technology College. It was a great opportunity to raise awareness about VSO, Global Xchange and my fundraising. Hopefully some students will consider applying to the programme in a couple of years time. Also I told them about the cake sale we were holding today (Friday 30th September).

Having met with some year 11 students earlier in the week I headed to the school for the morning break. I took along some cupcakes I baked (with the help of my mother) and also received plenty of donated cakes from staff at the school. Before even putting most the cakes on display students were buying them - it's amazing how popular some colourful butter icing with shiny sprinkles are. In the first break we had already raised over £25.

At lunch another home baked cake was donated by a student and some of the others who volunteered to help headed off around the school selling cakes on trays (see pic). I found their technique very inspiring - don't ask if people want a cake, tell them they do! With the students help I could be left to do what I do best - stand around staring into space.

To get rid of the left other cakes one member of staff bought their group of students a cake each and extras.

Thanks to the generosity of the staff and students the total raised was a great £70.34 not to mention the donations some of my old teachers gave me. This pushed me over my target of £1000, and just in time.

I'd like to give a special thanks to Mrs Hollinghurst (head teacher) for being so supportive and also to those who donated cakes and/or helped me sell them. It was a great success and I barely had to do a thing so once again...

Thank you Chilton
Hopefully I will get the chance to share my experiences with the school on my arrival home.

Total raised: £1058.80

In other news, I have gotten my best Bejeweled blitz score yet - 817,650.

Thank You to Anon - 30/09/11

I awoke to a very generous donation today and felt it deserved a special thank you. Both the giver and the amount was anonymous so I will say no more than it was an extremely pleasant surprise. It has gotten me so close to my target and with a cake sale in my old school today, Chilton Trinity Technology College, I should be even closer!

This isn't to say all the other donations aren't equally as important - without them I wouldn't be anywhere so thanks to everyone who has donated so far.

Fake Coin - 26/09/11

I was paying in offline funds today in order to pay it into VSO. To do this I was pouring my change into those great machines that count it all up and deposit it for you. One pound coin kept being reject and a member of staff had a look and discovered it was forged and showed me how she knew.

I can only assume this was some personal, malicious attack against me from some member of the public during my collection. From this day on I am dedicating any spare time to tracing this coin back to the person whose palm it came out of and I will swap it for a real pound coin. Or two 50p's, or any combination making up a pound...mark my words!

Alternatively I might just forget it is in my wallet and back into the money flow it will go. In fact I am now looking in my wallet and I have a real coin (change from my lunch) that matches the fake and I can't quite identify between the two. Oops. See the images below, can you spot the fake? Comment with your conclusions.

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Living Below The Line Complete - 26/09/11

With great relief I can say I have now finished my week living below the line. I will now say some very meaningful things about the experience as a whole.

Of course it was difficult and I was often woken by my stomach rumbling. However the budget did not include things like travelling, water, electricity - all luxuries most of us are lucky to have in this country (even if petrol is ludicrously expensive at the moment). Those in developing countries may not have the same privileges and still have to live off of a tiny amount a day. Also it was made a lot easier having supermarkets offering value goods. Plus the vast range and variety we have available to us.

The biggest motivation was definitely today, the day I get to eat what I want when I want. Again, this wouldn't be the case for people in poor communities - their tiny budget doesn't have an expiry date and so can't indulge themselves in all the left overs on the last day. Their supplies have to last without a foreseeable end.

Some less serious points I discovered are it is horrible losing any item of your weeks supply of food to mould. Also Sainsburys basics oranges are hit and miss - some are lovely, others are vile! But you get what you pay for I suppose. Badminton hits the body a lot harder when all you have eaten that day is one poached egg on toast.

I have received a few donations whilst doing this but I hope it encourages people to give a little more now I have completed it.

All in all it was an interesting test of will power, resisting temptation and also a bit of an eye opener about how fortunate I really am.

Street Collection Bridgwater Highstreet - 24/09/11

10am, Bridgwater town centre and nice weather. One bucket with a VSO logo and custom made 'lid'. One sign, made up of a poster and writing, attached to a broom handle. Two GX t-shirts, one sister, one me.

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This was all that was needed (plus a very important street collection permit of course) to have a successful day of fundraising. I chose a nice narrow part of the high street so no one could escape my eye contact or ignore...

"Any spare change?"

I must have said this phrase well over 100 times in the 5 hours I spent collecting. It attracted many responses. The odd firm "No" or even just "Yes" followed by walking off were a few rare rude reactions, however most people were very polite and checked their pockets for all the change they had. Lots simply tapped their pockets which I took as concrete proof that they had no money. The one that confused me the most was a gentleman who just raised his arms, looked down at himself, then looked up at me and shrugged - as if to say "Am I wearing any change?" or "Do I look like I have ANY money?".

Several people stopped to have a chat about VSO and Global Xchange and quizzed me about what I am doing. I used this as a chance to spread the word and hand out a leaflet or two. Others fancied a chat about something completely unrelated - such as one chap wanting a second opinion on whether he was in the right being frustrated at a woman who let her daughter throw litter on the floor. Of course I agreed and he went on to say being 21 I was entitled to "chase women" and "get pissed". I liked this man.

All in all most people were very friendly and offered a few silvers and pound coins. A couple of passer-bys even gave me five pound notes. So thanks to everyone who dropped into my bucket.

Total Collected: £105.46
Fundraising Progress: £576.46

Living Below The Line Day 3 - 21/09/11

So I am now on the third day of the £1 a day budget for food and drink. This is what I have consumed so far -

Day 1

• 1 poached egg on a slice of toast
• 3 fish fingers, 3 salad potatoes, 1 carrot
• 1 slice of bread with jam
• 2 pints of orange squash

Day 2

• 1 packet of noodles with a slice of bread
• 1 orange
• 1 tin of beans with sausages on a slice of toast
• 1 slice of bread with jam
• 2 pints of orange squash

Day 3

• 1 poached egg on a slice of bread
• 1 orange
• 1 portion of pasta with pesto
• 2 slices of bread with jam
• 2 pints of orange squash

All of this has been low quality food, without salt/pepper, any sort of sauce or even butter. So all my meals have been very bland. So much so the smell of the dog food is making me salivate...like a dog.

Not even half way through the week, I am getting very hungry and every meal is ten minutes in heaven! The waiting between meals is hell, not to mention the temptation of the rest of my families groceries lying around. Watching my mother tuck into the leftovers of their lovely looking pasta bake was just adding salt to the wound.

Anyway, only 4 days to go. Having an expiry date on this is really something to look forwards to and motivate me. Imagining if this wasn't my choice; something I had to do to survive makes me appreciate a fraction of how difficult life must be for those less fortunate.

Please help the cause I am doing this for and donate some money. Use my virtual menu to give a few pounds.

Beginning to Living Below the Line - 18/09/11

In one hour and 12 minutes my Living Below The Line challenge begins. Having £1 a day budget I headed to Sainsburys with £7 for my weeks shopping. Sainsburys was not chosen for cheapness but through familiarity - being the nearest supermarket to me throughout my life as a student. I came home with the items seen below (hover over to enlarge).

It does not look too dissimilar to my normal student-esque shop. The main difference is this is ALL I have for the week - no freebies off of other people; no lunches in Greggs; no nights out. The only extra I have left over is a whole 2p that I think I will spend on a couple of penny sweets on the 3rd/4th day as a little midway treat.

As I now have only 1 hour and 4 minutes until the week begins I must go and binge on junk food and fizzy drink until midnight.

Please show your support and sponsor me.

Buy Me Something - 14/09/11

As part of my below the line week I will be holding back on how much I eat and drink. I have made a virtual menu where you can 'buy' me food and drink - just click the price on the menu. Buy is in inverted commas because I don't actually get the orders...it's a donation instead of buying, say, a farewell drink for example. Or maybe you could have one less drink on your next night out?

Living Below The Line - 12/09/11

As of Monday 19th September I will be living for a week on no more than £1 a day. Everything I eat and drink will have to come under this budget. See the rules here.

If you want to show your support please sponsor me and/or visit the facebook event page.

Thanks

Rabies Vaccine - 08/09/11

A while back Eden, on my team, said

"I cant get hold of the rabis vaccine :S the pharmacys cant get it, even the private travel clinic cant order it and is just telling me to stay away from animals and best of luck. Ermmmm no lol Surely somehwere has it."

Also others had to order it [rabies vaccine] in from abroad and look around. So it was a relief to find out mine arrived.

What I learnt today: Rabies Vaccine is shocking pink!! It looked like cherry sourz. My arm sincerely enjoyed having it injected.

First Training, 3 Days, 5 Currys - 07/09/11

Last weekend I attended the first training weekend for the trip. We stayed in YHA, a youth hostel overlooking Holland Park, London, and trained in the Indian YMCA. The latter being where the title of this post came from.

The VolunteersMost my team had trained prior to me as I couldn't make that weekend but I was glad to meet many interesting and brilliant people, including Laura - the only other there on my placement. Speaking to lots of enthusiastic like minded people, discussing our placements was one of the biggest parts of the training.

Day 1 & 2The first two days the group of around 30 were split into two. Namibia, Nepal, Bangladesh, the Philippines and Kenya were all covered by volunteers in my half of the group. There were many more countries in the other half. Our main dog (this is 'street' lingo for the trainer taking our sessions) was a top class break dancer with plenty of experience volunteering overseas. His name was MC Gav-meister. He took us through issues such as global development, culture shock and fundraising. On top of this we had lots of 'energizers' - games to get people going, sort of like drinking games but without the drinking.

Between the training there was plenty of time to eat curry and socialise with the other volunteers. After such long days with lots of information to take in it was nice to unwind with everyone - although our placements and VSO were never far from our minds and often the main area of conversation.

The final part of day 2 was the medical talk. It was a bit frightening but after hearing it all the effort going into immunisations really seems worth it.

Day 3The final day was purely for those on the Global Xchange programmes. It was a great chance to learn more about our placements. Christmas and New Years will be spent in Namibia and, the much more important national holiday, my Birthday, will be spent in Newcastle. A summary of what my team will be doing is below.

A Few Things
The girls can expect marriage proposals in their exchange country.
All tap water should be boiled before drinking.
Things might crawl under my skin.
Not only will we experience a culture shock abroad, but on return too.
Indian YMCAs serve curry and NOTHING else.
London pubs are expensive and have a tiny range of ciders.

My Placement
NambiaWe will be placed with The Mehozetu Network of Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children. The Mehozetu project is situated in Rundu - a part of the country where poverty is rife and the HIV and AIDS pandemic has significant implications for livelihoods in the area.

The placements where the GX are likely to be involved in are:

• School building constructions
• Feeding scheme and garden projects
• Teacher training and children engagement
• Income generation
• Parent and village involvement in the project
• HIV/AIDS vs livelihoods in the villages

NewcastleWe will be working with Crisis Skylight Newcastle. Crisis is the national charity for single homeless people. The team will be working around themes of education, employment, health and wellbeing, awareness, and campaigning.

Text Me - 06/09/11

If you would like to donate via text send the code PEGX99 followed by your donation (either £1, £2, £3, £4, £5 or £10) to 70070. Thanks.