In February, I will be joining Projects Abroad to spend six weeks in Heredia, Costa Rica, teaching a variety of sports to children in a local primary school and a special education centre for children and young adults with disabilities. Physical education is particularly important to promote fitness, health and well-being. It is a valuable part of the curriculum, but budget restraints mean that many schools can’t afford to employ a qualified PE teacher. As a volunteer, I will be able to provide less privileged school children with the opportunity to learn new sports, develop their skills and grow a love of fitness.

My time abroad not only as a way to give back but also as a way to gain a better insight into the world around me. While I am volunteering I will be living with a local host family. I believe that the long-term relationships that I hope to make with my project colleagues and host-family will be of great value to me as well as them. At the end of my project I hope to return with a better understanding of the country I’m volunteering in and the people that I have interacted with there.

I’m choosing to volunteer through Projects Abroad which is a UK organisation based in West Sussex, founded in 1992. They began as a volunteer English-teaching programme in Eastern Europe and has since grown to offer a wide range of opportunities in volunteering, internships, and language courses in over 25 destinations around the world. I will be joining the 5,000 to 8,000 volunteers that Projects Abroad sends overseas each year to give back to the world.

Due to this experience being unpaid, I am required to cover costs for things such as flights, the Projects Abroad programme fee and immunisations. I will be contributing a significant portion of my own funds to this as I have been working since I finished school in July. This has involved coaching for both the Wokingham Borough Council (Active Kids holiday clubs) and Reading Football Club Community Trust, working at two youth club venues for Mencap, and waitressing. Even a small amount will get me one step closer to my goal. Thank you in advance for any support you can give.