Next summer I will be joining Camps International on a humanitarian trip to South America as part of a team of volunteers from Kennet and other schools in the UK.

I will be spending a month in Ecuador working on important projects to improve the standard of living for rural communities and participating in conservation initiatives to protect valuable wildlife and the environment in Ecuador’s Cloud Forest, The Andes and the Amazon.

The primary aim of this trip is to help provide a better standard of living for the people in this area. The rural areas have very poor roads, suffer from water shortages, have only basic schooling, limited medical facilities and severe lack of food. This leads to malnutrition, high unemployment and a very low standard of living. Sadly Ecuador has a 95% infant mortality and is prone to earthquakes. It is a country desperately in need of help. I will be working on projects such as:

-Planting crops in community gardens so the locals can grow their own produce
-Helping to build ovens in local houses to allow them to cook their food
-Building water tanks to provide much needed clean water
-Building play areas for the local schools (children can have up to a three hour walk to and from school daily)

Although this trip will an amazing experience for me, it will not be easy and I will be facing extreme conditions from the sweltering heat in Esmerables, the cold climate of Kurikucho and torrential rain in the Amazon. I will need many vaccinations and to be prepared for anything! But without volunteers like myself none of this would be possible.

In order to raise funds towards the cost of the trip I have decided to take part in the great Thatcham Santa’s fun run, it is a 5km run around Thatcham which many people take part in each year to raise money for a cause of their choosing.