Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. I'm really excited to tell you that I have been selected to volunteer overseas with VSO on an international Citizen Service placement (ICS). 

ICS is an incredible organisation that works with communities that have specifically requested their help. Their aim is to inspire young people in the UK and overseas to become active citizens who are passionate about long term community development. 

So what will I be doing? In April I will be flying to Nepal where I will be volunteering as a team leader in a community called Dhading. Sadly, the combination of child marriage, poverty and poor understanding of the value of education means that the people of Dhading access poor quality education services. 

School management systems are often underfunded, poorly supported and inadequately trained. Girls are particularly affected by this low quality education with only 56% of women able to read and write in Dhading. This is down to girls missing school during their periods as a result of poor sexual and reproductive health knowledge. 

It is the aim of VSO to help improve the quality of and access to education for people living in Dhading, especially for children from low income and marginalized areas.

As a team leader I will be supporting UK and Nepalise volunteers on numerous projects to help tackle these problems. Focus areas will include… 

• Promoting girls rights to education 
• Improving access to sexual and reproductive health amongst adolescents
• Working with VSOs long term volunteers to improve the quality of teaching and learning for the most marginalised students in Dhading
• Holding awareness raising sessions on a variety of topics including SRH, disaster preparedness, employability, gender equality and Water, Sanitation and hygiene information. 

Now before jetting off to carry out this vital work, VSO have given me the challenge to raise £800 and nope, this money does not go towards paying for my placement. Instead ICS cover all costs, from vaccines to flights! This is because ICS believe in the positive impact of young people and wants to offer them an opportunity to change their lives and the lives of others! Instead, the money raised will go towards supporting ICS and all its partners to help run the programme effectively.

My goal is to raise £800 by March 20th and I would appreciate any donations!

I will be doing a number of fundraising activities including a litter pick in my community, a 30km walk,  I will be selling hand made macrame art as well as challenging myself to a 5km run a day for 1 month.

You can keep track of how I get on here on my JustGiving page or on my instagram @tamara_yasmin_bay. Any contribution from you will make a real difference to the lives of people in developing countries and will be very much appreciated. 

Thanks for your support!