Natalie Frendo - Cumbo's Fundraising Page
Natalie Frendo - Cumbo is raising money for Voluntary Service Overseas
“Natalie Frendo - Cumbo's Fundraising Page”
on 18 January 2009
Story
Hi everyone: ) Welcome to my fundraising page!!!
As a lot of you will have heard I’ve been accepted onto a project called Global Xchange (GX), which is run jointly by VSO & the British Council. VSO is one of the world’s leading independent, international development charities that works through volunteers to fight poverty in developing countries. Global Xchange is one of VSO’s youth volunteering projects (http://www.vso.org.uk/globalxchange
The GX project is 6 months long and I'll be finding out where I'm heading off to next Friday so I'll let you all know as soon as I do! I will be working within a team of 18 young people, half from the UK and half from the exchange country. We will live in pairs, so I will be living with a member of the team from the opposite country (who won’t necessarily speak English), with host families in the areas where we are working. GX is a cultural exchange, aiming to develop mutual understanding and respect between people from different cultures and also a sense of global citizenship amongst both the participants and the communities that we will be living in.
I will be doing voluntary work in both communities, working to support existing community projects and as a team we will organise events for the community to get involved in. I like the fact that GX doesn't exclusively focus on overseas projects, half of what we do will help underpriveliged UK communities. Our project will be varied in the type of work we do but with a general focus on youth & children and poverty reduction. Previous groups have been involved in work such as childcare, refugee, HIV and AIDS projects as well as education in schools.
In taking part in Global Xchange I’ve committed to fundraising £600 to contribute to the costs of the project (which are over £7,000 per person). Please be assured that any money donated is going to a charity and not a company making a profit.
I will be organising and taking part in various fundraising activities and will keep you posted about these. Also, while I’m away I’m planning to set up a blog, which can keep you updated on what’s happening. I’ll post up photos and updates as often as I can while I’m away, availibility of technology permitting!
Donating through Justgiving is quick, easy and totally secure. It’s also the most efficient way to sponsor me: VSO gets your money faster and, if you’re a UK taxpayer, Justgiving makes sure 25% in Gift Aid, plus a 3% supplement, are added to your donation.
Anything you can spare would be greatly appreciated and no amount is too small!!
Thankyou very much!!!: )
NatsxXx
UPDATES:
- Right, so I have just come back from my GX training weekend in Birmingham at the VSO volunteer centre and had an absolutely amazing time! I got to meet most of the people who will be on my team from the UK, speak to returned volunteers, meet our project supervisors and more importantly find out which countries everyones heading off to! I found out I'll be going to.......drum role please.......Malawi, Southern Africa! The paragraph below briefly covers some of the different problems the country is facing and will give you an idea of some of the themes that the programme will cover while I'm working out there with various charities and communities.
| Malawi Malawi has an extremely high prevalence of HIV/AIDS, which affects an estimated 16.4 % of people aged 15 to 49 and accounts for some 70 % of hospital deaths. Some 400,000 children under the age of 15 have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS; many of them now cared for by relatives who are already under economic hardship. Out of 3.8 million children, almost half (1.4 million) are child laborers. In Malawi, child employment is high because of chronic poverty in the rural sector, combined with cultural beliefs that children have to be taught to work. It is estimated that over 60 % of the working children are working for household farms. Up to 65 % of its 13.6 million people live below the poverty line. Many are forced into prostitution or are otherwise exposed to HIV and AIDS. Consequently, Malawi has one of the highest school dropout rates in southern Africa, despite free primary education. The Ministry of Education indicates that 3 in every 20 girls and 12 % of boys drop out in primary school. The children abandon school for labour as they are forced to help with family chores, become pregnant, or are married off young. | |
| In secondary schools, where the fee is often prohibitive (around $27 USD per term - when the average annual income for a family in Malawi is roughly $160 USD), the drop-out rate, especially for girls, is even worse. Boys outnumber girls in the classroom at the sobering ratio of 7 to 3. | |