Wow this blog has made it and after getting it's first comment some months back, I have my first follower, thank you Marc! :)
I've been trying to think of things to take with me or not, apparently I have a luggage limit of 42KG in hold luggage to look forward to, gives em a lot of space to fill!
Not thinking of taking too many clothes, but lets say 15- 20kg of clothes, shoes etc. 1-2kg of toiletries and stuff.
Any electronics stuff will be on my carry on, so what else can I bring in my hold luggage?
Some thoughts would be a various computer cabling, cable testers, ethernet crimper, some tools (hammer, hacksaw screwdriver set etc), twine, cable ties, RJ45 connectors.
A mad thought would be a toilet seat... as pit latrines to look forward to!
Any thoughts from my fans? :) /cough
Sunday, 24 April 2011
Things are moving along
Well I did hear from my VPA (Volunteer placement advisor) the other week, they formally offered me the placement, and I filled in a placement acceptance form and I've been assigned by own VSA (Volunteer support advisor). They are hoping to hear back in the next few weeks again...
In the meantime I've been talking to two of the IT volunteers in country by email (Phil and Marcus), the IT volunteer who did my placement ending last year (Carol), a volunteer who came back from Kerewan a month or so back (Paul), and the only current VSO in Kerewan (Vicky of the linked blog), who have all given me loads of useful information, thanks all if you get round to reading my blog!
In the meantime I've been talking to two of the IT volunteers in country by email (Phil and Marcus), the IT volunteer who did my placement ending last year (Carol), a volunteer who came back from Kerewan a month or so back (Paul), and the only current VSO in Kerewan (Vicky of the linked blog), who have all given me loads of useful information, thanks all if you get round to reading my blog!
Tuesday, 12 April 2011
The long wait
So Harborne over with, what next, not a lot, waiting around for news, waiting some more, then waiting a little more again.
I didn't hear anything from VSO throughout March, so started chasing them and after some effort got through to my VPA last week. VSO haven't forgotten me, my CV is with the placement office in The Gambia, and they are just waiting to hear back. They think they will hear this week.
In the meantime they have sent me the placement offer, and asked me to check all the info on it, talk to serving volunteers etc. and see whether I can put up with it all.
Just a quick bit of info on Kerewan from a cool website -
http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=kerewan%2C+gambia
and not so useful from wikipedia -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerewan
and to give you an idea on the weather there -
http://www.weather-forecast.com/locations/Kerewan/forecasts/latest
The job is basically a regional IT support / trainer position, helping office staff with their IT skills, supporting data entry staff, and generally being useful.
I didn't hear anything from VSO throughout March, so started chasing them and after some effort got through to my VPA last week. VSO haven't forgotten me, my CV is with the placement office in The Gambia, and they are just waiting to hear back. They think they will hear this week.
In the meantime they have sent me the placement offer, and asked me to check all the info on it, talk to serving volunteers etc. and see whether I can put up with it all.
Just a quick bit of info on Kerewan from a cool website -
http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=kerewan%2C+gambia
and not so useful from wikipedia -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerewan
and to give you an idea on the weather there -
http://www.weather-forecast.com/locations/Kerewan/forecasts/latest
The job is basically a regional IT support / trainer position, helping office staff with their IT skills, supporting data entry staff, and generally being useful.
Harborne Hall
I got to a very sunny Birmingham New St Station, followed the directions to the bus stop and eventually a bus turned up to take me to Harborne Hall. I asked the driver to tell me when to get off, but I'm not sure he understood. Luckily some other people got on the bus who looked VSO like (easily spotable if you know what to look for!), and they asked one of the other passengers to be told when they were in the right place. This was good as the driver didn't say a word...
So we got safely to the the Hall, which is in nice surroundings, woods, and lawns etc. I got a fairly basic room, in a corridor which was reminiscent of a hospital. Pretty soon more people turned up, and we started the activities, there was a variety of light hearted learning sessions, and some fairly heavy sessions with lots of thinking.
We broke up early, went for dinner, which was disappointingly normal, I was expecting something exotic, but it was not be some African finger food, or such...
We all went to the bar that night, and had a good chat, then a fairly early night(most people left before closing time) ready for another long day of activities. This was followed by a visit to the local pub, and for me at least an early night (10pm ish).
Another session in the morning ended with an overview of fundraising activities, and then it was a shared taxi back to the station.
A very good weekend, lots of fun, met lots of nice people, learnt lots, and I felt lots better for going!
So we got safely to the the Hall, which is in nice surroundings, woods, and lawns etc. I got a fairly basic room, in a corridor which was reminiscent of a hospital. Pretty soon more people turned up, and we started the activities, there was a variety of light hearted learning sessions, and some fairly heavy sessions with lots of thinking.
We broke up early, went for dinner, which was disappointingly normal, I was expecting something exotic, but it was not be some African finger food, or such...
We all went to the bar that night, and had a good chat, then a fairly early night(most people left before closing time) ready for another long day of activities. This was followed by a visit to the local pub, and for me at least an early night (10pm ish).
Another session in the morning ended with an overview of fundraising activities, and then it was a shared taxi back to the station.
A very good weekend, lots of fun, met lots of nice people, learnt lots, and I felt lots better for going!
Overdue for an update
It's been a while since the last update...
I was all excited ready to go to Harborne Hall, and I had a depressing call from VSO.
Apparently they have changed their requirements and IT volunteers without IT degrees are no longer needed!
Given this change had happened after I went through assessment it was a bit unfair I felt.
After a long call it became clear my chances of getting a placement were slim to none, there was just one placement that they could consider me for, and it was a YfD (Youth for Development) placement. YfD is for under 25s, but on this placement they wanted a under 25 yr old with 3 yrs + professional experience and an IT degree!
Oddly enough with this they couldn't fill the placement, so I have a chance, maybe a small one, but its a chance of this placement.
So with this update I went to Harborne Hall, I'm glad I did it was a great weekend, lots of things to think about, learnt a little about new things, and learnt some more about things I knew a little about already.
I was all excited ready to go to Harborne Hall, and I had a depressing call from VSO.
Apparently they have changed their requirements and IT volunteers without IT degrees are no longer needed!
Given this change had happened after I went through assessment it was a bit unfair I felt.
After a long call it became clear my chances of getting a placement were slim to none, there was just one placement that they could consider me for, and it was a YfD (Youth for Development) placement. YfD is for under 25s, but on this placement they wanted a under 25 yr old with 3 yrs + professional experience and an IT degree!
Oddly enough with this they couldn't fill the placement, so I have a chance, maybe a small one, but its a chance of this placement.
So with this update I went to Harborne Hall, I'm glad I did it was a great weekend, lots of things to think about, learnt a little about new things, and learnt some more about things I knew a little about already.
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