Gap year interview - Julian & Camilla volunteer in Kenya, Africa

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Community development & working with locals with Real Gap for Grown Ups

In total, how long were you away from home?
16 days

What was your motivation to take a gap break?
To experience a part of African life and help the local community in some small way. We also wanted to interact with children and see some of the local wildlife and environment.

How did you feel before you joined the programme?
Very excited and a little apprehensive about how we would deal with the climate, environment and daily living conditions.

How did Gap Year For Grown Ups compare with your expectations?
Our experiences greatly exceeded our expectations. The climate was hot, but comfortable, the environment beautiful, the people were so warm and friendly and after a short while we quickly adapted to Kenyan camp life.

What was the accommodation like?
Lovely. The tent was much nicer than we expected and having a bush shower every evening was an eagerly anticipated event. Also having a flushing toilet was a luxury. The beds were comfortable and the amenities provided were excellent.

What did you think of the programme / did your project and destination meet your expectations?
Most certainly. The work was varied and of course depended upon the weather that day and also what needed to be done. It is important to arrive with an open mind and realise that all manner of different jobs help in some form or another. As for the destination, the location was beautiful. You really felt miles from anywhere and without our usual daily distractions back home you had time to think clearly, relax and enjoy chatting with fellow campers and the staff, who were all, without exception, really friendly.

What was the most memorable moment of your trip? Any anecdotes?
As there were so many wonderful moments it's hard to arrive at just one. Undoubtedly it is the Kenyan people who made the trip so memorable. You will never find a more welcoming and positive people anywhere in the world. We loved our day at church as the singing was wonderful. The animals were fantastic and seeing elephants in the camp eating 10 metres away was special. Our cultural day at Maurice's was such fun as was our ocean day where we rode on camels. Being taught Swahili was great although I often got the words 'good' and 'goat' mixed up and when a child asked me how I was I told them I was a goat. However, it made them laugh, which was good.

We think our highlight was serving porridge to the kindergarten children and then playing with them afterwards. To see them laugh and shout when all you do is play simple games with them is very rewarding. It is also rather humble to think that their one mug of porridge may be the most substantial meal they have that day.

What do you feel you accomplished during your programme?
We hope that we have helped the school and local community a little by participating in their lives. We know that we have probably received much more back by sharing time with them and realise that sometimes a little effort goes a long way. You feel that what you do is just a drop in the ocean, but in reality the ripples spread out further than you imagine.

How have you benefited from your experience? How have you changed?
We have never seen real poverty before and it humbles you to see how people cope in such challenging circumstances. It has done us good to experience a powerful reality check on life and to realise how lucky we are.

More profoundly it has taught us that people are more important than material possessions and that strong values, morals and positive attitudes can be found amongst people who have few if any possessions including food and shelter, but who will always share with you what little they have. It is a heart-rending and heart-warming situation at the same time and we hope we now have a greater appreciation of our lives.

What advice could you offer to someone considering this programme?
If you want to experience real African life on the ground, meet and live with local people, see wildlife close-up, live in an authentic jungle location, work hard for a community in need and most of all light up the eyes of children who will benefit from the simplest actions and things you can offer, this is the programme from you. Without doubt you will get back far more than you are able to put in because the whole experience is amazing.

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