Life In A Fijian Community: An Honest Experience

Catherine Gryffenberg has been volunteering in Fiji this summer. Here's what she had to say about adapting to life in a Fijian community and some of the highs and lows of immersing into a different culture:

Catherine's home in Fiji

A Fijian community is the warmest environment I've ever been welcomed into. Upon arriving in my village and being sandwiched into the arms of my Fijian mum, dad and siblings, I could tell it wouldn't take long to for me to call this 'my home'.

Catherine with her Fijian family

The lifestyle couldn't be more different to what I was used to, but isn't that half the charm? The water tank became the social hub in the morning with all the village children bounding over to say "Bula!" (wishing happiness and good health) amidst teeth brushing and water bottle filling. Before long I was spending dinner with my cousins and nephews and introducing the other people in the team to my brothers and sisters!

Student Diary: Volunteering in Sri Lanka

Student Volunteers Leaving NTU For Sri Lanka!

Some of the student volunteers set off to Sri Lanka this week! Here's a diary entry written by a few of the girls on the trip...

Travelling

The group met at Heathrow Airport, ready for an adventure. Our first flight was six and a half hours to Dubai. For one member of our team, it was their first time leaving the UK... ever!

After a plethora of movies, entertainment and (surprisingly) good airplane food, we made it to Dubai International Airport. It's the busiest international hub in the world and that was still the case at 8am!

You Are Making a Difference

To round off a busy week of celebrating the great work of our International Volunteers, Nottingham Trent Volunteering wanted to say a big thank you to our International Volunteers.

A group photo of some of last year's International Volunteers.

International Volunteering at Nottingham Trent University has been ever-growing since the first group of students were funded to go to Romania in 2011. This year 34 students volunteered in Guatemala, Sri Lanka, Romania and Uganda for ethical, non-profit organisations.

Jessica's International Volunteering Story

Jessica volunteered at Little John's House which is an orphanage in Romania. This was her first time as an International Volunteer. Read on to find out what encouraged her to offer her time and how she found the experience...

A Group Photo of the Little John's House Volunteers.

What Inspired Me:

I applied to volunteer with Little John's House in Romania after receiving an email about the international volunteering opportunities. I thought that volunteering for a great cause would be a good way to utilise my time in the summer holidays. It would also increase my experience working with children which is something I want to do in the future.

Ishmael's Diary: Guatemala 2016

This summer, the volunteering group travelled to Guatemala to do lots of proactive work for the people out there. Ishmael Niheeba Gordon was one of the volunteers on this trip and has given us a sneak peek of his diary whilst he was travelling.

The volcano in Guatemala.

Friday 8th July 2016

On the 8^th July, I travelled to Guatemala with my volunteering group via Houston, USA. It was 9 hours to Houston from Heathrow and we nearly missed our transit flight because the queue was extremely long.