LIGH

I was searching for somewhere abroad where I could do some voluntary work or just normal paid work in order to experience life in another country and away from my family.

I decided on the volunteer programs in South Africa and they all happen to be based in Cape Town so when I complete my nursing course in Sept 2008 I will head off to Cape Town and spend max 3 months working in the area of HIV/ AIDS and health education/ promotion (hopefully). the programs are really expensive (£3k) but this is something i need to do before I die so I intend to spend the whole of this summer working hard and saving up my pennies for this trip. I know I need to do the sensible, boring thing and get a mortgage at some point in my life but I have been saving like crazy for a deposit and I am sure the money will be enough for both ventures.

I hope this will be full of adventure and meeting new people so I am looking forward to it and lets hope everything goes according to plan. a lot can happen in 15 months but lets hope I will not be distracted from this.

All i need to do now is select the right volunteer program for me because there are so many out there. I just want one which will allow me enough flexibility and the longest amount of time away from the UK just doing my own thing.

I was born in Zimbabwe and lived there until the age of 12 when I emigrated to the UK to join my mother who had already been living here. I was 6 months old when my mother got the opportunity to come and study in the UK. It was a golden opportunity and one that I now understand she could not let slip. she left me in the care of her older sister who already had several children of her own and other nieces and nephews to look after.

One of my earliest childhood memories was being corrected that my aunt was not in fact my mother and therefore I shouldn’t address her as ‘mama’ as all my other ‘brothers and sisters’ did. I was mystified by this news that I had a different mother whom I would one day be reunited with but was at that time living ‘overseas’ as they liked to call it. As you can imagine at that age I had no concept of geography and the world beyond my extended family and neighbourhood. I eventually accepted this and readjusted my perception of my place within the family. I had no choice in the matter anyway I may have been confused and slightly marginalised but I still felt loved by my older sisters and brothers and they continued to spoil me and call me their baby sister.

When I turned five I was sent away to a boarding school run by a Catholic Diocese in the region. I remember my family going shopping for me and packing loads and loads of clothes and food for me in a trunk. There was so much excitement all around the house because I was starting school. My older cousin brother and I woke up before dawn one day and hopped on an ‘emergency taxi’ (as they were called). We got to the City train station and I boarded the bus along with many other children of varying ages. My cousin waved me off as the bus drove off and I happily waved back.

My first day at school was non-eventful really as I was too young to unpack my suitcase it was all done for me. All i had to do was answer when my name was called out by the staff and follow their instructions. the rest of the time I spent playing. I made a friend on that first day, a little girl called Melanie who was to be in my class and was just as shy and as withdrawn as i was.

Things really started kicking off at night when for reasons unbeknown to me I found myself being tucked into a bed and told to go to sleep. I was in shock and very frightened. I had not understood that I was expected to stay the night at this school. I had been expecting my cousin brother to come and fetch me and take me home again as had happened at pre-school nursery. That night I cried and cried until I could cry no more. I remember seeing what i thought to be an angel who had heard my cries of distress and had come to comfort me. I now suspect it was one of the nuns who used to dress in all white habits. I remained at this school for the following months to come and did not see or hear from any of my family whilst I was there. Needless to say I eventually adjusted. I had no choice.