Gillian came on her first DoubleMe.org team (and first ever visit to Africa!) this summer. Here are her reflections on her experience:
54 – that’s the average age/life span in Uganda; I am 54 and I travelled for the first time to Africa – to Kampala, Uganda in the summer of 2018 with DoubleMe.org. What a privilege! What an adventure! It was the best way to spend 2 weeks of a teacher’s summer holiday, exceeding all my expectations.
I would thoroughly recommend it. There is no need to let any worries and questions you may have such as, ‘will I manage, am I too old, will I have anything to offer’ deter you from volunteering. The experience was completely safe, professional and life changing. People say, ‘Africa gets under your skin’ and they are absolutely right, not to mention the red earth getting everywhere under your skin.
The people I met on the team and in the schools in Uganda were lovely, including heads and deputies I met who are nothing short of inspirational. They achieve so much in schools in Uganda with so little; they have so little materially compared to the UK, but they have so much more heart felt passion for making a difference to children’s lives.
I was honoured to play a small part, and toilet twinning is so much more real and important to me now!
