Monday 27 May 2013

Thank you all!

"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." - Winston Churchill

So I thought I'd better say a few (or rather, a LOT of) thank you's at this point.

There are countless people who have donated money so it would be impossible to name you all here!
  • So, first and foremost: my Mum and Dad. You have supported me in good days and bad, helped me research and write to trusts and generally just give me a kick up the backside when I didn't have the motivation to organise who was making what sandwiches for the ceilidh or who to talk to about a cake sale or to email the guy about the abseil (which, by the way, I am now not doing due to complications and the fact that I'm now finished my fundraising - but don't think of it as a cop out, I would have loved to do it! Watch this space in a few years time...I promise). It was hard work, and it paid off, but I wouldn't have been able to do it without you. 
  • Secondly, my extended family...including Lorna my sister, who has given me advice and support (even if not so much economic support - she is a student, after all) along with being a helping hand at the ceilidh and sorting out raffle tickets - it's much appreciated! My Grannie and my Nana and Grandpa, who all gave generous donations for the ceilidh, and have always been there to support me and spread the word about what I'm doing, which has, inadvertently, then raised more money for me!
  • Everyone who helped at my bagpack and managed to raise £650 single-handedly. Thanks for taking those few hours out of your day (or even the whole day!) to help make it a success, which it most definitely was. You know who you are!
  • Every single charitable trust who gave me any money. That made up a total of £2,700, exactly half of what I needed to raise. (for future fellow Project Trust fundraisers, I list these trusts at the bottom - I know how useful I found this whilst searching for suitable ones...even though you're told not to...)
  • Anyone who came to any of my events, bought tablet, came to my ceilidh, etc. It all adds up!
  • Kirkliston Primary School for letting me have a stall at your Christmas Fayre for free.  
  • The Mary Erskine School, who pointed out various trusts I should apply to, all of whom I then proceeded to receive money from.
  • The Community Arts Fund who allowed me to use the Tom Fleming Centre for my ceilidh rent-free, which added a lot to the end profit. 
  • Chris Duffy who did huge amounts in terms of the organisation of the ceilidh, which was my main fundraising event and which caused me endless grief and stress but which in the end paid off when we counted up the incredible £1,300 it raised!
  • Those of you who donated more than I could ever expect from anyone. That includes Sue Beedie, Elizabeth Ferguson, and my cousins Richard, Lorraine, Nikki and Alex Beedie in New Zealand to name but a few.
  • And lastly, anyone who donated even a single penny. I received donations from so many people, some of whom I have never even met and don't recognise the name of. It has touched my heart that people are so generous and selfless towards someone they hardly know. 
So that's it. I hope I've not missed anyone so I'm sorry if I have - your help has not gone unnoticed! I really could not have done it without all of your help and I appreciate you digging in your pockets even with the economic mess Britain is in.

Charitable Trusts

The Allan and Nesta Ferguson Charitable Trust
The MES FP Guild Gap Year Fund
Independent Schools Travel Association Scholarship
The Alchemy Foundation
The Hinton Trust
The Zoe Carss Education Trust
The Tory Family Foundation
The Bryan Lancaster Trust
The Nichol Young Foundation
The Walker Family Charitable Trust
Dr Dorothy Millar Charitable Trust
Kenneth Ryden Travel Scholarship

Heather <3

Monday 6 May 2013

Placement letter!

“Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.” - Gustave Flaubert

So I got the exciting email last week telling me where exactly in Peru I will be! I will be spending 12 months in a Northwesterly city called Trujillo. I was so excited there are no words, I got the email at school, about 5 minutes before I had to leave for my music lesson and it was killing me that I couldn't just spend that half hour researching my placement and the city and whatnot. Then afterwards when I went to class my teacher was all like "Heather, you're looking very perky today" - I have to admit I was a little bit hyper/crazy/doing everything with much more enthusiasm than normal and I'm pretty sure I was close to hyperventilating. Maybe that's too big a reaction to be counted as 'normal' but hey ho, this is where I'll be living for a whole 12 months, so it's pretty important to me. Anyway to inform y'all about where I'll be eating and sleeping from this August 2013, here goes:
 




First of all, I don't think I have even explained where Peru is in the world. That might help....














Trujillo is a beautiful coastal town, sandwiched right between the Pacific coast to the West and the Andes to the East (this is just ideal for me...as you can probably tell from the title of my blog I'd love to go to the Andes and this will provide the perfect opportunity - yay!)








Trujillo is reasonably large, meaning there is a lot going on yet still preserving that sense of belonging to a community. Pan pipes or traditional Andean music are often heard and the varied geography is some of the most astonishing in the world, with the country being split into three parts: the dry desert in the West; the Andean mountain strip down the centre of the country (along the Western coast of all of South America); and the Amazon Rainforest, covering most of the East and into Brazil. 




The lost city of Chan Chan is close by to Trujillo, a UNESCO World Heritage Site with pre-Incan ruins which covers 20km² and was built in 850 AD.









I will be working with around 60 orphans and abandoned children, generally helping with the day to day running of the orphanage, along with organising activities such as arts, crafts and music. I will also encourage the children to study (although I hear this tends to be rather difficult!) which may involve teaching some English.

The home is split up into 8 "family units" comprising of one tia (house mother) and 8 kids in each. Myself and my partner (whom I will meet in July) will be living in a small apartment within the orphanage with a lounge, kitchen, bathroom and 2 bedrooms. There is, however, no fridge, so I will have to survive without my daily doses of milk!

Okay that was maybe my longest ever post (or at least it felt like it - maybe it's just because it was the most exciting post) so I'll leave you with this picture of some really cute Peruvian kids.




Heather <3