Final preparations and goodbyes

Tomorrow morning I shall begin my journey to Honduras. The last few days have been spent rushing around getting the last bits together. I still have a few more things to put into my case.

Today I found out that I will be living with a host family which I am very pleased about as it will give me a real insight to the lives of people in Honduras. It also turns out that I will be living with the family of a Honduran volunteer who is currently in the UK volunteering in a homeless organisation, so I'm sure we will have a lot to talk about when he returns to Honduras.

I am really looking forward to being in Honduras, learning the language and getting to know the culture, however I have been thinking about the things I will miss, there are far too many to mention! I'm sure I will blog about them when I'm really starting to miss them.

Today was a day spent with my family saying goodbye to everyone. It seems really strange that I won't be-able to see them or speak to them for a whole year, though my sister has forced me to create a skype account and she will probably start moaning if I don't use it!

With thanks to Hazels footprints trust I have nearly reached my fundraising target which means ICYE can fully support me and many other volunteers around the world.

I have a taxi booked for 7.30am to take me to the airport so I'm off now to enjoy my last night in the UK (and my own bed!) Oh and enjoy another piece of cake my sister made!

9 days to go!

9 days to go and Iv'e still got a lot of preparing to do!

Time has gone so fast since January and it still doesn't seem real. My project has been confirmed and I will be volunteering in the 'Los Angeles programme' in Valle de Angeles, about 30 minutes away from the capital, Tegucigalpa.

It's a centre for children and young people with disabilities. Their mission statement is: "We are a programme that satisfies the need of a comprehensive care and inclusion for people with disabilities in situations of abandonment, generating a family atmosphere with security, health, rehabilitation and education" Their vision is to become a model programme in comprehensive care and inclusion for people with disabilities, promoting rights based active inclusion in society according to their abilities. They put an emphasis on not just caring for the residents but ensuring they have a happy and fulfilled life, giving them the opportunities to learn life skills. They also develop a life plan for each individual, focusing on what they could achieve with the right support.
I'm really looking forward to starting my placement.

I will be living in the accommodation the project provides with the potential to stay with a family at the weekends. This will give me a great opportunity to get to know the staff at the project better.

With 9 days to go I still have to figure out what I'm going to pack, buy the essentials and make sure everything's tidy for my return. I still have some fundraising to do too so if anyone wants to support me and the work ICYE does there's still time. :) https://www.justgiving.com/Naomi-High1/

Fundraising!!!

In order to reach my target of 4,595 pounds I have to raise 585 pounds a month. Given that I earn less than that in a month I can't just save up.

In December I did a sponsored live below the line and raise 240 in sponsorship. I also held a table top sale and a cake sale.

As I don't drive I had to walk to the venue with my rucksack and two suitcases full off stuff to sell. Luckily I had someone there to help me carry the other bags but the 30 mins walk wasn't the easiest.
I raised 31 pounds that day.














At the cake sale the cakes nearly all sold and I raised 18 pounds. After several hours spent making and decorating the cakes I don't know how often I will do them as they require a lot of time and too much money. None the less the children all enjoyed the cakes!

Some one enjoyed them so much they bought the whole box below!

With January now here I will be looking into applying for grants, spending hours (as I usually do) figuring out what to write. Wish me luck!

The final day!

At the end of day 9 I was so tired that I had to go to bed at 8.30pm as I was falling asleep on the sofa. If anyone is thinking of doing live below the line I would recommended cutting down on strenuous activities as they really sap your energy levels.

Moving on to day 10, I couldn't stop thinking about what I could eat the next day. The thing about not being able or not having the food to eat is that I'm constantly thinking about food, which makes the cravings worse.

Over the 10 days I have regained my appreciation for food and in particular tasty food. As I usually snack throughout the day I never feel really hungry nor am I ever full. although I have been hungry most of the time on Live below the line I have also felt full when I've eaten a big bowl of rice giving me the satisfaction of a good meal. Another pro about LBTL is that I know what I'm going to be eating so I don't have to go through the process of deciding what to have.

With the challenge over it seems that my body has adjusted to not having sugary things. This morning I had a smoothie and it tasted far too sweet, even though I have drank it quite a lot in the past. Over the past 10  my body has lived without all the extras sugar we have in our  modern diets. Just shows you how well our bodies are at adapting.

Day 9

Breakfast 6am: Porridge with mashed banana.

Lunch

Snack 11.30am: apple
Lunch 12.30pm: Lettuce and Cucumber sandwich and crisps.
Snack 1.30pm: Banana

So that's what Iv'e eaten so far today. Today is the hardest day Iv'e had on live below the line. Maybe because I know I'll soon be able to eat properly again. I'm having HUGE cravings for sugary foods today and am very tired. If anyone's thinking of doing live below the line I would advise you to ask the people you live with to hide any food away from you. Seeing yoghurt's and mince pies every time you go into the kitchen does not help things!

Meat balls and Spaghetti for tea, which I'm getting excited about, though the last time I had tinned meatballs was when I was a kid and I had to force myself to eat them they were that disgusting.

3 Days to go!!

With 3 days to go I am really looking forward to eating properly again! I'm bored of eating the same tasteless food and it is starting to have an effect on my mood. Over the weekend my mood had dropped and my energy levels are quite low. It's amazing how your diet can effect your mood.

On Saturday I was out all day from 5.30am and didn't take any food with me. So when everyone stopped for lunch, a cup of soup provided free be a voluntary organisation I helped my self to a portion. As some people said this was cheating I have used the remaining 85p for the costs of the soup. In reality though, if someone was living off a pound a day I'm sure they wouldn't refuse a free meal.

I still have a can of meatballs left and plenty of bread. The good news is that the cucumber will last me until the end!

Day 5

I really enjoyed breakfast this morning. I added a banana to it and also a sachet of sugar I found in a draw. Don't know if that counts as cheating but it was really nice?!

Today is my hardest day so far. I'm feeling quite hungry and the temptation to eat something else is getting harder to resist. and it doesn't help that my brother has just bought some nice cakes! Also the cold is having an affect as It always makes me more hungry. Not surprisingly as your body needs more energy to keep warm.

I had two hot dogs and some bread for lunch with some lettuce. A good change to the usual. I even put some crisps in it too!

Rice and vegetables again tonight I think. I'm saving the meatballs till after I've finished the hot dogs. I'm craving meat at the moment but know that I will need them more later.

It's the thought that I can't eat anything for a while that makes me constantly think of food which makes me feel more hungry. Not good when you know you can't afford to buy anything.