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/