Volunteering with Raleigh
Olivia Hayward is studying medicine at Southampton University. She took part in a volunteer gap year project with Raleigh in India.
Choosing my gap year
I chose to have a Gap Year as I didn't want to go from A-levels to a full five years of studying Medicine without a break also I wanted to go bungy jumping (main reason) and do other crazy things and just visit the world. I chose Raleigh as a guy came to my school and I saw the pictures and heard the stories and thought 'I could do this'. I love travelling and doing adventurous things and it really appealed to me. Also, I knew it was a reliable company as it had been around for so long and loads of people I knew had been on it, and it seemed to be genuine unlike so many of the other gap year programmes you hear about.
My gap year experiences
I arrived in Mysore, India with 32 other venturers and about 20 staff members known as volunteer managers. My first project, the community phase, was to build ten composting toilets, one for each family, in the remote village of Hosekerasunda. It was a wonderful introduction into Indian culture and we had a fantastic time. We lived in their school, ate the food they cooked for us and swam in the reservoir every day. We also learned some Kannada, the local language.
My next project was the adventure phase. We had a ten day trek through beautiful Kerala, two days’ mountain biking and three days’ kayaking in the peaceful back waters.
The last project was the environmental phase, which was brilliant. We stayed in Nagarhole National Park repairing elephant trenches, which were hard work, but so satisfying.
It wasn’t all work while we were there we had trips out visiting waterfalls, sampling local foods and playing volleyball with the rangers. We also had amongst other things ‘bungalow Olympics’, salsa lessons and yoga. One of the highlights was the safari in the forest, where we got to see some wildlife close-up, including wild elephants.
After ten weeks I left with a wealth of new knowledge, memories that will always make me smile, and a whole host of new best friends who I will have for the rest of my life.
I'd say that the most valuable thing I've learned is to just go for it.
My advice
I'd say that the most valuable thing I've learned is to just go for it. I try to live life without any regrets, and the things I don't do I regret the most. So try to do as much as possible, keep an open, adventurous mind, be brave and do the things you've always wanted to do but have never had the chance before.
In order to have a great time, you must identify the things you want to do even if that is just having a desire to go to a certain part of the world. My gap year was the best, most fun year of my life, and I think everyone should take one as to miss out is an unknown tragedy for the people who just go straight to uni or work.
Further information
Suggestions to editorial@prospects.ac.uk
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