Freya's volunteering in Senegal with Project Trust

My name is Freya, I am a sixth form student living in London. I have just applied to study geography at university. I am thrilled to share that I've been selected by Project Trust to work in Senegal for 12 months on a local workers salary in local accommodation.

I have chosen Senegal due to Project Trust's interesting teaching and community development projects - both aim to provide opportunities to young people that they may not otherwise have. The community development projects provide extra-curricular support and education to youth to enrich their lives - the teaching program ensures that they have strong english and maths comprehension. I hope to apply my knowledge of both physical and human geography to my teaching style, and hope to develop and use my problem solving skills in aiding these children.

Due to the breadth of the field of geography, I believe I will be able to make a lasting impact on the community, and gain a new perspective from which to approach my studies from.

Whilst living in Senegal, I hope to dramatically improve my spoken french in order to properly communicate with my students and those I am living with - this will provide me not only with a valuable language, but also with an ability to communicate with people whom I may not fully share a language with.

The returned volunteers from Project Trust all describe how they brought and used their own skills and passions within the communities in setting up after school clubs and activities - I hope to use my love for sports in both my fundraising journey and during the year. Therefore, to achieve my goal, I have set myself a personal challenge: to train for and run a half marathon. I will be running the Putney and Fulham half marathon, a course that I see constantly when rowing along the Thames. This is a very exciting opportunity, and I hope that it can help me to raise the money that I need.

To make this journey possible, I need to fundraise £7,500 to cover costs of travel, accommodation, food, training, and the support of Project Trust.

I am keen to update everyone interested on my journey and share the knowledge and perspective I gain throughout the process.