Hello again. It is Mel writing to share with you this year’s personal celebration – 10 years at CICD. 10 years ago I was enrolling as a student at CICD. I sent my enrolment papers, had video calls and was accepted into the Gaia programme and the Fighting with the Poor programme (that was an 18 month programme). 10 years ago my dream of becoming a volunteer was taking shape. I started making my plans, finished that university year and by October 2013 I made my way to Winestead Hall. My time as a Development Instructor I spoke no English,...

Aitana asked Noemi to tell a little about her life and her experiences from Mozambique. I’m Noemi, I come from Romania, from the part of Transylvania and I studied social work. I always had a special attraction to Africa, I knew that one day I will go and work there. When I was 3 years old I wanted to become a pediatrician so I could go and help the kids in Africa. To become a pediatrician you need biology and chemistry but I didn't have teachers who could give me the desire to learn and understand these disciplines, so I...

Hello! I am Margarita, the result of a love between Colombia and Spain, a person curious about the world, an admirer of the different and a believer in human kindness. I am writing to share my story and encourage you if at any time you decide to take a different step in life. I grew up in the country of magical realism, a place for which I feel immensely grateful for having given me love, study and work at times when it was not always easy. After working more than 10 years in the corporate world and with great achievements,...

An unexpected summer experience! By Sara Simson, Poverty Activist teacher at CICD My first experience as a Development Instructor (DI) teacher in CICD has been unusual; due to the pandemic my team and I, as all the rest of the world, were really affected by it. Our program had to change and we needed to readapt our life and activities to it. It wasn`t easy for any of us, but together we organised a new routine. Adapting to another daily life As everything else in the program, even the date of the travel to Africa had to change. The start...

By Sara Simson, Development Instructor in DRH Lindersvolds Fighting with The Poor programme This program and the wealth of experiences that now I carry with me have changed me. The programme was 24 months in total, and 8 of them I spent in Malawi. If I think about how it all started, I realize how different I am. I started with a small idea of what I should have faced and learned in this program. A romantic idea of volunteering, childish and probably selfish. The first year was a fundamental part of my personal growth for different reasons. A year...

Hi!!! My name is Jorge Barriga and I’m from Portugal. A little more than 2 years ago I took a really new step in my life. I’m an outgoing person who always liked to meet new people, cultures, travel, teamwork, learn, do and experience new things, help others and making people around me happy… So when I finished my degree in International Relations I was looking for a job but the job interviews I was having were for things that I actually wouldn’t like to be doing and I also felt I didn’t want to take the “normal” path and...

Think of a factory making car parts. Every day to make the same pieces, during the 52 weeks of the year, for years and years.The“normal” life, it's the same ... .. Every day we get up at the same time, doing the same things, 365 days, for years and years ... .. YOUR LIFE IS A FACTORY, imposed by the system that surrounds you. I was lucky that in 2012 I managed to wake up from this system and do something that really matters: TO LEAVE MY MARK IN SOMEONE'S LIFE. My name is Carla Sofia Domingues, Portuguese, 40 years...

This is a very weird feeling that we are having, returning to CICD. It’s like nothing changed since we left in May but, at the same time, it’s completely different. There are new people, new students, new teams, same spirit, same habits and same routine and same people also. Since the moment we came back we felt comfortable here, we know all the spaces and all the responsibilities and tasks that came with CICD life. We also feel that we are different, something as changed during our period in Namibia. We still don’t know exactly what but, in fact, there...

On the 9 th of October 2014, I stepped into the unknown as I arrived in CICD. I had my ideas of what the experience would bring, my doubts, hesitations and hopes. During my stay here, all those things I brought with me in my mind were turned upside down and sideways for good measure. Today is the 11 th of November 2016 so I have spent here just over 2 years, in the midst of the Yorkshire fields and strange but wonderful international people. When I first stepped foot into CICD I was honestly quite terrified. I had left...

  My story and I at CICD My name is David Christian, from Rochdale near Manchester. I was a DI at CICD – the 14 months DI programme in March 2011. My project was at One World University in Mozambique, where my main tasks were the library, promotion and teaching English. My first experience in a developing country; the challenges were motivating the students, communicating in Portuguese, plus coping with the lack of running water, electricity and the comfort of my old life. This is what I wanted, to change myself in this aspect; no longer remaining in my comfort...

2 years ago I was starting the journey that changed my life! 2 years ago I left my house, my hometown, my country, my family, my first Love, my very first tribe... 2 years ago I started to choose my own path, in my own way... During 7 months I met extraordinary people, inspiring, strong, crazy international volunteers. During that time I met community life and adapted myself to it. was not very easy, I have always been very stuborn, but my new tribe made me grab The Dream so so strongly that the next 6 months were with Africa...

To make the dreams become reality requires a decision, persistence and the place of opportunities. Carla and I found this place in England at CICD, where we have had the opportunity to change our lifestyle and go forward to the life we want to live. Our main targets were to know better the world we live in and to help those in need in the developing countries. After one year of studies and preparations in the school, where we have got knowledge about history, politics and a general understanding of the world around us, we could get a little piece...

I am Veronika (29) from Hungary and I was DI in Mozambique, Cabol Delgado, Biibiza in 2010-2011. First I had to raise fund to DI course therefore I participated in the GAIA course where mainly I was painting containers and could start as a DI in March (March team 2010). During I was a DI, I became the best fundraiser and I tried to teach the others. My secret was to smile and do not give up, just look deeply in the eyes of the people and they will stop. In October all of my team members succeed to raise...

Hi everyone My name is Ana and I come from Portugal. I’ve joined CICD in April 2011, starting with Gaia program and later joining Development Instructor 14 month’s program with placement in Mozambique. The moment I found CICD I knew I had to go for it. I had graduated in Tourism two months before and I was definitely looking for something rather different than getting a regular job. I knew there was something more out there than starting the “real adult life”. I’ve always thought of joining a mission one day, but that thought was never that close to happen....