By Adrian Alvarez Valenzuela, Poverty Activist team 2022 My arrival in Zambia was through the Endola International Airport. From the moment I landed, I was struck by the natural beauty of the country. The view of the mountains and the green plains on the horizon was impressive, and the warm breeze blowing made me feel truly comforted. After a long journey, I finally arrived in Mkushi, a small town in the center of Zambia. The people here are extremely welcoming and friendly, and they received me with open arms. I could quickly see that the Mkushi community takes pride in...

By Estefani Gareca, Poverty Activist Team February 2023 A People´s Exam is the last step in the end of each period of our studies. Specifically, for the 12 month Poverty Activist programme with 5 month study & training period, we have 6 different periods with different themes. All of them have very solid topics related to the history and development of the countries in different parts of the worls, offering us an overview of all the problems our world suffers. We have just concluded our first period called “The Forces that run the World”. During this period, we studied the...

Hello again and warm greetings from Zambia! We have been in Zambia for 2 months! I can't believe that these two months have passed so quickly. We still clearly remember the day we arrived. It's unbelievable... sometimes time goes by so fast that we think the time spent here won't be enough to accomplish everything we want in the project together with DAPP Zambia. About DAPP Zambia DAPP (Development Aid from People to People) is a non-governmental organisation founded in 1990. DAPP implements development projects in cooperation with the local population. The organisation currently has 40 different large-scale projects running...

By Onerio Neto, Development Instructor programme 2006 In 2006, I had the opportunity to participate in a volunteering program at the College for International Cooperation and Development (CICD) in Hull, England. This was my first trip outside of Brazil and I can say it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The program helped me grow as an individual and gave me a unique perspective on the world. I remember fondly the 10 months I spent at the CICD, where hard work was always necessary. Overcoming barriers was a daily challenge, and I had the opportunity to work...

Why did we decide to become Poverty Activists at CICD? Read our stories here - and send a message to us to schedule a video call if you want to hear more :-)    This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. " Hello, I would like to share my experience at CICD. My name is Ana, for some time I did research about volunteering. What I was looking for was to be part of a structure that would allow me to learn more and use that knowledge in practice. Then I found CICD. I was offered the opportunity to do the Gaia Programme. The Gaia programme...

By David Hegedus, Poverty Activist team August 2022 Hi, hi! Here is David! First of all, I want to let you know that we arrived safely in Zambia. Secondly, I could write a lot of things right now, but we are very busy every day because of our project and because of this I don't really have too much time. So, for now, I just want to tell you the most important things from the last two weeks. First impressions of Ndola, Zambia After our plane landed successfully and we left the Ndola airport with our large team of 8...

By Kitti Szabo, Poverty Activist team August 2022 Dear Reader! At CICD, we started our training programme on August 1 this year, and at the beginning of November, our development training team was expanded by 5 wonderful people who completed the training period earlier, so I am happy that we are now working together. The programme includes a lot of theoretical and practical training. Broadly touching on other types of schools, projects, agriculture, vital problems of the world, theories, cultures and the target country of our project: Zambia. We have behind us a fast-paced but at the same time enjoyable...

14th of January Adrian and his team will be departing from London with destination Zambia - the start of 6 months in a very different reality. By Adrian Alvarez Valenzuela, Poverty Activist team August 2022 Africa is a continent that we constantly hear about in the media. However, the communications that reach us are far from flattering and, in fact, often appear related to concepts such as misery, poverty or unsafety. But on the other hand, it is common to be curious about this continent, perhaps the most unknown. Yes, I always call attention to Africa. It is normal to...

Once upon a time in February 2020, two Development Instructors called Carla and Agustina went to Zambia for their project period. But their stay in Zambia became very short, only two weeks. Because of political and social problems, Humana People to People decided they needed to relocate to a project in Botswana. Their time in Botswana was also cut short, this time because of Covid19.... But as you can see below they experienced a lot and also made themselves useful!  Hope you enjoy their story full of life and experiences. By Carla Barrado and Agustina Bastías Solis, Poverty Activist team...

By Monzer Al Moussa, Poverty Activist team August 2022 Hello again, We, the 12 month Poverty Activist team, would like to tell you a little about the great activists that we met during our latest investigation. This investigation was about the reality of the poverty in the UK and the people that are working together to help those facing poverty to better their lives. Maybe it will be easier to present some numbers of the reality of the poverty in UK to help understand the dire need and the fantastic job those activists that we visited are doing: A few...

I am Viktória Borbély, a participant in the Gaia scholarship programme from August 2022. At first I didn't think I would apply because I thought it would be a huge change. But I finally made up my mind and went for it. But at the moment, even after being here for several months, I consider it a very good decision, with plenty of opportunities for development, it constantly gives new impulses and impressions. Being here makes you develop, with the aim that everyone wants to give something to the world, this results in the creation of a wonderful harmony, and...

By Mafalda Silva and Kitti Szabo, Poverty Activist August team 2022 Mafalda: An amazing experience.... I will do my best to be back at the OL 2023!!! I participated in the Olympic Games (OL) event in Tvind and for me it was a highlight to be part of it - especially to see the happiness of all of the 500 students and the motivation of CICD Team and all the OL Team, providing the best experience the students could have! And we succeded on it! :) All of the students were really happy and had a good time! Also, I...

By David Hegedus, Poverty Activist team August 2022 I think we are talking about an event and experience that forms a defining part of our Development Instructor programme in addition to the studies. Not only because I had an unforgettable experience with my team, but also because it presents challenges, gives me a lot of experience and I have acquired new skills - skills that I can use during my project period and the rest of my life. What are the Tvind Olympic Games? Different events are held in Danish small schools every year: Autumn Concert, Winter Concert, Summer Theater...

Hello, We are Monzer (Poverty Activist 12 month programme student) and Mel (teacher of the team). Today we bring you news from out latest investigation! In the course of the first almost 2 months of the Poverty Activist programme our team have been studying about the Forces that Run the World which included many different topics. Some of the topics were the 4 M-s (Media, Money, Military and Movements). At the end of this study period we made an investigation about these very important matters in the world and their connection. We wanted to know what people’s view on the...

By Anne Hoejholt, leader of ISET – One World’s distance learning programme. 2021 The world of today presents us with unprecedented challenges and situations. What would a competent education for the 21st century look like? As teachers living in outstandingly fast paced times, it is legitimate to ask ourselves: how can we imagine and design an appropriate education for the 21st century? In other words, what should schools look like, to prepare the students of today for the challenges of tomorrow? In this article, we would like to argue why the current educational system needs to be radically rethought, and...

My name is Pamela Degele and I have been part of the Gaia team of CICD since February 2022, with the goal to raise the scholarship for my 12-month Poverty Activist programme. During this time, I have integrated in two main activities. The first one is in the area of promotion, where I mainly develop my volunteer activity. In this office my task is to attract and advise people from different countries about the school. Between three and four colleagues we discuss the most effective way to spread and communicate the objectives and programmes of the college. The second one...

By Agustina Bastias, CICD Climate Activist at Richmond Vale Academy in St Vincent & the Grenadines Community work, a challenging journey of mutual development These last weeks we started to work with the communities… yes, finally. Even when we have had a really good time helping with the restoration of RVA during our first month and building more confidence and team spirit during that process, we were looking forward to go out to the communities and explore deeper the Vincentian culture. The two activities we just did with the communities were related with clean ups, but also with the beautification...

Hello from St Vincent & the Grenadines! My name is Mel and I am the Climate Activist team teacher at CICD. In November 2020 we started up a new team at CICD that had a period of almost 2 months of getting ready for a project period of 3 months in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, working with local farmers and communities to improve food security. 2 weeks before finishing the preparation period at CICD the volcano on the island started to wake up and we couldn’t manage to finalise our programme. We waited from the beginning of 2021 until...

My name is Luis, I'm from Portugal and I live in Sunderland UK. I work as Clothes Collection Driver in CICD in Durham, where I find the purpose of contributing to reducing the imbalance caused by climate change. As I use to say, every donation of a bag of clothes that I put into the van makes me feel that I contribute to a better society, cutting down less trees, contributing to cleaning, giving a second life to many of these clothes and the opportunity to those most disadvantaged people of obtaining certain low price items of second-hand clothing, which new...

Hello! I’m Pavel Redkin, 53, a retired teacher and self-employed ESL tutor from Russia. I was 39 and had been working at school for 22 years as a teacher including international AFS student exchange programmes. I was always hardworking and quite busy when one day I realized that daily routine had made me bored. I was looking for something really new and exciting in my life, I wanted just to travel, see the world and do something helpful for people around. That is why I joined CICD and enrolled for Development Instructor team in 2008. A completely new life Everything...