One of the tasks we have as Development Instructors is to share our experiences and knowledge with people of our continent.  This is why our programmes have a final period called “Bring it to the Public”. In this period our volunteers prepare presentations and workshops that try to bring their personal experience on the projects to our fellow European neighbours. As a team, they make a plan and a route of which countries and cities they want to visit, and together with the teachers they organise presentations for all kinds of people to try to inspire them and give new...

Every month our school comes together for a very special kind of weekend. Two days dedicated to our school, to our home. The building weekend is a moment for developing practical skills, for painting, repairing and enjoying time all together. Students and teachers join together to make a plan of what needs to be improved in our buildings, then we divide in groups and get down to work! We can’t deny that it’s an exhausting weekend since it demands a lot of physical effort, but we also get the opportunity to join together with a common goal, improve our school,...

We are in the very last weeks of this 3 months travel, now we are headed to Zambia, our last destination where we will conclude the travel and finalize the Investigation. In the last two weeks we were in Malawi, more specifically in Ntchisi, a very rural area. We were making our investigation in different households and also helping the DAPP project called “Let the children go to school”. This project focuses in the children attending school and does it in many different ways. One of the biggest problems in the primary schools is the drop up, there are many...

Rafael (also known as Manuelito) told me his story a very warm evening in Children's Town, while we were sitting on a mattress on the floor with 3 of the youngest boys asleep. I’ve heard this story before, when I met him 2 years ago, but this time, as he was telling it my feeling of admiration for this young person was so big I asked him if I could write down his story to share with whoever wants to read and he said yes right away. Rafael Bernardo Chambal is almost 17 years old, was born the 23-07-2000. Until...

We have been for 9 days in Botswana. We were in Phikwe, in a project called Child Aid. Here in Child Aid Phikwe they work with 10 areas: Economy strengthening Health Pre school Youth in Society Vulnerable Children Education Environment District Child Labour Crime Prevention Here in Selibe Phikwe, most of the people work in the mines but what happened last October changed everything! For different reasons the mine closed and more than six thousand people lost their jobs. What Phikwe is going through now is a very sad reality. People do not have food on their table. Families who...

We have been for 9 days in Botswana. We were in Phikwe, in a project called Child Aid. Here in Selibe Phikwe, most of the people work in the mines but what happened last October changed everything! For different reasons the mine closed and more than six thousand people lost their jobs. What Phikwe is going through now is a very sad reality. People do not have food on their table. Families who worked in the mine do not have any other job. From the TB screening door to door visits we could see that many of the families were...

"The Masque of Anarchy" is a British political poem written in 1819 by Percy Bysshe Shelley, following the Peterloo massacre of that year in Manchester. In his call for freedom, it is perhaps the first modern statement of the principle of nonviolent resistance. It was banned from printing for 30 years.     The Masque of Anarchy Here are some selected verses: "Ye who suffer woes untold, Or to feel, or to behold Your lost country bought and sold With a price of blood and gold. Let a vast assembly be, And with great solemnity Declare with measured words that...

Hi! I'm Andrea from the 2016 November team. We just got back from Mozambique after 6 wonderful months there. Now it's time to move on and start to organise our trip to Greece, and the presentations that we will make in different countries. Now that the winter is coming I don't know how we will face it! We did it last year, but now it seems unbelievable! Mozambique was the destination that my team mate Marta and I chose for our service period as Development Instructors. We worked on a huge project called “Food For Knowledge” (FFK), where we got...

EXPERIENCE IN MOROCCO from Milagros, August team 2017 We are all an important part of the world in which we live and the society, culture and country to which we belong. The hazards of destiny mark in some way the paths we take throughout our lives. Luckily or unfortunately, we should debate it, I was lucky to develop my life in one of the countries considered the first world; which does not mean that it ignores the needs and problems of the less developed countries that, to a greater or lesser extent, are the result of economic and political powers...

1. Who is Dan Mahulet? He is a simple 27 years old Romanian who graduated university of mechanical engeenering, and worked 4 years in retail plus on cruise ships and recently he took the decision to go to Africa to do development work. 2. Other young lads in your age are looking to build a career or to party everywhere. Why did you take the decision to go in Africa? Until one year ago I had a very nice job: I was working on cruise ships and in the same time I was travelling to some amazing places plus I...

Andrea and Marta, November team 2016 “Fighting with The Poor” Hi, we are Andrea and Marta. We are two DIs from CICD - England and we are in Mozambique since May 2017. We are working with ADPP Mozambique - FFK (“Food For Knowledge”), that is a big project that works with different activities in the province of Maputo. We had the opportunity to decide in which district we wanted to work and we choose Manhiça. Since the beginning the project gave us freedom to work in what we felt more confortable with, so we choose to work with “Clubes Escolares”....

Together we can do this We want to have a future that is open for us all where it is not the 1 % who has the power Never mind skin or religion, age or nationality We've more in common than divides us anyway! Chorus: Together we can do this and together we must fight Only together do we have a chance to really put things right The farmer in Malawi, her crops ruined by the drought The homeless in the food bank queue in Hull They're casualties of capitalism, struggling to survive and they've more in common than divides...

The future needs us now The future is around the corner It actually starts today It starts by you deciding That you want to have a say Stop listening to the news that fill you with hate and fear That make you feel powerless and despair Seek out the news about the hundreds of thousands of do’ers Because, you see, they are out there Stop listening to moaners and complainers Who will not do but talk and row We have not got time for it For the future needs us, and it needs us now Don’t let anyone tell you...

Climate Activists with Homeless Support in Delhi and Green Action project in Behror, India!     Our journey started on March 29st, at 7:30, we left CICD for our next chapter of programme in India. After a long day travelling in public transports, finally we arrived at Heathrow Airport in London at for the flight to Delhi at 21:00. Next day, we arrived in Delhi at 11:00. The impact was very strong because we left UK with 7 or 8º C but here was around 39º C! Our bodies started to react immediately, breathing became more difficult and our senses...

{headtag:customtag} {/headtag}  Report from 24-months Team FWTP - 03.04.2017     We arrived to DAPP Ndola, Zambia, at the end of February 2017.   Travel period will prepare you for a lot of things, but what awaited us wasn't one of them! :-) Right after the arrival day, we dived head-first to the social life. Our arrival was so carefully placed by the Mighty Random that we met all our teams from CICD in just 2 days. That wasn't enough though! – Two days after, a team from far away, from a partner school in USA, has arrived; and our colleagues...

“Let the children go to school “ – CICD travel-team investigating and helping in Malawi!   We are in the very last weeks of this 3 months travel, now we are headed to Zambia, our last destination where we will conclude the travel and finalize the Investigation.In the last two weeks we were in Malawi, more specifically in Ntchisi, a very rural area. We were making our investigation in different households and also helping the DAPP project called “Let the children go to school”. This project focuses in the children attending school and does it in many different ways. One...

Ana and Ryma  About our experience in the projects, the only thing that we can tell you is that it was the experience of our life! When you decide that you want to do something like becoming a Development Instructor you need to be sure that you are prepared to change a lot of things in your life. Since we arrived here we improved a lot our English, we live surrounded by different cultures, different languages, different food, different way of living.  It is amazing the things that we learned when we lived in a community and that we then...

Few weeks ago, during our travel period, I faced difficulties which potentially could mean a disaster, but because of a huge support from my school, my colleagues and African people, everything resulted into just a bit spicy trip. I'd love to share this story with you.     Everything begun with a stupid stupid idea in Namibia. We have traveled from Johannesburg, South Africa, by bus to Windhoek, Namibia. By my birth outside the EU, I happen to have two nationalities, Czech and Russian, and I decided to use my Czech passport in South Africa, then switch to Russian passport...

During the last 20 days we have been in Children’s Town in Costa do Sol, Mozambique. Many things have happened during this time. We had Christmas celebration, New Year’s celebration and a Peace Boat visit. I will tell you more about our time here and about Children’s Town itself… Children's Town has almost 40 children from 8 to 18 years old who live there. Most of them are orphans. In Children’s Town there is a school for the Children’s Town kids and also for the children from the community around. The school is from 1st to 7th grade. The 24th...

Today we spoke with one of our good friends, Boyd Basuti, who is an entrepreneur, drama director and leader of a youth artistic group in Phikwe, Botswana. He and another friend from Phikwe were telling us about the safety situation in Botswana. Botswana is one of the safest countries in southern Africa. The firearms are mainly allowed only for the military; even the police uses guns very rarely. And even though there is no armed police, the crime rates are really low. Boyd explains that it's because of the culture of the people – when they hear shots, the first...