Significant Change Story (Raheel Ahmed)

Hi, I am Raheel. I am from Lahore, city of Pakistan. After getting master’s degree in Psychology I have taken some of my major life decisions and dropped everything and took a decision of reinventing myself and self-searching. So I applied for Global Exchange to gain life experience, to learn about different cultures and people and to better myself. My exchange was in Pakistan, Scotland and Kenya.

Before GX I did not have any professional experience, but working with PEEK organisation in Glasgow for the children, and with Visions Magnet Theatre organisation gave me work experience. Now I am very much aware of the overall structure of the organisations. Now I have a more practical approach towards life and UK people inspired me a lot in terms of practicality.

I am the youngest one in my family and did not take much responsibility before in my life. But now after this exchange I am ready to take every kind of responsibility. I had always been interested in contributing for community, but I did not have the proper direction and clear vision. Now I am much aware of my direction and have a lot of ideas to implement in the community.

Before GX I was much disorganised and had lost some of very good opportunities in my life because of it. But now I am quite organised and manage time well. Working at PEEK has taught me how to deal with children and youth. It also taught me about child psychology. Working at Visions Magnet Theatre in Malindi has overcome my lots of inhibitions like stage fear, media skills, publicly speaking, and has improved skills in delivery of workshops, communication and creativity.

I have never ever cooked in my life before and neither washed washroom, which I both learned in this wonderful exchange programme. Now I am more self-sufficient that before. This experience has boosted my confidence and I feel more open to others.

Living in two host homes has provided me very good understanding of lives of developed nations and also about pros and cons of individual and family lifestyles. I always avoided politics in my life, but living with Joyce and Andy provided me a source of information regarding politics. I have learned a lot about international politics and have decided to remain more aware of world politics as it is deeply rooted in our lives and with every person of this world.

I am now much better at informed decision making and taking initiatives.

This exchange has given me a new approach and direction in life and helped me discovering and achieving the progressive and permanent milestones along the path of my own unfolding higher, deeper and wider potentials.

I have also learned about group dynamics, how to participate in group decision making and how to maintain good relationships within the group. I have become more adaptable and I think I can adjust myself wherever I go in the world. I am more globally aware and feeling more connected with this world and more responsible for the world. My approach has developed from Ethnocentric to World centric. The interaction with different people, from different parts of the world, with different attitudes, belief systems and lifestyles has taught me a lot. My attitude towards people has become more accepting and unbiased which is a very good development as a student of psychology.

My role in life is getting clearer to me and also feeling freer, independent, lighter and more ambitious. And I hope my family would be surprised to see such changes in me. I have decided not only to bring gifts for my family and friends but I will also bring some of the learning’s and principles to Pakistan, to implement in my life. In the end I would like to say in order to see the beauty of life, you have to be a volunteer in some part of your life.

Deborah Harward (UK) Significant Change Story

I applied for Global Xchange at a time when I was unsure what I wanted out of life, especially my career. I felt I was lacking purpose or direction-my limited knowledge of global issues made me vaguely aware I’d like to do something to help others but I didn’t know where to start!

Thanks to all the wonderful people I’ve met on GX, I’ve learned so much from a personal and a global perspective! The biggest learning for me is to be able to differentiate between culture, tradition, religion, faith and spirituality an area I had very little knowledge of before. I’m developing an understanding of how these issues affect the social cohesion of communities and relate to wider issues of conflict around the world, and it has motivated me to want to work for inter-faith understanding and peace.

On a personal level being able to better understand what people mean by faith has helped me to explore my own beliefs and begin to feel more spiritual awareness. I’m also much more aware of how culture affects the interpretation of these things in society and so I’m able to see the influences that I’ve grown up with and realise I have a choice about the way I want to live.

I feel more centred and confident as a person now, and definitely have more determination and direction for my life. I am more aware of how I can make a positive contribution to my community in terms of my career but also as an individual. I’m motivated to be informed about the issues affecting my country and the world in order to be able to raise awareness and participate in how they are dealt with.

I now feel like there’s so much to learn and so many interesting things to be a part of, I’m really happy to have rediscovered the sense of enthusiasm and ambition which I had lost! I’m also eternally glad for the wonderful people I’ve spent time with over these four months, my new friends and family from countries I’m going to admit I couldn’t have located on a map before this started. I feel more connected to the world now and part of a wider family of people who mean so much to me and I’ll never forget. Thank you to all who have made this special, I wish you all the very best for the future and look forward to how our lives will continue to be connected!

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Now we've been back two weeks, and I'm really enjoying telling all my family and friends what we did on the programme. I'm finding out about lots of organisations working for interaction between people of different faiths, initiatives to help young people develop their skills of reasoning, self confidence and self awareness, and projects to promote global awareness... I'm so excited to find that there is so much going on, its easy to keep up the level of enthusiasm! I'm making contact with different people, and volunteering to get training and experience within these new areas of work - its all going well so far. Hope the rest of the team are having the same good luck : ) miss you all!

The Next Step...

Hey Everyone!

So this is me calling in from LEEDS BABY! I've been at uni for just under a week and I can safely say that it's awesome. My flatmates are James, Julian, Amy and Lisa, and they're all really good fun and lovely people. It's nice to be living with people my age - it was weird living with just my parents after 4 months of living with the team! I'm living in halls called Montague Burton which is really close to uni and the city centre...if I have a lecture at 10am I only have to leave at 9.50am! So I'm really happy with where I am. Leeds is an awesome city too, comparable to Glasgow (Yes, I went there...). I officially start uni, like lectures and stuff, as from Monday...wish me luck! Met a few people from on my course and they seem to be pretty cool.

I talk constantly about Kenya and GX and I think people are getting sick about it already! I have all my pictures as my screensaver on my computer and I have a little reminisce everytime I see them. It seems like a lifetime away though, it's crazy.

Missing everyone a lot. I'd like to echo Kiki in saying thankyou for being such amazing teammates and pleaseee endeavour to keep in touch - I know I've been a bit crap the last week or so cos I've been mega mega busy, but I'll try harder! Also haven't put my significant change story up cos Peppy only sent half of mine...don't worry, it'll be up ASAP when I have it! =]

Massive love

Sabina xxxxxxxxx

Thankyou /Assan ta sana Team 85 !

It is the support , love and understanding of my all friends that made my journey very special in its own way.I just want to say Super Thank you to Debz,Suz,Sabz,Zakee,Alex,Najeeba,Maria,Salma,Rabail,Sarmad and Raheel for being such a nice and loving friend through out the programme. Thank you for giving me shoulder when i needed in tough days and thank you for always there to listen to me and for celebrating my joys. I ll never forget these 5 and half months.I wish you all the best for your future. May you all have all the sparkles of your life.Love you all.Miss you.

Best wishes Kiki

Significant change story

Kiran Anwar- Significant Change Story

“Is this Osama Bin Laden’s home?” one of the children asked me when I was showing different styles of houses in Pakistan. I was mute for a while; I was not sure what to reply. Then I, with a smile on my face, replied politely that it’s not a house of Osama Bin Laden.
The realities are far more away from what media portrays. I couldn’t believe that a child from Glasgow could ever asked me this kind of question. When he asked me such a question there was one thing on my mind that I have to challenge his myth and I did it and I’m very happy about it.
Before joining the GX I always thought that “non-muslims” cannot be your good friends. But through GX I have made new friends who are very supportive, friendly and empathetic. I have grown very close to them. I share all my happy and sad moments with them. I am going to miss them a lot. But me and my friends from the UK have planned to visit each other’s homes in the future and will keep our friendship long lasting.
I thought people in Glasgow and Kenya will stigmatise us as being terrorists, I was tense about it before coming to Glasgow and Kenya. But to my astonishment the people turned out to be very helpful and friendly. I remember one day when a man on a bus started chatting with me. He was so glad to meet me and when he learnt that I am from Pakistan he sympathised with the current situation Pakistan is facing.
I took drawing classes at Nusra Technical Institute in Kenya. The drawings of children were amazing. One of the girls made textile designs but she was too shy to paint on the wall with me, she thought her drawing was not good. I couldn’t see any fault in it. I wanted to make her confident and motivated her to try drawing, I used to encourage her. She was reluctant to paint on the wall but now one can see a beautiful skirt painted on a wall of the clothing department by her. I am proud of her.
I have learned a lot from GX, more than I expected. I enjoyed the whole GX programme as being a volunteer. As the programme is coming to its end but for me it’s a beginning of a change within myself. I realised that my life was confined to myself and to my country alone. My thinking approach is broader now. I can elaborate it with an example like before GX I was unaware of global issues, if there was any issue I thought that “its an issue of X city in Pakistan” but now I compare with other countries as well. I consider myself to be globally aware. I want to learn more and more about different cultures, norms, traditions, issues, languages and histories of different countries. I am thankful to British Council and VSO for providing me this opportunity and I will continue to work voluntarily as I go back to Pakistan.

Enjoy Life Not Drugs!

One of our Community Action Days was to march against drug abuse - we walked through lots of villages to mobilise the community, with banners and puppets, singing and dancing all the way!

When we reached the venue there were performances throughout the day by the different volunteer groups - it was a great event, 1200 people were reached with the anti drug abuse messages, 33 people donated blood and 121 used the Voluntary Counselling and Testing services for HIV.

The photographic evidence of us singing an anti drugs song in Swahili... capturing on camera the reaction to our pronounciation!

Lets meet at MEDA

Najeeba and I worked for the two months at MEDA - Malindi Education Development Association - http://www.medakenya.org/ - who run lots of different programmes to promote, support and encourage education for children, youth and adults. The office always has different people coming in, meeting, working on different things; early childhood development, community outreaches, peer education, youth groups… never a dull moment! They were also the implementing partner for VSO in Malindi, so this was the teams main base and meeting point… the new Central Station! ; )

MEDA have a network youth volunteers who work for free to educate their community, raising awareness of issues affecting youth like HIV/AIDS and drug abuse, helping people access services, supporting and encouraging responsible decisions and behaviour. They have 300 peer educators, and over 100 who work as ‘Ambassadors of Change’ who have a talent like music, acting, or acrobatics and use that to mobilise the community at outreaches, where they then give information and educational performances.

One of our main roles at MEDA was going with Anisa to different girls schools and groups, and sharing experiences of how culture affects women in our countries, which provoked some interesting discussions comparing the equality in education and employment opportunities in UK, Pakistan and Kenya, and debating whether women can do anything a man can do, including be president!

We had so much fun with the girls, who were also keen to ask us questions about ‘girly’ subjects and dilemmas we can all relate to - appearance, self confidence, healthy diets and relationships! On request we also helped with some revision tips, although I don’t think they needed them - I was so impressed by how focussed and determined the girls are in their studies, and how confident and strong they are in their visions for their future! We also did peer counselling, taught life skills classes, and started work on a girls’ magazine, and I’d like to finish with a brilliant piece one of the girls wrote for the magazine;

Fail Forward Fast
We learn by making mistakes
So if we want to learn at a faster pace
The key is that you must learn from mistakes you make so you don’t repeat them.
Although we all make mistakes fear of failure doesn’t have to cripple you. Feel the fear and do it anyway. Have fearless life!

By Jamila Mwang