“The Buchter Girls” as we are known
this year or “The Buchter Volunteers” as we are all known in general are sent
annually by an educational charity called Project Trust and have been coming to
Luderitz since 1987 Project Trust is a Scottish based charity and sends school
leavers all over the world to work on community based projects, usually in
schools, community centres or hospitals.
To get a place with Project Trust
volunteers undergo a selection process followed by a year of fundraising and a
week of training all on a small Hebridean island off the coast of Scotland.
So
how did this years Buchter Girls get a place with Project Trust and how did we
wind up in Luderitz?
At the knobbly kneed age of
just-turned-16, one chilly English morning, I travelled from rainy Wiltshire in
Southern England for 17 hours on the train to Oban in Scotland. Closely
followed by a 3 hour ferry journey to the equally rainy Isle of Coll- a small
Hebridean island just off the coast of Oban. A windy island with more sheep
than people. 4 days passed of interviews, essays, presentation and outdoor
activities such as digging potato lazy beds ( I felt particularly well prepared
for a year in Luderitz following the latter task…!) The course was concluded
with a Ceilidh – a traditional Scottish dance. Then of course followed the 3
hour ferry ride and 17 hour train journey home for a nail biting three day
wait. A wait to find out if my potato digging had been adept enough to cinch me
a place with Project Trust. It would seem my potatoes were well enough cultivated
and I was accepted with a place to work in China for 12 months starting in
August. Before going abroad each volunteer must fundraise a daunting £4950 for
the charity- the equivalent of about $51000 Namibian Dollars. And so followed a
year of writing hundreds of letters to Trust Funds, organising fundraising
events and taking part in mad sponsored activities all highly necessary to
reach the final sum.
It
was not until May last year that I found out in August I would not in fact be
going to China in August but sunny Africa instead – Luderitz to be precise.
Here in Luderitz volunteers have been running the Buchter News since 1987 today
we also work at Brightstart Montessori school and The Valombola crèche in Area
7. We also have the opportunity to
work on Secondary Projects, Jess has been working with the ECVC and recently
organised a beach clean up or the OVC’s and I have been teaching Grade
12 History once a week at the High School.
So
there we go that’s our tale, that’s where Buchter Girls come from. From Coll to
Luderitz, and all it took was a 17 hour train journey, a 3 hour Ferry ride, a
selection course a training course and $51,000NAM of fundraising! All for a year
in Luderitz – worth every penny.
