Some final gap year thoughts...

Here at the Lattitude office we love to hear feedback from our volunteers, especially when they are having an awesome gap year. Today we recieved a wonderful letter from Kat,who is nearly finished her placement in Hamilton, New Zealand. We wanted to share some of the things she said with you all...

Dear Sharyn, Katie, Michelle and Laura,
I Just wanted to drop you all a quick note as my placement is
coming to an end...
As I’m writing this it is less than 3 weeks until I return to the UK, so I am crazy-busy organising mode… I did want to take a last opportunity to thanks you all for this year though, it’s been the most incredible experience and I’ve had the most amazing time ever!

Working at Waikato Diocesan School has been
so brilliant; I can’t thank you enough for getting me this placement. From day on everybody went out of their way to make me feel a proper member of the school
community. They’ve given me so many opportunities and allowed me to get involved with so much, especially in the drama department (between directing, lighting
and even acting in the performances, I don’t think I could have done much more!) and now that I am heading home and looking for a job in theatre I’ve acquired so many valuable skills which will benefit me hugely in the future.

I’ve also met some amazing people at Dio, and between the school staff, the boarding staff and the girls themselves, there’s always someone to talk to or
laugh with, and I really do feel like I have made some friends for life.

Throughout the year there have always been people around to support me through the bad times and to enjoy the good ones with me. Even a smile and a wave form a year nine pupil can brighten up a dull day. It’s going to be incredibly hard for me to leave Dio, and I know I’m going to miss it so much, but I wouldn’t change a thing about this year and I can’t imagine enjoying any placement more.

I’ve also had some incredible experiences outside of working, and my travels around New Zealand and further afield have provided me with memories that I will cherish forever. Driving the whole of the South Island with 14 other volunteers was so much fun (even if it did cost us 2 cars) and our weekend trips away have been amazing. I never imagine that I could be able to see or do so much in a year and that there would be so many places to visit!

I’ve also been to Tonga and Australia since I’ve been over here. Two very different experiences but both
amazing, and a brilliant opportunity to see a bit more of this part of the world. Life in Tonga is so different to anything I have ever experienced before, and I did so much in my 2 weeks in Australia, I’m going home a fully fledged traveler!

I decided when I came to New Zealand that I was going to adopt the attitude of “try everything once” but I had no idea of the things I’d end up doing – I’m heading home having been skydiving, bungee jumping,abseiling, black and white water rafting, sandboarding, mountain climbing, scuba diving, and walking around the outside of the Sky tower in Auckland! I’d always thought of
myself as a bit of a daredevil but this year has seen me doing things I never imagined I would do, and it’s been incredible; a few white-knuckle moments but its been awesome having the chance to do so much and I’ve loved every minute of it!

It certainly hasn’t all been smooth sailing, and plenty of things have gone wrong this year; loosing 2 cars on our south island trip was a bit of a setback, 12 weeks on crutches put a bit of a dampener on my adventures, and of course there have been days when I’ve just wanted to pack my bags and go home. But I’m so happy I stuck it out; for every bad day there have been so many happy memories and amazing experiences, and I know I will remember this year forever.

So as I prepare to leave the land of the long white cloud, I wanted to thank all of you for making this year possible. You’ve all been amazing and without your organisation, support and friendship I think this year would have been very different. It’s been fantastic to meet you all and to get to know you this year, I’ll miss you a lot. Thanks again for an incredible year, all the
best for the future, and keep in touch!

Love and
Hugs
Kat

Latest Newsletter

Our latest newsletter is avaible to view here in pdf format.

If would like to submit anything for the next newsletter please email our intern Laura.

Recepción a México!

(Or. Welcome to Mexico!)

Mexico is the most populated Spanish speaking country in the world, home to over 100 million people and is an ever popular tourist destination, but what goes on behind the scenes?

In February 2010 we are excited to be able to send our first group of Lattitude New Zealand volunteers over to mexico for 6 month gap year placements. Internationally, Lattitude Global Volunteering has been sending young people to participate in community and education projects in Mexico for many years, however, 2010 will be a first for the New Zealand office.

We are excited to be able to offer an ever-increasing list of destiantions to young New Zealanders wanting to get more out of their gap years, and we hope to be able to continue to expand our overseas programmes.

Click here to watch Lattitude on TV3

Back in August Sharyn got the chance to appear on 'Sunrise' a national morning television show to talk about volunteering with Lattitude.

The last few weeks have been busy for us in the office. Offers for UK and other placements are coming in thick and fast and we are currently in the process of putting together and sending out briefing packs.

Now is also the time of year we start getting a lot of enquiries about Visa's. We have tried to put as much information into the briefing packs as possible, but you are always welcome to ring the office if you have questions.

A Busy Week...

Over the weekend Sharyn headed to Christchurch to meet four more incoming volunteers who are going to be spending their placements here working at YMCA Outdoor education camps, the first time we have had these kinds of placements in New Zealand! Tom and Hannes are off to Camp Kaitoke near Wellington, whilst Lasse and Christian are heading to Camp Wainui in Akaroa.
Here are the boys just after their arrival:

As well as lots of information, the boys got a chance to see some of the sights of the city, and meet up with Ann-Kathrin who is at a school in Christchurch and arrived with the other volunteers at the end of August. There were tram rides, visits to the beach, and a gondola ride, they also went punting on the river.

Yesterday was another busy day, and a great chance to catch up with some of the volunteers in the Manawatu region. The Lattitude staff, including our new CEO Paul, eight current volunteers and one prospective volunteer went over to Hato Paora College to take part in a forum about volunteering and gap years.

We were given a tremendous welcome by the boys, including a tradtional Maori welcome, a phowiri, as well as a whole school Haka which was breathtaking! After our welcome the visitors and four of the Hato Paora students, including our scholarship candidate Karetai, who are going overseas next year talked to Paul about why they chose Lattitude and what they hope to gain from their gap year.

In true Kiwi fashion we then all went back to Sharyn's house for a barbeque.

All in all it's been a pretty hectic week! We're back in the office now and working hard to get placement offers out to those people who are waiting on them.

Kia Ora Tatou! (Hello Everyone!)

Well it has been a busy few days here at Lattitude HQ. Over the weekend we welcomed 49 new volunteers into New Zealand, and in the coming weeks we will have several more new arrivals.
Depsite the jet lag, everyone managed to keep to a hectic and enjoyable schedule. On Friday we were lucky enough to attend a Powhiri, a traditional Maori welcome ceremony for visitors, which was held at Wesley College outside of Auckland. Our volunteers had their singing voices with them as they made a valiant attempt at a Waiata (song) as part of the ceremony. After lunch we all go to know each other better with some games and exercises. Here are the volunteers getting together in groups according to their locations around the country:




Most of our volunteers also made a visit to the Sky Tower that afternoon, send us your pictures guys!

On Saturday we had a full day of orientation and it was a good chance to find out more about New Zealand, life as a Lattitude Volunteer, and what to expect. Special thanks go to Kat and Sara for the insights into volunteer life, and to Ra and Jen for their spirited and entertaining introduction to Maori culture (the video may shortly follow for those of you who are interested!). We'd also like to thank Coleen and Barbara for all their help and support. After a meal out on Saturday night it was time for everyone to head their seperate ways on Sunday morning. We hope all the volunteers are now settling in well, and we look forward to recieving your news and photos.

New Arrivals

In less than 48 hours we will be welcoming 50 new Lattitude Volunteers arriving into New Zealand.
We have a jam-packed weekend lined up for them, including some sight-seeing around Auckland before they all head off to their placements to start their Gap year adventures!

Things are hotting up in relation to our outgoing NZ Lattitiude volunteers for 2010. The offers from overseas are starting to filter in and we are sending out placement letters to our volunteers here. If you are reading this and you haven't yet got a letter please don't worry, we're doing all we can to make sure that as soon as we know something, you will too!

If you're still not sure what you want to do next year we do have placements available for 2010, give us a call on 06 350 5920 and we'l see what we can do.

In other news, I'm thrilled that England won the Ashes, and will try not rub it in too much when speaking to the Aussie Lattitude office. ;o)

North Island Presentation Schedule

Hi everyone,
For the next three weeks I will be hitting the road and testing my navigation skills as I cruise round some of the schools of the north island.
Last week I ventured into Auckland and got the chance to speak to some keen prospective volunteers from schools such as Rangitoto College, Auckland Girls Grammar and The Kristin school.
I also made it further up north, visiting Whangerai and the Bay of Islands,

I have made it back past the bombay hills now and the presentation schedule for the next few days looks like this:
Tuesday 4th August: Tauranga Girls
Wednesday 5th: Bethlehem College, and Te Puke High School
Thursday 6th Otumoetai College, Tauranga
Friday 7th Cambridge High school

So far the Lattitude-mobile is running well, and only needs
encouragement on particularly steep and bendy roads...
Here it is posing in front of Mount
Ruapehu on the first leg of the journey....


I'm really excited to be out and about and spreading the Lattitude Gap Year message, and judging by all the people I had coming up to ask me questions after today's presentation, you guys are interested to get involved which is excellent news.

Signing off from Tauranga,

Laura

Hi,

July is always a busy month at Lattitude as we have people coming and going from all over the world. Katie has gone home to the UK for three weeks to visit family so we wish her all the best for her trip.

Laura has embarked on a four week tour of the North Island to do presentations to schools. Watch this space for a list of schools she will be speaking at if you are interested in finding out more about Lattitude.

We have volunteers leaving New Zealand after placements that varied from 6 to 12 months so wish them all the best for their future endeavours.

We have had the first two New Zealand volunteers leave for placements in Vanuatu so good luck to Meg and Lizzie!.

We have had volunteers complete placements in Poland and South Africa so well done to you all and all the best for your travels before you return to New Zealand. This is the first year New Zealanders have been placed n South Africa so we are really pleased to hear all has gone well.

I would like to share with you the feedback from Alvaro Hudson from Palmerston North, New Zealand who has just completed a six month placement at Kosi Bay in South Africa.

"What is the most Responsible thing you have done?

In terms of the most responsible thing I would have to say it’s just what I have to do every day, which is teach classes. I have 3 classes I teach, plus computers for grade 4-9, tutoring and sport 3 times a week. Planning and teaching these classes takes a lot of time and effort, especially since its pretty much up to me to decide what I teach and how I teach it. I have to keep up with marking, tests, exercises and so on. The size of the classes (grade 4 -64, grade 7-42, grade 9- 42) makes it an even larger responsibility. It may sound like a bit of a burden but once you get into it becomes a routine (a slightly hectic routine). So I can't really give one occasion when I've demonstrated responsibility. The responsibility comes with the Placement I have.

What is the most Exciting thing you have done?

The most exciting thing I've experienced would have to be the numerous taxi rides and our unpredictable Easter holidays. The taxis here are just vans which everyone crams into. They only leave when they are full so you can jump in one and not move for a couple of hours. You have people carrying all their shopping, large bags (once a livechicken) and whatever they have to take since for many it’s the only way to get around. They can be very unpredictable. A couple of times, taxis I’ve been in have broken down or the tires have gone flat. You sometimes have to randomly switch taxis without knowing why. One time a taxi I was in stopped in the middle of the road when the taxi driver saw another taxi coming along. The other taxi stopped in the middle, the two chatted for a while, then everyone started getting out. Now this was confusing for a number of reasons. Firstly, I had no idea what they were saying because they were speaking in Zulu. Also, the people in the taxi didn’t speak good English. The driver just simply
said something in Zulu and everyone in the taxi started getting out and moving to the other taxi. All I could do was just follow everyone else and hope for the best. It worked out alright though. It usually does. You will encounter people now and again that will warn you not to take taxis, but they're fine. Just ignore those people… ;o)

Our Easter holiday was virtually unplanned. We just pointed out a few places we would like to go and we left. We booked our first backpackers in Swaziland and from there we made up the rest. One place in Mozambique we went to, we didn’t book for or call. We just turned up. We had seen the placed advertised in a couple of backpackers so we thought it would be alright. However, after walking two kilometers with our backpacks, we found that the posters we had seen were 10 years old, and there were only luxury chalets available for 1500 rand per night. It took us about 5 more hours to find a cheap enough place, which was just an empty tent and for two nights, the 3 of us slept on the ground with all our clothes on to keep warm. So try and at least call ahead if you can.

The unpredictability and freedom of choosing where you would like to go, and for how long, without any real sort of planning was exciting. It’s also good fun carrying your massive backpacks into crammed taxi vans. Try and get the window seat.

What is different about life as a volunteer where you are?

There are plenty of differences between S.A and NZ. Many of them depend on where you end up in the country. The first thing I really noticed is how people don’t really take notice of the time as much. If an event says it going start at 8am for example, it won’t start until 10 probably.

Music was another difference. I'm in a small town and everywhere you go, music is pumping. Out the cars, out of stores, off cell phones… And it’s always usually house music or R n B. They love that stuff over here.

Another thing is the friendliness of the people. Again, this depends on where you may end up. People tend to say hello to each other when walking past and there are often people who will start conversations with you from out of nowhere. I've also been invited into houses without knowing people before. A couple of weeks ago I was walking into town along the back roads and a lady was outside a house. She called out to me asking if I was hungry. Of course I said “sure”. So she invited me into the house and inside were about 20 or more people who were having a Saturday lunch. Now I had never met these people before but they fed me a massive lunch and I ended up having a good chat with a few people. It’s things like this that you don't really see back in New Zealand.

Most likely the largest and most obvious difference where I am, would be the area and surroundings. There is a shopping centre along the main road but as soon as you turn off either side the roads turn to sand and there are houses small buildings scattered along the tracks. Vegetation is quite thick so houses are often hidden. It’s the stark contrast between the shops in town and the reality of peoples living situations that is a big difference.

Another thing I would like to mention is soccer. They love it over here. Rugby is mostly followed by Afrikaans while soccer is largely followed by the blacks. The 2010 world cup is being made to be a big deal for the country, which it is.

There is also a lot of corruption within the government. The President here managed to avoid a court case before he was elected that had documents apparently showing corruption from him. But of course, the trial never happened.

Also when Afrikaans people say they're going do something 'just now', they don’t mean just now. They mean in like an hour or half a days time. I think it’s when they say 'now now' when they actually mean they are going to do something now. I don't really know. It doesn’t make sense
to me.

I am really glad that I came to South Africa. It’s an experience that you will never get from going somewhere like England or America. Although the country does have many faults and problems, it is a place you will not regret visiting and living in.

All the way from Kosi Bay

Alvaro

To find more news from our volunteers you can download our newsletters from our website www.lattitude.org.nz


Take care for those of you who are travelling!!

Sharyn

Meet the team!

Now that you know what Lattitude is all about I thought I should introduce you to the rest of our team. We are a small team of four based in Palmerston North, New Zealand.

Katie Stalham is our project coordinator. She deals with all pre-departure preparation, helps incoming volunteers in New Zealand, looks after your money. Katie likes the colour pink and is learning how to crochet.

Michelle Vooght is our Administration Assistant. If you call or email the office you will most likely speak to her, she also handles applications from prospective New Zealand volunteers. Michelle has a tendency to tidy the office in secret when everyone else is away.

Laura Pope is our Intern. She does lots of techy website stuff, heads off on jaunts across the country to talk to school leavers and puts together our monthly newsletter. Laura is fond of the occasional peppermint slice and has a serious caffeine addiction.

We hope to be updating our blog frequently with exciting news from the world of Gap Years and international volunteering. For more detailed information please visit our website.

Welcome to Lattitude New Zealand !!

Hi!

My name is Sharyn Hight. I am the Country Programme Manager for Lattitude Global Volunteering. We offer gap year and international placement opportunities for New Zealanders aged 17 - 25 to volunteer overseas. We also host volunteers coming to New Zealand and currently have around 80 volunteers from the UK, Germany, and Canada nearing the end of their placement here.

I am really excited that we have entered the 21st century use of technology and hope you will follow both our organsiton adn the exciting newx of our volutneers as they embark on their adventures.

We hope to use this blog site to keep you up to date with placement vacancies, important dates and events as well as other exciting news.

We are also launching another blogsite gapyearnews http://gapyearnews.blogspot.com/ where you can catch up with the latest and views from our volunteers.

Taking a gap year or volunteering overseas is one of the best things you can do and we are very proud of being able to provide these opportunites to young people.

We look forward to hearing from you all!

Sharyn