Welcome

Hello, hello, hello to one and all....

Welcome to my diary page. After great thought as to how I would enable others to follow me in my work, progress, and adventures overseas, I stumbled across the opportunity to create a site that I could update and present information on, and that could be viewed by others. And this is the result....So I hope you will find it easy to follow, interesting and entertaining in parts!

VSO is a leading development charity with almost 1,500 skilled professionals currently working in over 34 countries around the world. VSO's unique approach to international development is founded on volunteers, working together and with local communities to fight poverty and achieve lasting change. It currently focusses on enabling countries to address issues in terms of 'HIV and AIDS'; 'Secure Livelihoods'; 'Participation and Governance'; 'Disability'; 'Education'; and 'Health and Wellbeing'.

So first of all, please read the 'about me' section that just gives an overview of what my trip to Sri Lanka is all about. Part of my role is to also advise and network with the Sri Lanka OT school, local government, other NGO's, trustees such as OXFAM and SAVE THE CHILDREN, and community groups, to develop simple information sharing and working systems around challenging disability issues.

The big picture below is of all my fellow expatriats from the 'Youth for Development' program....(im towards the middle right hand side of the picture)....there are 56 of us from all around the UK, and from often very different backgrounds and regions. We are all aged between 18 and 25 years old, and do not necessarily have a profession, however all have been students at some point, and have a shared interest in development work in general. Some people have studied development work at some time, others like me have been working recently and have more practical skills. I hope to be able to include a link on my site to other relevant websites related to VSO and my placement, as well as to other people's YFD websites, to allow you to look at projects being done in other areas of the world.

I aim to post a new diary page weekly....although of course this may vary depending on how much free time I find myself with! It may also be that when something happens that I think may interest you, I will write about it specifically....for example about the many religious or cultural festivals that Sri Lanka celebrate as they happen, about particular places or people I visit, or any interesting facts I discover. I also plan to take a camera with me, and to post pictures on here for you all to see....of course this will depend on my ability to actually work out how to transfer pictures onto the site!!!

I do hope you enjoy following me on my adventures, and of course contact me by email to let me know how you are, what you are up to, and any news Im missing out on!!! My email address is: angelfish148@hotmail.com

Love Sarah