MTV at Fairthorne Wood, Southampton, UK

Monica Burns is from the USA and is an MTV (Medium Term Volunteer) on Concordia's UK programme. She is volunteering at the YMCA's Fairthorne Wood project in Southampton and is co-ordinating 4 projects during the summer. Here is her account of the first project at Fairthrone wood:

CONCUK02 Fairthorne Wood project

This is my first time ever volunteering abroad, and to be coordinating not one, but four projects over the next 5 months seems quite a daunting task. But, for my first project at the YMCA Fairthorne Manor, I am so happy to have had the opportunity to work alongside some great volunteers. The group of seven ladies and one gent were very hard workers and crossed the cultural barriers to get to know each other a little better. They came from Germany, Mexico, Switzerland, Korea, and Russia. Many questions were asked, many foods shared, many new games learned, and many, many laughs were laughed.

Our environmental project involved clearing a bit of overgrown land to create a woodland garden for the children to romp through. Take a look at our before and after pics.

We completed this garden a bit faster than anticipated, so we were given another task. We built wigwam for the nursery children to have class in when the weather was a bit damp. Check out the pics from the volunteers!

I've got three more projects this summer at the YMCA. I can't wait for the next group of volunteers to come!

~Monica : )

Click here for pictures of the Fairthrone Wood project