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LILIAN SPENDS SUMMER VOLUNTEERING IN ZANZIBAR 

16 October 2024  |  Sven Wardle  |  Posted in: , ,

Lilian Hardil, Year 13 student at Richmond Sixth Form College, loves to travel. Not content with exploring the UK, or even Europe, she likes to get as far away as she can. And when she’s there, it’s not the typical holiday – she likes to volunteer in the local community. At the end of Year 11, aged 15, she travelled with a company called ‘Projects Abroad’ to the Peruvian rainforest and worked at an animal rehabilitation centre. Lilian worked with animals like monkeys, tapirs and otters, preparing them for release back into their natural habitat. 

At the end of Year 12, Lilian headed for Africa, to an island off the east coast of Tanzania – Zanzibar. We caught up with her to find out a bit about her experiences: 

RSFC: How did you end up going to Zanzibar?! 

L: I knew that I liked travelling and volunteering from my trip to Peru, so I wanted to do something similar. I did lots of research and ended up going with a company called African Impact. I also wanted to do it more independently this time – I got a second job so I could save up towards the cost of the trip. I worked in a cafe at weekends and a pub in the evenings after college. 

RSFC: You must have been busy! Do you still have both jobs now? 

L: No! I stopped working at the pub – I’m focusing on my A-Level studies now. 

RSFC: Very sensible! Talk us through how the trip worked – the travel etc. 

L: I travelled on my own. The flight was from Manchester to Dubai, then to Zanzibar. Someone met me in Zanzibar, then it was a taxi to where we were staying. It was actually a much easier journey than when I went to Peru. Then it was only the second time I’d flown and there were three transits to get there – and I was 15! 

RSFC: Not many 15-year-olds I know have travelled halfway across the world on their own! Ok, so what was it like in Zanzibar, and what did you do when you were there? 

L: The accommodation was pretty basic. Cold showers, sleeping under mosquito nets because of malaria – we had to take malaria tablets when we were out there. It was hot – over 30 degrees most of the time – and you couldn’t drink the tap water. 

We worked at a school, but it was really just four posts and a roof – very basic. For two days a week we worked teaching English at the nursery with kids who were four to five years old. That was quite tricky because even their native Swahili wasn’t that good – never mind their English! There were four or five volunteers teaching a class of about 30 kids.  

For four days a week we worked with adults. There were four English classes that the students had to take tests to move between – beginner, easy, medium and advanced. I worked with the advanced students one to one. That was the bit I enjoyed most – I worked with a student called Patrice who was doing a Master’s degree in psychology at the time. I had to try to teach him some really complex psychology words – he was brilliant though, so intelligent and quick to learn things. I also taught him a bit of geography – I do A-Level geography which really helped – he loved all the A-Level content I was able to tell him! We also taught some Masai tribespeople – they were amazing. They wore traditional Masai dress and some of them had brand-marks and a missing tooth – something that they get when they come of age. 

RSFC: Your work with Patrice sounds brilliant – and what an experience with the Masai people! What about when you weren’t working – what did you do? 

L: We could get out and about – we went to some local beaches, though we had to dress conservatively as it’s a Muslim country. We went to a place called Prison Island where there were giant tortoises. We went snorkelling on the reef there – the water was so clear – I’ve never seen anything like it!  

We also went swimming with turtles at a rescue sanctuary. That was ok until I got bitten by one – it was quite bad actually – I’ve got a scar now! I also trod on a sea urchin and got the spines in my foot. There were a few attempts to get them out involving papaya milk and a penknife, but no painkillers. That was memorable! 

RSFC: It certainly sounds like you had some amazing experiences. What about plans for the future? You obviously love travelling and working in challenging environments – does that figure in your plans? 

L: Yes, definitely. At the moment, I’m thinking about applying for university then deferring my place for a year to go travelling. I’ve found a course at Edge Hill that combines nursing and paramedicine – that’s my favourite at the moment, but it’s still early days – plenty more research to do. 

Thanks to Lilian for sharing her experiences with us. We wish her all the best with her future travels and in the shorter term, her A-Level studies! 

 

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