Blog

Our blogs are written by our volunteers in each country to give you a flavour of what life is like on our programmes. Filter by Country, Programme and Subject/Theme to find out more.

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Building the climate change resilience of Tanzanian communities

With the recent UN climate report stating that global warming will hit lower-income communities the hardest, it is now more important than ever to act on climate change to keep millions more people out of poverty.

As part of a new Raleigh Tanzania sustainable development project, 14 alumni from the Raleigh societies of Tanzania, Nepal, and Nicaragua are working towards assessing needs in rural communities in these countries, related to their resilience to climate change. The project – called ‘Exchange for campaigns, empowerment and leadership’ (ExCEL) and funded by Norwegian government body NOREC – will see young people lead the way in addressing the most pressing global challenges. 

Here, they describe how they’ve planned for their community phase and reflect on their progress so far.

October 18, 2018
Global Handwashing Day: Promoting behavioural change

Every year on 15 October, community and national leaders use Global Handwashing Day to spread the word about handwashing and demonstrate the simplicity and value of clean hands. While building new hygiene facilities is an important step for improving hand hygiene in rural communities, promoting changes in behaviour are just as vital to create lasting changes.

October 15, 2018
The importance of handwashing

Most of us take the simple act of handwashing for granted, but 2.3 million people worldwide still do not have access to clean water, and they share taps and toilets with other households.

October 15, 2018
The new beginning for Gorkha team

Our international and national volunteers are thrilled to start their new journey for the project in their placement after attending three days induction session. Their induction sessions included leadership skills, health and hygiene, personal development, village presentations and team bonding activities. Since first day to volunteers been allocated into their respective teams everything has been so amazing. The bonding which they have with their teams and an enthusiasm which they have shown seems like they will do some important work in the community. As they are excited to work for the betterment of their community we are sure they will make a lasting impact in their community, gain an incredible experience and make family out of their community.

October 14, 2018
Continuing Raleigh’s work in Gorkha

“In my village we share a tap between our nine houses. In the spring we have very little in the way of water supply, just a few drops to share, we have to queue with our buckets to get water and it means we can’t do our other jobs. We would be so much happier if we had a good water supply all year round.” - Community member in Mathilo Raniswara, Gorkha

October 12, 2018
International Day of the Girl Child: The importance of positive role models

The 11 October has been marked by the United Nations as the International Day of the Girl. This year, the theme is ‘With Her: A Skilled GirlForce’, which aims to draw attention to the most pressing needs and opportunities for girls to attain skills for employability. Having positive role models is an important aspect of encouraging girls through their education and shaping their future careers. Raleigh Tanzania speaks to Juweni, Village Executive Officer (VEO) of Mkamba and a figurehead for the education of girls in her community.

October 11, 2018
The IPCC report: Why the Earth’s climate depends on forests

On Monday, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published its long-awaited report detailing how the world can and must keep global temperature rise below 1.5C, the threshold at which the effects of global warming will remain manageable.

October 10, 2018
¡Bienvenido!: A warm welcome for our Project Managers in Costa Rica.

The Project Managers for the Costa Rica Expedition have arrived and are already hard at work. An impressive 15 Project Managers (PMs) have joined our team in Turrialba and will be responsible for working with and leading the volunteers on our projects around Costa Rica.

Los coordinadores de proyecto (PM) para la Expedición en Costa Rica han llegado y ya están trabajando duro. Impresionante 15 PMs se han unido a nuestro equipo en Turrialba y serán responsables de trabajar y liderar a los voluntarios en nuestros proyectos alrededor de Costa Rica.

October 4, 2018
Project Planning Visits: How do we prepare for development projects?

Thorough planning is crucial to the success of development work, to ensure that the needs of local people are addressed, and that long-lasting and sustainable benefits are felt by the whole community.

From 20-23rd September, Raleigh Volunteer Managers (VMs) and International Citizen Service (ICS) Team Leaders (TLs) went on project planning visits (PPVs) to rural communities in the regions of Morogoro, Dodoma and Iringa, to prepare for upcoming sustainable development projects focusing on: protecting the environment through natural resource management; supporting the launch of local businesses; and promoting safe sanitation and hygiene practices.

September 28, 2018
A new team to help continue our work in Costa Rica / Un nuevo equipo para ayudar a continuar nuestro trabajo en Costa Rica

The Advanced Team has arrived at our field base in Turrialba, Costa Rica and have gotten stuck into their work. The team have begun familiarising themselves with their roles and preparing for the arrival of the project managers. The team is made of two Deputy Operations Mangers, our Administrator, three members of our Logistics team, the Fieldbase Medic, the Communications Officer and the Photographer.

Without further ado let’s meet the team who will be helping to deliver the upcoming Expedition.

El equipo de apoyo ha llegado a nuestro centro de entrenamiento en Turrialba, Costa Rica y se han quedado atrapados en su trabajo. El equipo ha empezado a familiarizarse con sus roles y prepararse para la llegada de los líderes de equipo. El equipo está formado por dos gerentes de operaciones, nuestro administrador, tres miembros de nuestro equipo logística, una médico, el oficial de comunicaciones y el fotógrafo.

Sin más preámbulos, nos encontraremos con el equipo que estará ayudando a ejecutar la próxima expedición.

September 27, 2018