My name is Gemma Eastham, I am 18 years old and on the 25^th August I will travel to Guyana in South America and will spend a year there teaching Maths and Science.

The Charity I am going with is called Project Trust and they specialise in sending 17-19 year old school leavers overseas for long term volunteering placements of 8 or 12 months. This is to allow volunteers to experience all aspects of the culture they are immersed in and reaps maximum benefit for both the community and volunteer.

I have just returned from my Training course on the Isle of Coll, where I met my partner!! Her name is Rachael and she lives in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. We seem to have a similar sense of humour which should help us through the year! I am so excited to be able to spend the year immersing myself in a totally new culture with such a lovely partner.

On training with my fellow Guyana volunteers and DO

On the training course I was also told that I will be going to a secondary school in a village called Annai. The village is located on the main (and only) road from Georgetown to Southern Guyana, and is a few hours drive from Lethem. My partner and I will live and work in the Bina Hill compound where the school is located but will be able to travel the mile or so to Annai frequently (this may involve buying some bikes!).

Whilst there, I will also have the opportunity to set up after school clubs and help the boarders with homework. At the moment Rachael and I are considering setting up a dance/drama club but we will consider our options once we have settled in.