Tamil Tigers Protest, London

On Tuesday 19th May, I joined Emilia (partner in crime since the age of 3) qualified radio journalist/presenter to be in London on her final news day. The Tamil tigers were protesting in Parliament Square, Westminster in an attempt to raise awareness of their plight and to get the UK and American Governement to take action and allow International Media, NGO's and International aid to enter Sri Lanka-Tamil. We ended up in a tent meeting women who had been on hunger strike for 168 hours and Emilia interviewed a man who had been on a hunger strike for 24 days. These people were so passionate about what they where fighting for and some of them had been camping there since April 6th. Overall the protest was peaceful and the Tamil people were there to show their support to their 'brothers and sisters'. It was definately an eye opener and once again made me realise that so often we ignore things right infront of us, especially if we are not directly affected by it...without thinking too much about the consequences for those involed. Watching Emilia and seeing what she had to do was great experience for me especially with my mad obsession with the News and reporting.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

In our hearts a hopeful song...

I can't believe how quickly time is flying by right now, I only have 4 weeks left of this Semester before the Christmas Vacation. Its scary, the academic work is starting to pile up and i dont think the horizon will be clear now until i finish my degree in May. Although after Christmas time always goes so much quicker.

I have not been home for 2 months now and it really has not bothered me, so after 3 months it will be nice to get back to some home comforts, i have now been away for longer than when i was in South Africa. I am still missing it dearly, and its strange what we learn and appreciate. The thing i miss the most is my Grade 5 class, i wish i could just go and spend just one hour with the kids and see their smiles and have some awesome hugs from them. I hope for them all that everything is ok and their troubles are somehow getting easier if that is possible. I am still emailing the teacher i was working with who is keeping me updated with Blossom Street news. Once i have some spare time in January or over the holidays i am going to try and organise some fundraising or getting some supplies out to the school.
For me, things have changed ever since i stepped off the plane in Cape Town. I still think i dreamt it all sometimes, there is so much out there, 'Some people wait a lifetime for a moment like this.;The opportunities are endless if you just believe' Thats something South Africa taught me to believe in...XOXO

Lessons in Life...

In Cape Town i felt at home, i had not felt that relaxed in a long time, which is ironic due to the life and crime situation over there. I did not realise this until i returned back to my student life in Leeds which is in iteself a big Northern England city which is not the safest place in the country.

I was walking down the main shopping street in the centre of the city with these huge developed buildings and shops around me and thats when it struck me, i was not only thousands of miles away from life in the Cape in some ways. It was weird to me when i actually for a moment was like oh hey i can carry a handbag with no problems, i can leave a club (although not reccomended) alone at night and catch a cab home to my house...Things i guess i took for granted before. This is not always a good thing because it has made me more relaxed in Leeds as i have seen so much worse. I do indeed miss the security guards at HB1.

So whilst i learnt and saw so much during my volunteer trip i am still now coming to terms and i realise new things every day. I am still in touch with the teacher that i worked with at Blossom Street and am definately going to try and get back there when i can. I have a really hard few months ahead of me now with academic challenges that i need to overcome and once May comes around and i have completed my degree my options will be endless. I can travel the globe, study abroad, In england, join the working world. There are so many options i am so excited!!