Responsible, Exciting and Difference - Laura

I have been working at Nelson College for Girls in the school and in the boarding house (CJ House). I have absolutely loved it and am really going to miss it a lot.
At CJ House it tradition that the gap students put on a gappers quiz just before they leave. Me and Natalie did a WOW (world of wearable arts) recycled themed quiz. We got all the girls to dress up in clothes they had made from recycled things and take part in the quiz. It was a really fun night and everyone got into the spirit of it.
The most exciting thing I did whilst at NCG was probably going on the kayaking trip with the year 13's to Abel Tasman. It was such a fun trip and we got to kayak for 3 days as well camp and tramp.
The most responsible thing that I have done in my placement would probably being on overnight alarms at CJ. 3 times a week me and Natalie would be responsible to turn off any of the burgalar alarms that went off and also respond to texts from girls in the night if there were problems.
I would say that the thing most different between NZ to England is that NZ as a country seems much closer and the people seem to want to help each other more. It just seems a much more laid back place to be.
I have loved my time in NZ and have made some great friends from all over the world. Travelling NZ in the holidays has been the most amazing thing and I will miss it a lot. I want to thank Lattitude and NCG/CJ House for all they have done for me over the last year and for giving me such an amazing opportunity.

Responsible, Exciting and Different - Alexej

We ask our volunteers to tell us some of the most RESPONSIBLE, EXCITING and DIFFERENT things they have done during their placements!

The following information is from Alexej who recently returned home after a year of volunteering at Hato Pāora College in the Manawatū region.

1)The most exciting experience that I recall was getting up early one morning, to put a hangi down for the investiture ceremony of Sir Archie Taiaroa.

2)The most responsible thing I recall doing, was when I worked with a Year 8 student who required learning support.  I had to think of work that was appropriate for his level, but fun for him and I had to keep him focussed on achieving (learning new things). When he worked well we would play some board games.  The longer he remained on task, the longer we got to play the board games (which were also good for building his vocabulary and thinking). We Both learnt "heaps".

3) The most different thing between here and home (Germany) was the cultural aspect of my placement.  Hato Pāora is a Māori school and the school life embraces this. And of course the friendliness of the people of Aotearoa.

If you would like to learn more about Lattitude visit our website here and The Lattitude New Zealand Blog here

Eleanor in Vanuatu

Here are some photos of Eleanor who has just started her placement in Vanuatu.
The photos are from the induction week at Port Villa. Eleanor is having an amazing time and seems to be taking all the challenges in her stride-getting to grips with the language Bislama and many other cultural differences.

To learn more about Lattitude visit our website here and The Lattitude New Zealand blog here

Gap Year Connections

As some of you may know, on Wednesday a series of earthquakes and a Tsunami caused devastation around the Pacific rim, mainly in Samoa, American Samoa and Sumatra.
For most of the day New Zealand remained on Tsunami alert. Thankfully the waves which did eventually break on our shores were nowhere near as high as expected and minimal damage was incurred.

For the Lattitude team here in the office the morning was a hectic one. With 50+ volunteers in country we had a lot of people to try and contact very quickly. To add to this, almost all of our volunteers were on holiday from their school placements, so theoretically could have been anywhere in NZ or the Pacific.

It was a day which really proved how strong the network of connections made through Lattitude can be. Thanks to some quick fire texting, and volunteers passing on messages, within half an hour we had heard from most of our volunteers ensuring that they were safe and well.

Below is the link to a news article on the subject which features some of our volunteers:

http://www.hawkesbaytoday.co.nz/local/news/text-warns-unsuspecting-trio/3904838/