David Coakley: EVS volunteer working in Uruguay in 4 projects!!!

When I arrived in Uruguay I was anxious to meet my new family which I would live with for the first month. I had never learnt Spanish before my arrival and the mother and father spoke minimal English so I had to learn at a rapid pace. The family had a passion for music and Uruguayan culture which resulted in me enduring a marvelous introduction to Uruguay and the intricacies of the lifestyle many tourists or travelers would not see or become involved in.

At Guildford I felt as though the students benefited from my conversation classes, the experience has been rewarding and it has opened up new opportunities for me in the future. I had Spanish lessons as training which were helpful and enjoyable. It was great to meet potential EVS volunteers from Uruguay that were full of anxiety and excitement. I thoroughly enjoyed playing chess, ping pong and being creative artistically with the youth. I went to watch a football match with a group of ten which was very entertaining.

I believe I could have contributed more to Techos than just muscle for construction but they have a set way of doing things and I was proud to be involved. If you work for Techos in Uruguay you are like a celebrity or saviour, the project I worked on was very rewarding and made me want to continue working in the field of Humanitarian Design.

I went away with a Jewish school for 3 days in Solis during November, I've never worked with children before so looked forward to the experience to judge whether it could be a career for me. There were 25 boys and 24 girls all aged between 10 and 11, they were great and very energetic. I believe I contributed a lot to the summer camp and that my presence was important.

My allowances have enabled me to travel across Uruguay and enjoy many aspects of Montevideo. There is so much to do in Montevideo and most of it is free you just have to be out there to find out about it.

Karen has been very helpful and supportive replying to my emails and texts, even on the weekends. I am very grateful to Karen for making me feel comfortable and able to speak honestly with her. If ever I felt lost orunsure about things in Uruguay I had Karen to assist me. I went to Buenos Aires for on arrival training which went well and was rewarding. Buenos Aires is a vibrant city full of passionate people and vast diversity of culture."