Greetings from Suid-Afrika

My name is Jibin Joy and I’m from Exeter. 21 years old, a Politics Student and traveler explorer. I’m starting a new column about my placement with International Citizen Service (ICS) and the British charity Skillshare International in Cape Town, South Africa. ICS is a government development program that helps to enlighten, empower and to help eradicate poverty around the world.

Skillshare International works alongside local organizations in Africa to improve the lives of those who require the help the most. My Placement will be with the local organization Orion for 10 weeks through Skillshare International in Atlantis in Western Cape, South Africa.

I decided to apply to ICS to become a volunteer in Africa having already done similar work in the past with International Non-Governmental Organizations and Orphanages in Asia and East Africa. A friend recommended me to ICS having previously done a similar placement in Palestine.

I was happy to receive an invitation to an interview with ICS and Skillshare International in October, I had information before which had suggested that places with ICS are in high demand and tough to attain. At the selection day I was very impressed by the intriguing, yet innovative way of interviewing potential candidates. With a group interview, the interviewers managed to test the teamwork qualities and vital individual skills of candidates. Soon after I was delighted to be notified that I had gained a place on the January Placement to Cape Town and the details about the stages of placement and fundraising for the charity.

I was invited to the training weekend with other volunteers and team leaders going on their placements in January to Africa. It was an excellent pre-placement bonding session, where everybody got the opportunity to get to know each other through icebreakers, games and problem questions.

It was also interesting to see the wide range of selection of volunteers from all socio-economic backgrounds, ICS and Skillshare deserve a special mention for their effort to give everyone an opportunity to succeed, with students, volunteers who are trying to return to the track of employment and a volunteer with former Prime Ministerial Ancestry, it is truly a diverse group.

I found ICS to be very straightforward and clear in providing information and tips for fundraising and overseas placement. Every single volunteer had great support from the coordinators from the application process through to seeing us off at Heathrow Airport with all the volunteers seated together on the long distance flight to Cape Town.

In the next few weeks I will be updating the readers of The Exeter Daily of the Happenings and experiences in my latest placement to help those who are less fortunate. I will be updating a weekly column for all of those who are interested in travel columns and those generous people who helped me raise funds for the charity Skillshare International.

I’m posting this first edition of the column from Atlantis in Western Cape, South Africa having arrived safely in SA and gone through the introduction week here in Cape Town. More information on the arrival, the introduction week and my host family can be expected in the next edition of the weekly updates, along with the information I gathered at the introduction week of the placement, local knowledge and statistics.