When a Volunteer is placed in a new environment, with new faces, it is not shocking to feel alone in places full of unfamiliar people. As days go by, the connections that we build with community members and other organizations working in our placement communities help us integrate easier into our communities. I was lucky to be placed in a community that had already established a relationship, with not only one, but two partner organizations; Child Legacy International and Centre for Concerned Youth in Development.
Child Legacy International (CLI) is an organization sited in my community with a mission to build sustainable communities to end poverty. The organization has over 200 employees from the surrounding area who bring back the methods learnt from CLI to develop their own communities. The organization’s hospital provides free healthcare on routine vaccinations, child labour and delivery, as well as surgical procedures. It also aims at increasing accessibility to safe water by repairing broken boreholes for communities in need. I have worked with CLI on community projects like afforestation, Grassroot Soccer interventions, and school health and nutrition.