What is your favorite travel memory?
A moment that stays with me is on the Volunteer Uganda safari in Queen Elizabeth National Park where we camped out for the night by a river teaming with giant hippos. It looked a lot like a scene in the Crash Bandicoot video game and I envisioned myself hopping across the hippos themselves!
How have you changed/grown since working for your current company?
Working with Volunteer Uganda has allowed me to understand what volunteers are looking for in a placement and why we offer a unique version of that. Having staff permanently in Uganda allows us to understand the needs of the local community and ensure our programs are adapted to suit those needs.
What is the best story you've heard from a return student?
I heard from Mark who was a volunteer with us 2014 that he witnessed some quite disturbing forms of corporal punishment early on during his volunteering placement with us.
That evening, he started gathering help from our staff - both local and international teachers - on how he should tackle that and Mark ended up giving a series of training workshops to the staff in his school about alternatives to corporal punishment.
Mark told us the other day that he re-visits every year to meet with teachers and ensure that things are not reverting to old practices.
What makes your company unique? When were you especially proud of your team?
We are a company run by teachers so education is in our hearts and the driving force behind everything we do.
This means that our programs are designed to have a sustainable and positive impact on education in the community where we work.
Working with a team of teachers in the UK, US and Uganda all working towards improving education is something I am proud of.