The Road To Cambodia.....

13-16th June saw our first training course at the VSO training centre, Harbourne Hall, Birmingham. Beginning each day at 0900hrs and finishing at approx 2000hrs (just sufficient to catch the Euro 2000 football tournament and my Swiss team in the school sweep to be the first one knocked out). We attended a variety of sessions ranging from global awareness / issues to HIV & Aids. We were impressed by the activities and the trainers who were themselves once VSO volunteers. There were eighteen on the course from all over the country, one from Dublin and one from Portugal. It was interesting to hear of all the placements around the world, their hopes, enthusiasm and anxiety of the coming months. It feels like things are moving more quickly now and with it the realisation that it is going to happen!

We have been busy catching up with friends and family and also packing up non-essentials from the TARDIS called a loft. It's amazing how much you accumulate for use 'later on' which never sees the light of day but seems impossible to dispose of. Hence the garage now has numerous boxes of school based documentation, text books and other stuff which may on our return prove once again to be useful (but will probably end up back in the loft)! The now spacious and tidy TARDIS is just yearning for other useful stuff from the house to be stored during our absence. I am only glad that our medical did not require a mental health check closer to departure. Current excitement includes the anticipation of further injections and the arrival of our motor cycle helmets for which we had to 'self' measure head circumference, this could be interesting!

We have recently received an e-mail from the incumbents in Cambodia which include an episode with a monitor lizard, difficulties with the electricity supply and knee high mud on the road to Phnom Penh perhaps some re-evaluation of our decision is in order!!!

STOP PRESS: As you might guess from the image above our helmets have arrived !!!