EIL Intercultural Learning

On September 18, 2009 The Roscommon People covered Ciara Cunningham's story in the article The sad plight of an AIDS orphan. Ciara is one of the winners of EIL Travel Awards 2009. She have travelled to South Africa for nine weeks as part of EIL’s Global Awareness Programme, to volunteer with people living with HIV and AIDS.

Cape Town Diary

by Ciara Cunningham

Preparations for the Gran Fiesta on Tuesday are coming along well, although the work is beginning to take it´s toll on my body! Repeatedly winching buckets of bricks with no gloves on has left my hands blistered and sore, and bare-footed football has left similar scars on my feet! The day is long, working from  7:30am-6pm with only an hour for lunch, but the progress is amazing, the roof is almost complete and it looks magnificent.

¡Buenas tardes! Things are really busy in Ventanilla in my last week here, as the whole town is preparing for it`s annual Fiesta de Santa Maria. Every year the men from the village spend about a week building in the village church in preparation for the Mass and Rosaries of the festival. This year, the villagers have sacrificed the money for a big musical performance at the festival in order to build an impressive roof for the church. I have been helping with the construction which is sweaty work because of the lack of shade!

Day 1- I boarded our first flight with some trepidation. As a novice flyer I was unsure as to how I would enjoy the experience, but as we soared above Dublin airport I quickly realised that the lack of leg room was of more imminent concern to me than the threat of us careering to a sensational death.

¿Que Onda Folks? I´ve really settled into life here in Ventanilla on the South West Coast of Mexico. This week I started giving guitar lessons to some of the local boys, and have discovered first hand why this part of the world gets a reputation for being laid back...! Here, 4pm means anywhere between ten past 4 and 6pm, which makes scheduling lessons tricky! Still, they´re getting better, and I have a couple of Carlos Santanas here in the making!

Hola de Barra!It is my forth week here in Barra and I feel I am really beginning to settle into daily life here in this picturesque little fishing village! Today is Monday, and this morning when I went to my english class I was delighted to find the usual kids waiting for me, plus some new ones! I call it my english class as I really feel that I have put my own stamp on it, which I love! The children run towards me when they see me coming and they welcome me with hugs and the occasional flower!

Time to say Goodbye

My time at the EIL office in Cork is nearly over. As I was hoping at the beginning the time at EIL teached me lots of things. I wish I could turn back time!

Four weeks of Intercultural Experience teached me what motivated and purposeful people can change. Their work make a difference! So I am proud and deeply grateful that I could be part of EIL. In my opinion the mission of EIL deserves to be supported. Because EIL offers you the chance to see behind the curtain and to make changes.

Greetings from Paradise! It has been two weeks since I arrived in the beautiful pueblito of Ventanilla, and each day I find myself more and more tempted to destroy my passport and stay put! Ventanilla is breathtakingly beautiful, with 70km of white sands and clear oceans, a vast labyrinth of a lagoon infested with crocodiles, iguanas and tortugas, and an idyllic island of palm trees and hammocks a short boat trip away! Life moves at a much slower pace here, and it has taken a while to adjust to ´el ritmo tropical´.

Hi everyone,

my real name is Gianfranco Mingione, but my friends call me Joe! I'm 28 years old and I am doing an interniship at the EIL Intercultural Learning office of Ireland based in Cork City in the south of Ireland. I started work at the EIL office two days ago. The first day of work was for me very important. I was really nervous but the first impression was positive.