The weekly question – What is the public transport like?

Wednesday, November 9th, 2011
028 150x150 The weekly question What is the public transport like?

Safari

The majority of our students use public transport to get into town or to travel to their placement. In fact joining the hoards on a busy bus can sometimes be the best way to integrate yourself into local life. Trips to work can also provide some of the funniest travel experiences of your time away. We asked our students “ what is the public transport like in your area” in the hope we might hear about some of these funny and typical travel experiences. We had some fantastic responses from each of our destinations, with real insight into each country.

Starting in Africa;

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The weekly question – Why did you choose to do your placement in the destination you’re in?

Thursday, August 25th, 2011

We think that one of the hardest parts of organising an elective is actually deciding where to go. Whether you’re tempted by the tribes of Africa; the mountains of Asia or the flavour of South America, wherever you decide to go, your elective overseas will no doubt enrich both your professional and personal development in a safe, supported environment.

We currently work in seven locations around the world and like to talk to students in depth about each destination before they make a decision – this way they can work out which placement is most suited to them. So the question we chose to ask the houses this week is “Why did you choose to do your placement in the destination you’re in?”

Abby 2011 2 150x150 The weekly question Why did you choose to do your placement in the destination you’re in?

A Sri Lankan beach

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Exploring Asia; My Trip to Sri Lanka and Nepal

Friday, March 11th, 2011

My job at Work the World is to talk to students about the opportunities available to them for their electives or work experience placements. Having travelled to Africa to visit our partner hospitals there, I was desperate to see Asia and so planned a condensed trip to Sri Lanka and Nepal to witness our programmes in action.

P1030609 150x150 Exploring Asia; My Trip to Sri Lanka and Nepal

Negombo beach

The first thing I noticed when I arrived in Sri Lanka was the ease at which I passed through the airport! After my travels to Africa, I was expecting a lot of hassle, taxi drivers grabbing my bags and vying for my custom. Colombo was really very civilised in comparison! It was a breeze, with taxi companies allowing me to approach them for quotes into the city. Sri Lanka is 5.5hrs ahead of the UK and most flights arrive into Sri Lanka at 8.30 in the morning. This means that the first day is normally spent trying to get your head round the time difference and trying not to fall asleep as your body thinks it is in fact 3am!

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The move to Dar

Wednesday, April 21st, 2010

The relocation of the programme from Zanzibar to Dar es Salaam has finally been completed and the first students arrived over the Easter weekend. The Dar programme boasts the biggest Work the World house so far with a capacity to comfortably accommodate 37 students at anyone time, and we’re already completely booked up for some of the summer!

P9240123 150x150 The move to Dar

Arriving on ferry to Dar

The move was quite a mission! 6 lorries and several ferry trips were needed, so Dave flew over to Dar to help Majenda and Baptista. “Apart from a small problem with the ferries – in that they were closed for the public holidays at the exact time we had planned to transport all the furniture over – everything went like clockwork (well African clockwork anyway!) and for a few days we were truly on the move!”

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Our new house – Oyster Bay, Dar es Salaam

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010
Outside the house 150x150 Our new house Oyster Bay, Dar es Salaam

The new house in Dar

Expanding our Tanzania programme to offer placements at the country’s largest teaching hospital has presented plenty of challenges, and perhaps the biggest has been to create our best Work the World house yet. But after weeks searching dozens of properties, we’ve found just the place! Set in the attractive and very safe Oyster Bay area, a far cry from the congested downtown area 4 miles away, we’ve got our own private swimming pool surrounded by banana trees, a huge garden and the perfect terrace for Rehema’s famous barbecues.

Dar es Salaam’s location within the country couldn’t be much better – across the water from Zanzibar, with coral reefs and dolphins just off shore, and handy for the big game reserves of the southern safari circuit – but many travellers are quite dismissive of the city itself. Spending time here recently, I’ve realised that this is because most people simply take the road from the airport straight into the city centre and completely bypass the infinitely nicer areas like Oyster Bay and the Sea Cliff peninsula. They’re definitely missing out.

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