Saturday, December 15, 2007

VSO GLYNCOCH



We have been lucky in Glyncoch over the last couple of months, to have two volunteers from the VSO Global Village programme working in the community. 24-year-old Akano Amina from Kaduna State in Nigeria and 19-year-old Craig Imrie from Dunfermline in Scotland are leaving on Friday. A spokesperson from Glyncoch Communities First said that their time with is had been a wonderful opportunity to gain a “completely different perspective on what we are doing; we have also learned a lot about other cultures and hopefully Craig and Amina have learned more about how we do things in Wales”.

Craig and Amina have written an open letter to the community, which I reproduce below:

“Global Village is a programme that brings young people from all over the UK and Nigeria to work together, share ideas, learn about each other's cultures, and most importantly, to develop the young people so that they can make a positive impact to their own societies.
“We all know that young people can be tools used to develop and revolutionise not only a community but a nation. So if the young people are active and empowered enough, then the future will be great and the world will be a better place to live. As beneficiaries of this laudable programme we would like to commend the Global Exchange programme and the British Council's Voluntary Services Overseas for the great impact they have made in so many societies through young people.
“18 of us have been working all over RCT for 2 months. We were fortunate enough to be placed in Glyncoch Communities First. What we see in Glyncoch is so different from what others seem to think about it. The atmosphere in Glyncoch is so calm, and the people are warm and friendly. Everyone has been very welcoming and extremely friendly towards us. Something that never stops amazing us is the strong bond that exists within the community. It is also interesting to know how much the people strongly desire to give the community a new face. We have experienced a huge community spirit. The future of Glyncoch seems very bright with the community cohesion needed to make Glyncoch an even better place.”

The letter is signed Craig and Amina.

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