No doubt many of you will have been off and away on your summer holidays recently, hopefullyenjoying plenty of sunny weather!

Here at S.A.L.V.E. we’re much the same as we prepare to send o

urtwo new interns off to Uganda in early

September. Read on to find out how they’re getting on as

they get ready for their big trip, and find out

what’s been happening with the rest of the charity

overthe summer months.Happy reading!The S.A.L.V.E. Team

Teddy gives thecamera a smile!

www.salveinternational.orgS.A.L.V.E. International, P.O. Box 1099, Jinja, Uganda, East AfricaS.A.L.V.E. International, 69 Thornbridge Crescent, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, S40 2JH

This month the S.A.L.V.E. UK team havebeen extremely busy interviewingpotential candidates for our charityinternship. As regular readers will know,our internship runs every four months,and from the many excellentapplications we are inundated with, wemust choose just two lucky candidates to

take up the positions in Uganda. After ahotly contested interview day and sometricky decision-making, the two newS.A.L.V.E. interns were chosen as EmmaVickers and Imogen Bancroft.We have designed the internshipspecifically for people who are looking toget into the charity sector

–

an incrediblycompetitive and difficult field to get onto the ladder in. Each year as we advertise our placements wesee ever more qualified candidates applying

–

with volunteer work and Masters degrees a’plenty

amongst them.In the run up to

Emma and Imogen’s departure day

there is a long list of things to get done, frombooking flights and fundraising to sorting out visas and jabs...ouch. But l

et’s hear from Emma and

Imogen themselves

–

how are they feeling as they prepare for the trip of a lifetime? What are theynervous or excited about? And how are they feeling about leaving a cold English winter behindthem?!I graduated from Nottingham University in 2008 and since then havebeen working towards a career in development. I have spent timeworking in research at a city council and recently spent a year inFrance to learn the language however, my main ambition is to work inAfrica.Since first visiting in 2007, I have been unable to forget the colour,chaos and vibrancy of the region and this internship gives me theperfect opportunity to return in a more helpful capacity than youraverage backpa

cker. I can’t remember when I decided that I wanted

to work towards alleviating poverty. I think the disparities inopportunity and personal freedom between the wealthy and the

L-R: Imogen and EmmaEmma

www.salveinternational.orgS.A.L.V.E. International, P.O. Box 1099, Jinja, Uganda, East AfricaS.A.L.V.E. International, 69 Thornbridge Crescent, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, S40 2JH

poverty stricken is something I have always been aware of but perhaps was particularly hammeredhome during my time working and traveling in East Asia and Africa.But then of course, the big question is what to do about it and where to focus my skills? The scale of the problem is enormous, however, I do know that I have always enjoyed working with children andyoung people and also have enormous faith in the power of education to raise aspirations, broadenhorizons and provide opportunities for progress.I am hugely excited about meeting the team, the kids and putting into place all the projects Imogenand I have started to plan. I hope we can move S.A.L.V.E. forward to help more children and developthe community so that children are not driven to the street in the first place. My one worry is thehuge amount of preparation it seems we ha

ve to do before we get on that plane, but I’m sure we’ll

manage!The more I have learnt about the important work of S.A.L.V.E. International since being accepted for theinternship, the more my excitement has grown. I haverecently completed a Masters at SOAS (School of African Studies) in Development Studies in which I

focused my studies on Africa, youth and children’s

rights and I feel that this role is an amazing opportunity

for me to bring my knowledge and understanding to thecharity, and to learn and develop my own skills.I spent a year in Africa in 2003, spending four monthssetting up a project at a school in Kenya, and travelingaround Southern Africa. This humbling experiencetransformed my life and I have since dedicated my time tolearning about the African continent, its troubles and contextwithin the world, and to exploring ways that I may be able to help those less fortunate than myself. Ifeel that children are key to the positive development and wellbeing of any society, as they arerepresentative of the future and have a unique way of acting as connectors. The comprehensivegrassroots nature of S.A.L.V.E. in addressing the needs of the most vulnerable by providing a safeand meaningful grounding in education is what attracted me to this role.

I can’t wait to get out there, to meet the children and the team and get stuck in to doing what I can

to help the children on a personal level and the development of the charity as a whole.