X-Ray 8: A,B,C, as easy as 1,2,3?

X-Ray 8 are building on the brilliant work of Alpha 8 in Siares San Ramon, putting another level on the pre-school project. 22% of Nicaraguans struggle with illiteracy but through this project and projects like it, Raleigh can increase awareness of disadvantaged groups, access to education and focus on children's human rights.

X-Ray 8 have been considering and supporting Women's Day and Robin Van Gelderen, 18, Venturer has expressed her views on women through her experience on her Raleigh project:

My host family in Nicaragua is, in my eyes, representative of the less fortunate women in this world. The mother is 50 years old and has been working in their home for 34 years since she was 16, she counts the days until her husband returns after being away for the duration of every month, working to provide her with money and the family with their father. Their daughter is 20 and pregnant but the father is missing.

They have another daughter of 16, who is following naturally in the footsteps of her mother and sister. When I asked her why she isn’t going to school she looked at me as if I was crazy and answered ‘my brothers are going to school, i’m not’, she finished elementary school at 12 and has been in the home since. The expectation is that women are in the home supporting their family, which is completely natural but I am lucky to come from a country and family where I have been given amazing opportunities to succeed and brought up to believe I can be anything I want to be.

Billy, Lewis and Adriana from X-Ray 8

Everyone knows that many women walk for hours to get water for their families but do you all realize that after those hours and many kilometers, only a small part of their work is done. What about when they are ill, being ill is not an option, because that would mean the whole family has nothing to drink. Emotions that we recognise at home like stress or burn-out, just don’t exist here. A 6 to 9 month rest after giving birth to a child is unacceptable, the day after a baby is born life carries on as usual with all chores expected to be completed, it has made me consider the fact that 800 women a day die because of pregnancy or in childbirth.

X-Ray 8 are building a pre-school in Siares, San RamonAs discussed on a previous blog about the UN Millennium Development Goals 2&3, they call for universal primary education, promotion of gender equality and empowerment of women and this project contributes to these goals.
The problems that I have mentioned about education for women, water and health are all avoidable. It is the responsibility of global leaders to be the difference. To set an example to help all the women in the world, although this raises another question – why is the proportion of women in politics globally only 6%?

We have to stop waiting and be the difference we want to see in the world.

Conrad Hagger, X-Ray 8's Project Comms Officer wrote about his experience so far:

We are now about a week into the community phase in San Ramon and I am certain that this is the time when I will learn the most about myself, the community and my team. Going into a home-stay with a local Nicaraguan family for two weeks with absolutely no Spanish, is far outside of my comfort zone but the family have taken me into their home as one of their own. They are so eager to please and pull out all the stops to make us feel at home.

The food, has become the highlight of our days with an array of dishes ranging from rice and beans to rice and beans, and occasionally accented with egg, tortilla, potato and frankfurters.

PM Helena perfecting her building skills

Denise bricklaying

Billy mixing cement

The school is coming on brilliantly well, all 4 walls will be finished by the end of phase.

The work has progressed very quickly with about a metre of wall built on the new school building, 2 gate posts built and a path to the partially built latrine.

A school for these children, an incredible project

The worksite is an amazing place to be, right next to the existing school building, surrounded by smiling, excitable kids either playing games hoping you'll join in, or staring intently at whatever you're doing. I think this will be the phase I remember the most after Raleigh. This is the experience of a lifetime.

Saying goodbye to the roadtrip of Jess, Vanessa, Holly and Alice

Find out more about this project through Jess Adsett's blog which shined a spotlight on the typical life of an 18 year old girl in Siares. Click here to find out more >

Raleigh contributing to the UN Millenium Development Goals

In 2000, 189 nations adopted the United Nations Millennium Declaration at the Millennium Summit. The Declaration committed the nations to a new global partnership to meet the world's development needs and set out eight targets, known as the Millennium Development Goals. The target date is 2015, when the international community will again come together and consider progress made.

The goals are:

1 Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
2 Achieve universal primary education

3 Promote gender equality and empower women

4 Reduce child mortality

5 Improve maternal mortality

6 Combat HIV/Aids, malaria and other diseases

7 Ensure environmental sustainability

8 Develop a global partnership for development

Why do they matter

The goals represent human needs and basic rights that every individual around the world should be able to enjoy—freedom from extreme poverty and hunger; quality education, productive and decent employment, good health and shelter; the right of women to give birth without risking their lives; and a world where environmental sustainability is a priority, and women and men live in equality.

If the goals were to be achieved by 2015:

• 500 million people will be lifted out of poverty


• 300 million people will no longer suffer from hunger


• 350 million fewer people will live without access to safe drinking water


• 650 million fewer people will live without basic sanitation

For the billion-plus living in poverty, the achievement of the goals represents an escape from their abject living conditions and the means to a productive life.

How Raleigh contributes

The work that Raleigh is doing with its partner communities in Costa Rica and Nicaragua contribute to the achievement of the Millenium Development Goals. For example, in Expedition 13A our Venturers will be:

●      Building a health centre in Conte Burika, a remote community in south eastern Costa Rica, contributing to Goals 4, 5 and 6.

●      Creating a gravity fed water system to provide clean water in Achuapa - Matapalo, northern Nicaragua, contributing to Goals 4,5, 6 and 7.

●      Clearing old prison buildings in San Lucas, an island in western Costa Rica, to create a nature reserve, contributing to Goal 7.

●      Building a pre-school in San Ramon-Siares, a community in Nicaragua, contributing to Goals 2 and 3.

Clean and safe water: MDGs 4,5,6 and 7

As discussed during the Raleigh Project Framework blog, the issues we are facing globally are complex but the work Raleigh International undertake and will be continuing throughout expedition 13A and beyond, are postively impacting the communities we work with. To find out more visit the UN MDG webpage by clicking here >

Today's blog was written by Vanessa Glynn, 13As Administrator, whose wealth of knowledge is educating us all at Fieldbase with her 28 years of experience in the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, The Scottish Government and European Union.