Petchey Scholarship holders return home
Added to website: 20 September 2007
The four students who won scholarships to travel to Tobago to take part in Coral Cay’s mapping project in the Caribbean, have returned home following their once in a lifetime experience.
The scholarship holders - Anna Loureiro, Afsaneh Malakouti, Amaeze Madukah and Jade Ogle - have reported back to base after their first fortnight on the idyllic island. The group is there thanks to an £8, 000 grant provided by the Jack Petchey Foundation.
The girls, who were awarded the Petchey Foundation scholarships after being selected from a total of 20 applicants, have received high praise from the expedition leader and the rest of the team working in Tobago.
It’s hoped CCC and the Jack Petchey Foundation can further expand the scholarship scheme next year, coinciding with 2008 being the International Year of the Reef.
Below is the team’s final diary entry.
Well this is it, we have come to the end of the line, and we can’t believe that three weeks have passed already. It has been a truly amazing experience and trying to sum it all up now won’t do it any justice.
We can happily report that Afsaneh has jut gone down to start her diving course, after her medical was cleared! We are leaving her behind for another week so that she’ll be able is able to follow through what she come out to do and wanted so badly.
It’s with great sadness we leave these amazing people behind, these amazing people that we have been working with and who made our time much better here. All four of us have witnessed and experienced working together and really making a difference. Looking back on these three weeks there have been loads of highlights. It was different for all of us and we want to share that with you.
Amaeze: This has been a great opportunity- took a bit of time getting accustomed to my surroundings, but once I did it, it was great fun! I am pleased to say that I am an open water diver and advanced diver passing my inverts validation. I also saw a dolphin for the first time and it was so cool! For anyone planning on doing the CCC expedition, enjoy it to the maximum and you put into it what you want to get out. Tootles.
Ana: It has been an awesome three weeks and I’ve completed my open water and my advanced open water as well as passing my tests and my validations, permitting me to take part in the surveys which is what first got me interested in the CCC and I am so glad I took part in it! Once I settled in, everything ran smoothly and it resulted in an amazing experience that I will never forget, along with meeting people I will never forget. I will go back with the knowledge that I have made a difference. I really advise people to take part in volunteer expeditions with CCC, not only is it an awesome experience but its so much fun and sense of success is defiantly involved. My time here was too short and I am so sad to say good bye, but I have to! L
Jade: I’ve really, really loved learning to SCUBA dive and being able to dive twice a day was a highlight for me on its own. The experience has taught me so much and given me my first step in the right direction that I would love to follow. Being able to see first hand what the project is aiming to protect and sustain really makes you understand and it is inspiring to see people working to make things better. However, it is not all work and no play. I have had so much fun too, as have we all, and I have loved being so close to the beach. It has defiantly been one of the best experiences of my life so far and I would strongly recommend others to come out here and find out for yourself.
Afsaneh: I feel so lucky to have been given this to come out and be a volunteer for the CCC. It is a truly memorable and enjoyable experience that I will never forget. Thankfully I am able to stay here an extra week to complete everything I set out to do. I am now diving, and am now working towards my open water and advanced open water. Learning fish and invertebrates was very interesting, but when seeing them under water I really loved it. When I leave CCC’s expedition, I will be sad to say good bye to everyone. All the members of staff work so hard here, as do the volunteers.
Most importantly, surveying is the main reason why everyone is here; I will defiantly come back with the CCC as it is truly special experience and I love every second of it.
I highly recommend anyone considering becoming a volunteer, I assure you it is the best thing you will ever do with your life. I am very grateful, I only wish I could stay longer. Most importantly I have been able to see how CCC sustains the environment and coral reefs through surveying. I will most definately come back to CCC again as I have loved the learning and the hard work, it is great, great fun!
