Becky Frankham

And so arrives my last week at Village Aid and I’m somewhere between the emotional gulf of feeling bitter and sweet about it. My internship here has been like a beautiful whirlwind; destroying misconceptions and building me up with new information.

I have had the opportunity to work alongside some of the most intelligent, inspiring and interesting people. I have learned about the third sector. I have seen what makes for an effective model of aid. I have drunk more cups of tea than I care to remember. I have learned about the continent and culture of Africa. I have appealed to businesses and people for money, prizes and support. I have realigned my moral compass. I have linked with Universities in fundraising. I have crossed fields of cows to get to my office. I have taken part in our theatre-in-education programme with primary schools. I have planned fundraising events. I have been the only woman in the office. I have been on Foundation for Social Improvement training courses. I have become addicted to twitter. I have lived on £1 a day for five days. I have taken part in theological, philosophical and intellectual debates. I have written a quiz on the Royal Wedding. I have eaten Bakewell tarts. I have co-ordinated a 10k Peaks run.  But above all, I have had laughed everyday and had a blast.

A huge thank you to Vodafone World of Difference Scheme for providing me with an opportunity of a life time. And a huge thank you to Village Aid for taking me under its wing and giving me a valuable education.

After the gluttonous delights of my chocolate filled Easter and gloriously British cream tea and scone royal wedding feast, ‘Hungry for Change’ snuck up on me like a thief in the night. Like 1.4billion in the world, I lived on £1 a day for five days…

DAY ONE; Day One began with me stocking up with £4.11 worth of food, (reserving enough in my budget for a cup of tea a day…) but I’m going to try not to have tea. I wake up ready and raring to dive headlong with flying colours into this challenge! My enthusiasm wanes slightly as I miss my morning cup of tea and knock over a plant pot in my room- generating a somewhat heightened and caffeine deprived reaction…Usually, me and my four other housemates pool a food budget and cook and clean as a community. My once supportive housemates, who all joined me in solidarity on the challenge, have slowly dropped out, including the one remaining faithful who fell at the first hurdle and inadvertently ate this morning… the idea seems tempting.  I headed into town where a bank holiday world food market was taking place, exotic smells and sumptuous sights. I was completely overcome with a sense of deprivation, like to eat good food when I wanted, how I wanted was my RIGHT, I deserve that freedom and I was being denied…Wow. Well, for 1.4billion that reality is everyday… Indeed, I wasn’t hungry. I’d eaten pretty normally for the day so far- it was just the restriction on my freedom, the inability to satisfy an appetite. A harsh lesson for my stubborn flesh to learn in discipline and self control.

DAY TWO; O hello 9-5, I’d forgotten what you felt like. I headed back to work today and my 6.30 alarm clock did not make me a happy bunny. Nor did my watery porridge oats. Usually, my work day is punctuated by frequent tea and coffee breaks. But today- only water. I really really really miss tea. How sad is that?! I do feel hydrated and surprisingly perky though due to the rivers of water I have been drinking. My work colleague’s mum has baked us a delicious banana cake…but I’m looking forward to my mid-afternoon banana treat at 2pm. At least I am in an office and not doing any physical labor. In the afternoon, I read a magazine article about dieting and weight and think I could fool myself into thinking this is some kind of in vogue fad diet… But it’s not- so I choose to align myself with those who do not have a choice. All day I have struggled with being some hungry version of the seven dwarfs- Grumpy. Agitated. Snappy. Tired. The psychological aspect of the challenge is a lot harder than I anticipated. But the challenge does bring into perspective other sensory pleasures; the scenery on my walk to work, music on my ipod, getting the bus, company of friends- I find myself with a greater attitude of gratitude. I cave at around 4pm and have a cup of tea- to save my workmates from the medusa-like character that is emerging in me. And one before bed too. Dinner is pasta and broccoli with tinned tomatoes.

DAY THREE: HOORAY! I came home last night to find my cupboards in our kitchen sealed with tape covered in ‘NO ENTRY’ and ‘REMEMBER THE AFRICAN CHILDREN’… and on the side of our counter, a house worth of £5 daily budget food….My beautiful and wonderful housemates are now partaking in the challenge too!!! The idea of unity and community is so important. With this new stand of solidarity I no longer felt like a victim (pathetic I know) and have a wider range of food by sharing-including fruit and veg and a tin of tuna! (Small pleasures and a greater attitude of gratitude remember) As a house family, we cook dinner together and eat our modest feast of jacket potatoes and beans, we laugh and share our day, the food secondary to friendship. I find I have a new vigor and strength to face the day! My tea cravings and headaches from caffeine withdrawal have subsided a little and being half way through the challenge, my mind wanders to planning the first meal I will have on Saturday… Steak and Fancie cake for breakfast anyone?! But again, I choose to align myself with those 1.4 billion who do not have the prospect of Saturday relief and feel like I’m cheating by wishing the challenge away. Having read the tweets and blogs of some others in the challenge, as well as some lovely friends sending texts of support and sponsorship, a further sense of solidarity spurs me on. Community has really saved my bacon this time (one thing on the brain, can you guess) and coming together in the hard times gives me new sustenance.

DAY FOUR: Today I wake up a half hour ahead of my alarm! I feel hydrated from the buckets of water consumed and have been getting extra sleep for energy. My work mate throws a squidgy ball at me early in the work day and I nearly cry?! I feel very emotionally delicate- partly a side effect of estrogen, but also due to the lack of sugar in my blood. And of course, lack of tea. Lunch was a sandwich and a carrot. Dinner is pasta and a yummy pudding of crushed biscuits, banana and yoghurt- the treat of the week! Usually as a house before mealtimes, we say grace. Though I have noticed this week, that we haven’t done so naturally. Am I not grateful for my daily bread unless I enjoy it? Unless it satisfies my appetite rather than fulfils my physical needs? Though I have been eating the same AMOUNT of food, I continuously feel hungry… And what is hunger aside from satisfying an appetite?!  I meet up with three old coursemates for a drink in the evening- mines a tap water on the rocks please- and am tortured whilst they sit there eating wedges and drinking hot chocolate oozing with cream. I also endured food shopping in Marks and Spencers beforehand with another dear friend- GIVE ME STRENGTH! I feel boring and not the best company- like a flat coke. That I can’t drink. So much of our culture is food-centric that fasting, aside from within faith and religion, is alien. I hadn’t thought how the challenge affected my social life, but it restricts it massively. Here’s to being a cultural alien.

DAY FIVE: The last leg of the challenge today. As I am not at work, my eating pattern shifts later into the day and take my two boiled eggs breakfast to a friends. I decide that I will attend my gym class that afternoon to really push myself to the limit like those who endure physical hardship alongside food deprivation. Cardio combat; a grueling and intense power hour of military and combat exercise… I find that I have more resolve in the class, a sharper focus to push through pain and although physically draining, I enjoy working my mind and body to maximum! The thought of more carbs for dinner fills me with dread, so I skip carbicide knowing that tomorrow will be the end of the challenge. My plan for steak and cake for breakfast has changed- I decide I will have an innocent smoothie, fruit salad and greek yoghurt in light of my workout.  As I go to bed, I reflect on the week. ‘Hungry for Change; I always thought my ‘body was a temple’, but how often did I worship the idol of food! I have realized that eating isn’t necessarily about filling yourself up with a hunger plug to satisfy an appetite, but about enjoying and appreciating food- a privilege and blessing that billions, 1.4billion in this world do not have. The sense of injustice I felt against myself throughout the week was shocking! Even in this watered-down version, much like the milk on my morning oats. I decide I will buy better quality- more organic and fair-trade foods and a smaller quantity. I have realized how much excess and indulgence I engage with and actually how little I need. It’s not about feast and it’s not about famine. Overall, the challenge has exposed flaws in my attitude to food and changed my perspective- I would wholeheartedly encourage you to look at your relationship too in a world where food is seen as a luxury, in comparison to those who eat out of necessity. For those 1.4billion, fight the scandal and injustice of hunger.

http://www.livebelowtheline.org.uk/?sticky

Donate at; http://www.justgiving.com/villageaid

This gloriously sunshiney week, I have been collecting raffle prizes, welcoming Kemal back from Cameroon, writing thank you letters, investigating motorcycle clubs, crossing fields of cows to get to the office, formatting documents, learning that a good cuppa will get you streets ahead in your career, watching HBO’s the ‘Lazurus effect’, listening to a range of music on our office ‘all-request-Thursday’, reading articles in Relevant magazine and writing a rather fabulous royal wedding quiz…Enter now and donate to Village Aid!

 http://www.villageaid.org/royal-wedding-quiz.html

 Moving towards Easter and the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, my thoughts are focused on sacrifice and I’m asking difficult questions of about the actual cost of justice.

 Throughout my time at Village Aid, as I swig diet coke, wear labels of clothing, eat exotic imported pineapple, fantasize over various brands of chocolate… my work colleague kindly and helpfully informs me of the ethical dilemmas and repercussions of my actions.

 He hit a nerve in me, in a clumsy dentist kind of way… Suddenly, my coke didn’t taste so sweet. Suddenly I was thinking beyond my western bubble. Catherine Hall wittily said that ‘The Lord loveth a cheerful giver…But He also accepteth from a grouch.’  At first, I was a grouch- begrudgingly coming round to the fact that something may have to give and my commercial lifestyle may have to undergo a closer inspection. But gradually, I’ve found my heart catching up with my head and moving from a state of ‘O-I-suppose-I-probably-should’ reasoning, to true conviction.

 I understand I have an influence on justice in my life and since my last blog, recognize it requires a ‘sacrifice’ of sorts. But what is the actual cost? Now I’m not imposing my own sense of duty onto everyone, but I would encourage you to think about the potential domino effect of your lifestyle choices. Change is a lifestlye choice. Now for me, that may look like giving up shopping in a certain store.  Forgo drinking a certain thing. Forfeit supporting a certain corporation. But in the glorious light of the cross, all these things seem a featherlike sacrifice. One I may even grow to be cheerful about.

 The week began with just another manic Monday.  I was greeted in the office by a leaky roof, depositing water onto a computer…Practical logic not being my strongest rationale, I phoned my Dad who knew just what to do! SO, power turned off, bucket strategically placed and maintenance called, I started my week of event planning, gorgeous rainbow across the peaks spotting, quiz compiling, Sheffield University bake sale attending, venue hunting, Growing Global  theatre in education work meal by the river eating, raffle prize hunting and ‘Hungry for Change’ preparing. And all the while, the steady drip of the rain water chronicling my time in the office. Bloody annoying.

 On Tuesday and Wednesday, I joined the Sheffield University society in their bake sale for Village Aid, with a stall of delicious baked yummies and Village Aid resources, they raised a lovely sum of dolla (£75!) for our very worthy cause! Bravo guys! On the opposite end of the fundraising spectrum, our ‘Hungry for Change’ initiative is getting under way- please check the event site to find out how you can get involved and support us;

 http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=164403193613290

 At our office meal on Wednesday, I was surrounded by experts in the field of international development, theatre in education and life experience, so took the chance to ask for their Pearls of Wisdom;

  ‘Be happy and do something that you love.’

‘Always put 100% into what you are doing and aim to be the best there ever was at it.’

‘Persevere.’

 That word ‘persevere’ doesn’t come easy to me, but certainly struck a chord. With the awareness that I’m sailing through my internship with Village Aid ridiculously fast and after being ground-shakingly challenged on my impact last week, it dawned on me that small, incremental changes in life ARE valid and necessary. That commitment to a cause does incur results. That cake sales and sponsored runs and hunger challenges and arts showcases are small brushstrokes of the wider picture that DO have an impact.

 Indeed, the dripping of the water in my office this week has served as a comforting reminder that every drop fills a bucket… eventually.

Coming to the end of my third delightful week at Village Aid, I have been bouncing fundraising events around, hugging kettles to keep warm in the office, minuting staff meetings, attending a marketing and fundraising training conference in Manchester with the lovely FSI, sitting in a new office big cheese chair, shortlisting entries for a photography competition, writing an article on for the bi-monthly newsletter and celebrating the work of Chris with Growing Global as he retires.

  This week, I have been really challenged about my personal approach to extreme poverty. I have been musing my responsibility for social justice in relation to my personal Christian faith. God is passionate about and loves justice and as a believer and disciple of Jesus; I am called to follow in His ways. The bible says this about injustice;

“Learn to do right; seek justice.
   Defend the oppressed.
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
   plead the case of the widow.” Isaiah 1v17

 Radical stuff. Obviously, poverty and injustice are massive and hugely complex issues, but everyone is responsible for part of the solution. In all truthfulness, am I doing as much as I can in the everyday aspects of my life to seek justice and achieve this?

 Village Aid strive for a world where ‘people in Africa can enjoy a peaceful society, a prosperous economy and a healthy environment’ on a local and personal level.  As Ghandi poses, are we being the change we want to see? Because essentially, that’s where it starts; the grass-roots of my life affect the grass-roots of my partners in Africa. 

 If you are interested in taking part in or donating to our ‘Hungry for Change’ Challenge, then please visit our facebook page for more details! http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=164403193613290

Spring has sprung, the sun has got his hat on and I am coming to the end of my second delightful week with Village Aid. This week has been chock-a-block with office lunch breaks by the river, recruiting for our FSI 10k challenge, waving farewell to our Programme Officer Kemal as he visits Cameroon, proof-reading reports, compiling databases and exciting trips out of the office.

On World Water Day, (22nd March) I very aptly visited the wonderful students of Buxton Campus Derby University, who held an auction that raised over £1000 for water projects in the Gambia. The money will go to the village community to bore a new well and repair an old one that is currently being contaminated by detergents. The project will use local resources and labor, be low tech and easily repairable and therefore sustainable by the villagers themselves. That’s exactly how Village Aid works-equipping local villagers, based on local needs, on a local level, becasue small scale, sustainable, locally relevant approaches achieve the best results. That way, your pennies go directly and further into the projects!

A second highlight of my week happened on Wednesday. I was privileged enough to take part in Village Aid’s Growing Global theatre in education program. The day was hosted at Manifold primary in Warslow, where 5 local primary schools came together for a celebration of their work in partnership with Growing Global so far, in an African fun-packed feast! The day included workshops with the lovely Sue and Chris on traditional artifacts, African drumming and issue based drama sessions, looking at typical village life and forced marriage. The children found lots of similarities between them and their African counterparts, such as supporting Manchester United and playing the same school games, and could relate to the rural village life issues. We had a yummy African lunch and even the teachers dressed up in the spirit of things! Super excited about how the next week will unfold!

After much anticipation, preparation and all other words ending in –tion, my first day with Village Aid finally arrived! I set to my commute across the beautiful peaks and began my day in the beautiful Bakewell office.

The week began with an induction to the charity, its aims, way of operation and history, followed by a flick through the archives of our West African partners. This was one inspiring story;

  Gamo Jallow is a literacy facilitator in The Gambia. She is disabled after suffering with Polio as a child. Village Aid equipped her with this tailor-made snazzy blue tricylce to enable her independent travel and educate those in villages around her.

This week, I have been writing press releases, organizing fundraising events, making (green) tea, learning about the Pidgin language, looking at how to invigorate, encourage and organise our volunteer network, reading the Third Sector, tweet tweet tweeting and learning how local level community investment is progressive and susainable!  

The team I am working with are very inspiring (I plan to blog them in more detail later). Full of passion and enthusiasm for West Africa and supporting projects at the very roots of conception and function. I really found their attitude and approach to work rubbing off on me and was instantly uplifted by their huge heart and head capacity for what the organization is enabling. Looking forward to the rest of my time here at Village Aid!

After a quick trip home to get a final dose of the London look, before I officially plunge myself into the depths of the Bakewell countryside from Monday onwards, my dear Grandad pipes up; “ What’s all this Voda in aid of though?”

So I thought I would blog for my nearest and dearest a bit about my chosen charity, who I will be working with through Vodafone‘s World of Difference Scheme, Village Aid.

In 1989, Village Aid were established in Bakewell by graduate Andrew Kingman and work closely at supporting locally founded, grass-roots projects in West Africa, specifically The Gambia, Ghana, Cameroon, Sierra Leon and Nigeria. They are the largest International Development Charity in Derbyshire. Andrew wanted a direct and sustainable way to make a change from the UK. The idea is as personal as face to face support, but on a village (Bakewell) to village (various African) scale.

After basing my dissertation project on a play challenging and educating the Western world on their knowledge and attitude towards the AIDS epidemic and other issues Africa faces as a nation, the charity really struck a chord of compassion in me.

I am especially keen on the sustainable, African-led approach to their work in empowering the disempowered to change their lives on a long term basis. I look forward to sharing the stories about some of our African partners who the charity has made a huge difference to in the coming months! In the meantime, visit their website;

www.villageaid.org

Now… to teach my Grandad how to use a computer….

What better venue than Birmingham’s quirky, artsy and indie chic Custard Factory to host the World of Difference Induction Day! On arrival, I was made to feel like a true Vodafone VIP and rubbed shoulders with fellow participants who were just as vibrant as the location.                                                                                                                                                                                         

The day kicked off with an inspiring talk from the programme Ambassador, the fabulous Gok Wan. Gok rocked and gave us a real view on making a difference with our chosen charity. After a delightful lunch, an informative techno training session and a few quick snaps with Gok, we were then given some dazzling pearls of wisdom from the awe-inspiring Simon Weston OBE and Anne-Marie Huby, managing director of JustGiving. 

       *Pearl from Simon; “Find your horse on the carousel of opportunity and ride it until your knuckles bleed…”

       *Pearl from Anne-Marie; “Treat every day as if it were day one.”

I then headed back to Sheffield doing (jam) roly-poly’s of joy, raring to go and make a World of Difference! Thank you Vodafone and Andrew Dunnett for a fantastic day among passionate individuals and the opportunity of this next two months… Watch this space!

Hi there,
I’m really excited to be taking part in Vodafone’s World of Difference programme and looking forward to sharing my stories. Check back soon to see what I’ve been up to in my first weeks.