The 2008 Romania Christmas Card Appeal has been a great success. We managed to raise almost £600 in the sale of the cards. A big thank you to all of you that helped us by selling them to your friends and family.

Oyster volunteers with the new Codlea Wheelchair

All of the money was sent to Romania and has now bought a brand new wheelchair for use at Codlea Children’s Home.

A big thank you once again to all of you that were involved!

Many people are turning the gloom and doom of the recession into an opportunity to get out of the UK, travel and do some worthwhile work abroad.

With the lack of employment opportunities in the job market, others are turning to education to see them through. People are thinking that if they cannot get a job for the foreseeable future, they may as well go to college or University to study and improve their CV in that way. In 2009, this has meant that University applications have seen a massive rise in numbers. The BBC has said that, according to UCAS, over 42,000 more people have applied to University than there are places available.

With that in mind, come August, many thousands of students will be disappointed when they find out that they do not have a University place. We believe that, once over the disappointment, students should see this as an opportunity to enhance their CV and personal development by taking a Gap Year. Read the rest of this entry »

I have just opened a Twitter account for Oyster. The plan is for us to keep it updated as much as possible with the goings on at Oyster, a little bit more regularly than the blog. Watch this space…

To ‘follow’ Oyster, just search for ‘Oyster Worldwide’.

The global economy is in crisis and we’re all tightening our belts. Is this the right moment to be volunteering?

Yes! Volunteering is still a smart move. Here’s why:

You’ll help poorer countries through the crisis by:

• teaching English (vital in this global market)
• helping with social care, health or environmental problems
• spending your money locally
• supporting their tourist industry by sightseeing and travelling around

You’ll help yourself because:

• you can live very cheaply once you’re out there
• you’ll learn new skills and grow in confidence
• you’ll enter the jobs market with a more impressive CV
• AND you’ll have a great time!

We hope this motivates you to keep stacking those supermarket shelves and raise the cash. It really is worth it!

Oyster is a small and well regarded Gap year organisation sending volunteers and paid workers to 10 destinations worldwide. We are able to offer an internship for 6 months at our UK office. The last month is spent overseas on one of our projects (Emma, our present intern has opted for our Australian working program).

Ideally, the right candidate would begin straightaway. You will gain valuable experience in this popular sector in a role that will cover administration, destination management and making presentations to schools. The role is unpaid but mileage to work at 40p a mile is paid for up to 15 miles and a lunch allowance of £3 daily will be paid. Living costs are not covered.

The ideal candidate would be someone who has had a Gap year and who has a desire to work in the Gap year world. He or she would probably be a recent graduate who can multi task and has a car. You would need to be based close to our office which is between Tunbridge Wells and East Grinstead in the South East of England and be prepared to travel to other parts of the UK for recruiting events.

Please email Roger with a CV and cover letter - roger@oysterworldwide.com

This time last year Kenyans were getting ready for change. The then Prime Minister Kibaki, had been in power for the last 40 years and had presided over the most stable political situation in Africa. However this was not to last through the December 2007 elections. The results were extremely close between Kibaki and his opponent Odinga, with each having a sudden increase in votes causing voters to cite corruption in both camps. This resulted in mass protests throughout the country lasting for weeks. 260,000 people were left displaced and many more fearing for their safety. Since then the global community has assisted Kenya with the formation of a power-sharing government which has helped the country back.

One of the main casualties of the protests was the Kenyan tourism industry. When the violence broke, the Foreign Office advised against Britons travelling to the country. Oyster had five volunteers due to go to Kenya at the beginning of January and at the last minute we had to cancel their trip. Luckily we were able to find them similar projects in Tanzania and all had a fantastic experience. Read the rest of this entry »

Emma and her African friend

- On the one hand, you’re doing a great thing, immersing yourself in a different culture and contributing to local life;

- On the other hand you’re flying long distances and clocking up a big carbon footprint.

Feeling guilty?

There’s no getting away from the fact that an Oyster placement will add to your carbon footprint. But we think we can justify it. Compare these two scenarios…..

(1) Brad Spender decides to take a two week holiday in Florida. He flies long haul with lots of luggage and books into his airconditioned hotel which is kept so cold that he shoves a jumper on. He hires a car (bigger than he needs, but what the hell) and drives to all the attractions. He has a great time on all the highspeed rides in DisneyWorld, loves the massive tidal waves at the water parks and doesn’t feel too bad about all the food waste and plastic packaging he comes across.

(2) Jules Gapper decides to spend 3 months teaching in Tanzania. She feels rather guilty about flying but uses Oyster’s carbon offset facility (£10 to Tree Aid). She reminds herself that she won’t be driving her car for 3 months too. She arrives in Tanzania with a small amount of luggage and gets stuck in to local life. She loves the way they live, eating local produce and using very little energy. She notices how the Tanzanians manage to recycle practically everything they use. After three months helping local children she comes back to the UK with different attitudes and ideas. She knows how to live simply. She cares about Africa and its future.

We think there’s a big difference between these two travellers. We’d love to know what you think and
whether you have any suggestions for the gap year industry.

Designed by children in Codlea, Romania

After the success of our Christmas card last year; raising around £400 for Romanian Orphans, we have decided to try and beat last years record and help Codlea Children’s home even more. We already have a few keen sellers enlisted to raise money for Codlea but we need more. If you want to be able to send unique Christmas cards that you can guarantee no one else will send (Disabled children from the home designed the card themselves) or if you want to help enrich the lives of these children in Romania then please do get in touch with us and we can send you as many cards as you’d like, to sell to your friends and family. The cards are not too expensive either meaning that you should be able to sell quite a few. Roger is heading up the Christmas card project this year so you can get involved by calling him on 01892 770771 or by emailing on roger@oysterworldwide.com. We would love your help and you really would be making a difference to those orphans lives. Read the rest of this entry »

It is that time of the year again when we are busy in the office collating all of the fantastic quotes and stories that our returned participants have sent us about their time away. Our next quarterly Newsletter is due to be published before Christmas and I want to take this opportunity to invite any people that are away or have been away with us to send in to us any stories that you are bound to have from your time abroad.

Tell us something about where you were living or give a ‘Day in the life of…’ account. Maybe you feel strongly about your Gap Year and would like to write about the benefits of taking a Gap Year - let your imagination run wild!

Stories can be emailed direct to emailus@oysterworldwide.com. Read the rest of this entry »

Australia has been the most popular Gap year destination for years - around a third of Gappers are reckoned to spend some of their Gap year there. However few spend long away from the cities to see the great Outback that covers most of Australia and is key to the Australian economy and culture too.

I was lucky enough to visit Australia in October to launch Australia as a destination for us. I am delighted to say that we now offer a program that guarantees well paid work in the Outback - around £700 pcm with free food and accommodation for agricultural or hospitality work. Participants get an excellent 9 day induction and training course - this one of the reasons that Australian employers are so willing to offer work. Read the rest of this entry »