Danny - Project 2009

I first heard about TEECH through gemma during a summer job. After she had told me about the trip they had just taken I asked if I could be added to the email list so I could start gaining information about TEECH and their annual charity trips. I also checked out the website so I could read up about the charity’s history and look at some of the photos from previous trips.

I decided I wanted to get involved in time for next years trip so I began to tell my friends and family about what I planned to do and asked for sponsors. I even managed to rope one of my uni friends into coming along too! As I was bust at university I didn’t have time to organise any events to help raise money however this is definitely something I would want to do next time!!

The two weeks I spent with TEECH in Romania are among the best in my life – even the coach trip was fun as we all got the chance to get to know each other and stay in a couple of nice hotels. One of the best things about the trip was how so many different people, who otherwise would never have met, are given the chance to get to know each other and become really good friends. Once we arrived at our destination the work began and even though we all worked really hard it was never dull or stressful. Working in a big group meant we could talk and work together for the whole day. It felt good to know the work we were doing would be helping other people and it was these people who made the trip so incredible. So many of them were enthusiastic to work alongside us and were extremely grateful for our help and support which made it all the more worthwhile.

As well as working at our base destination we also travelled to near by schools to drop off gift aids and spent the day with the children. It was amazing to see the students and their families so happy with what they were given. We also had the evenings to ourselves which were brilliant – couple nights out in the local bars and a hilarious ‘Hawaiian Night’ involving lots of local wine and a limbo contest!

As hard as I have tried to explain how worth while the TEECH summer trips are, I think it’s something you cannot fully appreciate unless you experience it yourself. I met some fantastic people all of whom were willing to spend their time helping others. My eyes were opened to the terrible conditions that some people live in so knowing that I might have helped them in any way makes me feel really good about myself as well as happy for them. I cannot wait to go again.