Advanced Highers student, Mhairi MacDonald, jumped out over the skies over Fife to raise money for Lattitude Global Volunteering.
This month Mhairi completed the daredevil stunt to raise as much money as she can for her gap year, volunteer teaching and working with street children in Ecuador.
Mhairi has just taken Advanced Highers in maths, chemistry, biology and physics at Queensferry High School and hopes that her gap year will help her make up her mind about what she wants to do with her future.
“I’m hoping my time in Ecuador will help me in my desire to explore the world, travel to a new country and learn about a different way of life. Lattitude has helped me find a placement that would both suit me and benefit the community I’ll be volunteering in. I am excited about and grateful for the opportunity to volunteer abroad, no matter what comes from it.”
Ecuador is unique among Lattitude’s programmes in that it offers each volunteer the chance to work at two placements each day, teaching in the mornings and a different placement such as working with street children or environmental projects in the afternoons. This gives the volunteers the chance to make a difference to two distinct communities during their time in Ecuador. All volunteers will live with a host family whose son or daughter is volunteering in the UK.
Mhairi continued: “I want to learn about another culture, another language, I want to do something practical and of use. I’ve always wanted to explore and get some experience of the real world before university.”
Lattitude’s Marketing Manager, Nick Adie, said: “With youth unemployment at its worst since the 1980s, young people must do something to set themselves apart from other applicants. Whether before or after university, volunteering abroad or in the UK can give young people a skill set or experience which allows them to stand out from the crowd.”
Lattitude Global Volunteering is a youth development charity and is celebrating its 40th Anniversary year during 2012. It’s biggest accolade to date, sending its 40,000th volunteer to Ecuador in September of this year.
To support Mhairi with her sky dive and future fundraising activities, please go to http://www.justgiving.com/mhairigoestoecuador
