VOLUNTEER Eva Ostergaard is one of five volunteers who will be travelling to Africa in January to join Voluntary Services Overseas.

Eva will be part of the team based in Taita-Taveta who will be learning more about the Kenyan county and finding out how volunteers can best help its residents in the future.

The project is run in partnership with International Citizen Service and will be the first VSO has organised in Taita-Taveta.

Eva, of Old Town, will be spending three months with the residents helping them to set up sustainable businesses and conduct market surveys to find out how volunteers can help the community as well as speaking to residents about domestic violence.

As someone who has never before travelled outside of Europe, this is a new experience for the 21-year-old who said: “I have never done anything like this before. The fundraising has been very challenging – it is very scary, but very exciting.”

When a family friend, who is already working as a volunteer in Africa, recommended she look into Voluntary Service Overseas, Eva felt inspired to join the project.

She says she is keen to see “what the world has to offer” and believes the experience will be incredibly fulfilling, giving her the opportunity to share her own knowledge with Taita-Taveta’s residents, and she hopes that she will learn something from her time there.

While the group of volunteers will not travel to Kenya until the end of January, preparations are already under way for the trip.

Before being accepted onto the project, applicants attended a seven-hour assessment day, during which they participated in various tasks to find out if they were suitable for the role.

This included tasks such as using paper to create a sturdy bag and 20 successful applicants from around the UK then attended a training day in Swindon, to prepare for projects around the world, including Nairobi and Cambodia, five of whom will form the team travelling to Taita-Taveta.

While Volunteer Service Abroad is funding 90 per cent of the expedition, volunteers have been asked to raise the final 10 per cent themselves which will go towards International Citizen Service, which funds young people around the UK to volunteer on similar projects.

So far, through a combination of car boot sales, bake sales, sponsored dog walks, and car washing, Eva has raised more than £600 towards the £800 total she needs to fundraise.

Anyone interested in helping Eva to reach her target can visit her JustGiving page at www.justgiving.com/eva-ostergaard