About Lauren

Lauren volunteered with VESL for the first time in September 2011 for three months in India after completing her degree in Geography from the University of Edinburgh, after doing some other work in the charity sector she joined VESL as the Overseas Programme Assistant for three months before returning to India as a Student Leader. Lauren also visited Thailand and Sri Lanka in summer 2012 to visit projects and see volunteers. As of September Lauren is our first full time member of staff, she is committed to driving VESL forward and has lots of past travel and volunteer experiences to draw on.
Author Archive | Lauren
Children in my host family

Student Leader Diary – India 2012 – Saying Goodbye

“There really is an endless list of what I will miss… but hopefully I will get to visit at some point next year!” Lauren Plüss, 2012

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Michelle with the teachers at her school

A day in the life: rural Thailand project

“My favourite part of the day is when the children sit in the hall waiting to see which class room I walk into, which ever class I walk into the students let out a great big cheer.” Michelle Bainbridge, Volunteer in Thailand 2012

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2012 Student Leaders with the Country Manager - Nueng

Student Leader Diary – Thailand 2012 – ‘An Honorary Thai’

Ellie Livermore was our Student Leader from Manchester Metropolitan University this year in Thailand, she volunteered with VESL in 2010 and was able to return to Thailand this year as a Student Leader, here she reflects on her experience. When the opportunity to be a VESL student co-ordinator came up, it was too good to […]

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Before you start calling...

How to stay in touch…

A huge thank you to all our summer 2012 volunteers, we have had amazing feedback from the in country managers and hosts! We really hope that you will continue to support VESL and stay in touch with our news and events. There are numerous ways you can do this once you have returned from overseas, […]

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James with his host and member of his team

Student Leader Diary – Thailand 2012 – The Land of Smiles

James Hallworth was selected as a Student Leader for one of the two Thailand projects that VESL ran at Edgehill University this year, here he reflects on his time overseas and the challenges he faced.   I was very nervous about taking this role due to having no previous management experience. Looking back, I am so […]

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Primary School Students dancing to Jai Ho

Student Leader Diary – India 2012 – Youth Festival

Youth Festival is a festival that occurs every year at schools in India where students are put in competitions for a range of different activities from English recitation to traditional dance, from comedy sketches to Malayalam speeches. The festival is over two days and it was a great chance for us to see some more […]

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Student's reading their new library books

Student Leader Diary – India 2012 – Opening a School Library

We were very lucky to receive a donation of books from Usborne Books before we left, and there was a great selection of books for the children to use.  With these books and money we had raised, we decided, with permission of the school, that it would be good to start a school English library […]

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Lesson on the olympics

Student Leader Diary – India 2012 – Free time…what free time?!

In true context of this post, we have been so busy that we have not had time to write another post – so although this a little delayed… here is my next post about what we have been up to in our free time! We have managed to become involved in lots of different activities […]

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Spending some time with my host family on the beach

Student Leader Diary – India 2012

For the next five weeks I am a Student Leader for the volunteers that are in India this summer, my next couple of blog posts will reflect on this role and my time in India. Arrival in India My first week in India has finished all too quickly and it has been an amazing, busy week! […]

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Eve with washing bucket

Tips for Hand Washing Your Clothes

Washing your clothes while overseas can be an interesting experience.  In my host family, watching me hand wash my clothes was something they found totally hilarious. No matter how many times I did it, and how many lessons I had, I never seemed to quite match up to their standards! These are some tips that […]

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Past volunteers, Hannah Pilcher and Eleanor Reilly, at The Golden Traingle

5 Things to See and Do in Chiang Rai, Thailand

Following on from our blog on what to see and do in Kerala – we didn’t want our Thailand volunteers to feel left out, so we got in contact with some of our past volunteers and have put together a list of top things to do in Thailand – after all you will want to […]

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Fruit Stall in Colombo

VESL’s visit to Sri Lanka 2012

Arriving in Sri Lanka I arrived in Sri Lanka half asleep in the afternoon, I was expecting the chaos that greeted me when I first arrived in India (hundreds of people pushing and shoving to complete forms and get through immigration) but arriving in Sri Lanka was unbelievably calm, I queued for immigration and was through […]

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Students on their best behaviour!

How time flies… [Volunteer Journal]

Lucy Allcock is a student from Edgehill University and she is a volunteer in one of the Student Leadership Programme teams from Edgehill. Lucy has completed her first week in India, here she enlightens you all on how the time has flown by and what an amazing time she has had so far… Wow! It’s […]

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globe map india

VESL’s 2012 Overseas Visits…

I am very lucky as I am off on an adventure this summer with VESL. I am spending seven weeks overseas visiting VESL projects, I will spend a week in both Sri Lanka and Thailand and I am also a Student Leader for the India programme. I leave on Sunday and have just got back from […]

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