Project 100 Community Development Officer - Malaysia

SOLS 24/7 is an international organisation focused on providing holistic education programs to urban and rural communities throughout Southeast Asia. Our core program is to provide education in English, IT and Life Skills. We have projects running in Cambodia, East Timor, Laos, India, Japan, Thailand and Malaysia. Over the past 13 years, SOLS 24/7 has trained over 130,000 youths. SOLS 24/7 offers a range of educational programs which cater for children, youth and adults, using SOLS Smart methodologies.

Interested in living and working for a year in Malaysia?

We are looking for motivated people, ready to devote 1 year of their life to an amazing, non-formal education program for underprivileged people in Malaysia. We are expanding Project 100 in 2014 to open 70 new community centers. We will build the capacity of these communities by providing access to free education in English, computer literacy to bridge the widening technology gap, and teach life skills and motivation leading to sustainable employment.

We believe in the power of knowledge. Our Community Development Officers will run and manage a new Community Centre in an underprivileged community in Malaysia to teach, engage and empower the local communities to which they are sent. We have a number of paid placements for international applicants on a yearly renewable contract. It is a demanding and rewarding role, which would suit exceptional socially motivated individuals looking for a new challenge.

·         An amazing opportunity to work and learn with SOLS 24/7, one of the most successful social enterprises in south-east Asia;

·         The opportunity to discover Malaysian culture, meet interesting people and improve your teaching and social skills;

·         Three weeks free training on the use of SOLS 24/7 teaching methodology in our training centre headquarters in Kuala Lumpur;

·         Full accommodation and food provided, plus Rm1000 per month salary on successful completion of probationary period;

·         A bonus of 5-6 month salary on completion of the 12 month contract;

·         Accident insurance and visa costs;

·         Travel costs from Headquarters in Kuala Lumpur to your community placement.

N.B. SOLS 24/7 cannot cover your return flight to Malaysia or health insurance costs.

View full job description and visit our website - www.my.sols247.org/project100/ - before applying

Location:  Malaysia

Supervisor:  Raj Ridvan Singh, International Director (Malaysia)

Minimum contract: 12 months

Person specification

Between 21 and 55 years old Clear English speaking, reading and writing Proof of bachelors degree Proficient in MS Office suite Demonstrable interest in education, NGOs, and poverty alleviation issues Able to manage a community education programme Open minded and sensitive regarding religious belief and culture. Willing to live in a local community Confident, flexible, responsible and motivated. Experience working for an NGO (desirable) Non-formal teaching experience (desirable)

Allowance

1st month Living Allowance Rm 200 Food Allowance 0 (provided at HQ) 2 & 3rd months (probation period) Living Allowance Rm 750 Food Allowance Rm 300 4th – 12th months Living Allowance Rm 1000 Food Allowance Rm 300 5-6 month bonus on completion of 12 month contract

Duties and Responsibilities

·         Manage a Project 100 Community Centre in liaison with village head and local stakeholders, with support from SOLS 24/7 HQ ·         Liaise and work with local community leaders on any administrative matters and maintain good relationships with neighbors in the local community ·         Deliver SOLS unique teaching programme in English, computer literacy and Motivation with support of volunteers and local trainees to adults and children ·         Plan and prepare classes and group courses, assess and report on the development, progress and attainment of students ·         Organise regular community engagement activities such as sports, community clean ups, tree planting, etc... ·         Plan and deliver community awareness programmes such as in oral hygiene, women's rights, sexual health etc... ·         Prepare monthly reports and evaluations for submission to the Admin and Reports Department at the HQ ·         Attend meetings at the HQ as and when necessary ·         Promote the progress and well-being of students, provide guidance to pupils on both educational and personal matters ·         Participate in formal and non-formal functions for SOLS 24/7 as required ·         Any other necessary tasks as requested by his/her supervisor

Contact

To apply, complete the online form and email your CV and motivation letter to apply@sols247.org A: 1 Petaling Commerz and Residential Condos, #1-1, Jalan 1C/149, 57100, Sungai Besi, Kuala Lumpur.   T: +6018 2222 247

Sayonara Sri Lanka

Apologies for the long break. The last few weeks have been characterised by a long period of bumming on the beach which led to an acute lack of motivation for blogging, followed by a flurry of activity from which I have only just surfaced.

This, dear readers, will be the final chapter of the Adventures of Excited and Nervous. So please excuse the length of this post and bear with me as I bring you up to the present moment, with me sitting in the common room of an NGO is Kuala Lumpur preparing for a year alone in the jungle. (It's the last post- I have to be dramatic)

Lunch at Wijaya Beach

Let me take you back 3 weeks ago in order to pick up where I left off. As you know, after Ella we hitched a ride in a car to the south coast to re-reunite with Dan, Andrea & Zsofia whilst they were on holiday for Eid al-Adha 

The Brothers Not-So-Grimm

Dan & Andrea stayed at the lovely Apa Villa in Thalpe, with an infinity pool in which Zsofia gave Rich some bubble blowing lessons in exchange for the privilidge of pulling his beard

tuna sashimi

We based ourselves in the popular coastal village of Unawatuna which has a plethora of budget accommodation, of which we chose to reside at both the charming & humble Amma's Guesthouse and buzzing hangout Pink Elephant. We slowed down time for a week with sunbathing, swimming, drinking and eating seafood fresh from the ocean. Occassionally raw.

Ayervedic treatment and massage is popular in Sri Lanka. We visited the Sanctuary Spa to experience this ancient therapy and both had a delightful massage. For anyone doing the same, the oils used on your head require actual shampoo and hot water to rinse clean. If you only have access to soap and cold water, you may have to live with hair that always looks wet for a couple of weeks...

Any words here would be superfluous.
Whoops.

Beside the whole 'doing nothing in paradise' part, it wasn't all rosy. Poor Rich broke a tooth and suffered a few days of toothache before we decided to make a trip to the hospital in Galle for some dental attention. 

Rich's colourful mix of antibiotics

Extending our day out, we went to Galle Fort (yet another UNESCSO World Heritage site), which did a remarkably good job of withstanding the tsunami and is described as 'an urban ensemble which illustrates the interaction of European architecture and South Asian traditions from the 16th to the 19th centuries'. So there you go.

Lighthouse at Galle Fort

There were a couple of cool graffiti murals about protecting the ocean.

We also visited a turtle hatchery in Koggala where they protect the eggs before releasing them back onto the beach for them to make their way into the ocean as unfortunately many of the eggs laid in this area are stolen for sale on the black market in order to use as an ingredient in illegal soups and medicines. They also nurse rescued turtles back to health before releasing them.

 

If we thought Unawatuna was paradise, then it was only because our limited life experience meant we couldn't even imagine somewhere more chilled out, until we moved 30 kilometres East up the coast to a place called Mirissa. Mirissa is popular with surfers so its easy to while away the days watching them catch breaks whilst sat in a hammock sipping coconuts. I will let the pictures speak for themselves this time.

Fresh seafood was another highlight...

...after working out which bits you can and can't eat

When all this relaxing and eating in beautiful surroundings got too much, we decided to put ourselves through a five hour stomach endurance test. Well, it was sold as a whale watching tour, but this might as well have been the tagline. Mirissa is famous for being one of the best places in the world to spot blue whales.

Mirissa harbour - the calm before the storm

Getting to see a blue whale would have been priceless, but as it turned out we paid £30 to watch twenty Europeans wretch into little plastic bags for 5 long hours on rough seas. Five out of the German family of seven we sat next to were begging to be taken back to shore between passing their full sick bags back to the crew in exchange for a fresh bag. I've never seen anything like it- but the crew persevered with the tour. It was miraculous that neither Rich nor I got seasick, along with only a handful of others on board. We even survived the storm on the way back which drenched everyone and had the not-insignificantly-sized boat moving forward at a permanent 45degree tilt. 

On the up side, we did see some dolphins and a hammerhead shark - which was very cool. Photos were impossible in the conditions. Not sure if anyone would really want to see them anyway... Instead, here is a photo of what a blue whale might have looked like had we seen one.

On the topic of nature, here is a pic of our first land monitor in the garden outside our hut in Mirissa.

Big fella

The Mirissa bubble eventually had to end and we packed up, jumped on a public bus and headed to Colombo, the capital, for our final few days. The city is very much under construction, but if you look for it there are little pockets of interesting buildings and views hidden among the throng of cars and tuktuks.

Rich's backpack broke so we headed to Pettah Market for a bargain replacement

We visited the National Museum Colombo, set in a lovely garden which makes a nice break from the city's roads. Established in 1877 it's Sri Lanka's largest museum and another colonial legacy.

On the final couple of days we treated ourselves and paid to use the pool at the fancy Cinnamon Hotel.

After this final bit of luxury it was time to catch our flight to Kuala Lumpur.

And so, this brings me up to the present. Before our Sri Lanka adventure was up we made a few changes to our plans, hence this being the final post in the Adventures of Excited and Nervous. I am now two weeks in to a one year contract for an Asian NGO, currently undergoing training in Kuala Lumpur in order to be posted out to run a community centre in rural Malaysia in the next few weeks - I've yet to learn where exactly I'll be going. As I write this, Rich is in Penang, an island off the west coast of Malaysia exploring the jungle and meeting turtles on empty beaches! He is spending a couple of weeks here before heading to Japan. First stop is Tokyo, then onto Sapporo to visit the delectable Paul Hanlon, a friend from university. After Sapporo he will be going to South Korea and then into Thailand for Christmas. To say I'm jealous would be an understatement! 

What this does mean folks, is that this blog is now complete as we head in different directions to have our own adventures - still excited and perhaps both a little less, and a little more nervous.

Thanks for reading - love to all!

Rice & Curry tribute

Hi folks, please try to contain your hysteria as I announce that this is the penultimate post of The Adventures of Excited and Nervous! Before the final curtain I would like to share some of our food journey over the last month with you all.

This post is dedicated to rice & curry, Sri Lanka's national dish. It consists of rice, any number of different vegetable curries, including Dahl plus coconut sambal, popadams, and optional meat or fish curry. The variety as we travelled across the country was incredible, as were the dedicated chefs we encountered.

This largest meal of the day is commonly eaten for lunch. And then a smaller version, perhaps rice with only 2 vegetable curries, for dinner. Sri Lankans have a daily feast. So much food arrives at the table. Rich and I took to sharing most meals as we weren't able to finish a whole portion each, and it wasn't for lack of trying.

Aside from eating our way around Sri Lanka, we also tried our hand at cooking ourselves, attending a cooking class at Nautilus in Unawatuna. Going to the market to choose our vegetable and fish was also a great part of the experience.

And here's what we made.

For some simple rice and curry recipes to try at home this website is very straighforward.

I will be back soon to fill you in on the end of our Sri Lankan adventure!

Read only if you really really LOVE tea

..you might want to put the kettle on...

 Ella is a wonderful little village in the hill country surrounded by tea plantations. The weather is sunny but not too hot, the vista in every direction makes you feel small in the good way (yes- looking for original ways to say 'nice view') and the only minor drawback is that they seem to have a bit of a fly problem. Or maybe that was just me after 3 weeks of backpacking...
Tea is huge in Sri Lanka and most of it is grown here in the hills where the temperatures are a little cooler.

The land of rolling tea plantations

We visited the Uva Halpewatte tea factory for a tour to learn more...

Each plantation, and all the plantation workers, are run independently by farm managers and the factories have no influence. The manager sets the no. of kilos the workers must pick each day to earn their salary, based on a visual survey of how much looks harvestable that morning. 

The tea pickers choose the younger leaves from the top of the tea bush as these give the highest quality. Machines were once tested to pick the leaves but results were poor as the best way to identify these younger softer leaves is through human touch. Most people in this area are employed through the tea industry, which employs over 1 million people, directly & indirectly, throughout Sri Lanka, and has played a key role in the country's development.

The leaves are at the factory day after being picked. They are then spread out to dry at air temperature for 12-15 hours losing 45% of their weight & moisture. Next, the leaves are put through machines called 'rollers' which break down the cell structures in the leaves to initiate the chemical processes which create the strength, flavour, quality etc... There are 4 rollers each taking 20-30 minutes. Some leaves are sieved and removed after roller 1 (highest quality) and the rest goes through roller 2 and so on until roller 4 is left with only stalks and tougher older leaves. This residue is used as fertiliser and to make the poorer quality cheaper tea that is sold in Sri Lanka. 95% of tea grown here is exported.

The broken down leaves are then left out to ferment and oxidise for 2-3 hours. After this they are fired to cease oxidation and fully remove the moisture.Now it is ready for packaging according to different grades based on size of the broken leaf which depends on which roller it came out of. Still following?!

We got to taste 4 different grades, the stronger end goes into English breakfast tea and the higher quality more refined flavour is for more speciality teas, apparently more suited to the afternoon dahling. This factory only produces black tea. All other tea comes from exactly the same plant but is just processed differently. 

The whole process from plant to packaging takes only 24-36 hours. Samples are sent to tea brokers, of which there are only 8 in Sri Lanka. These tea experts will taste and value the tea (as each crop obviously has variations) and then sell at a physical auction to tea magnates from around the world. The consistent flavour we find in most of our famous tea brands come from their method of blending lots of different teas from different places. So it's very unlikely you would drink tea only made in Sri Lanka.

What's particularly interesting is the way that the technology and method of distribution has changed so little over the last century. They seem very proud of these methods. The only modern additions to the factory are electronic scales and some air humidifiers.

Phew. After learning all we could about tea we climbed Little Adams Peak, named after the larger and more famous Adams Peak further West in the hill country, a pilgrimage site where Adam is said to have first set foot on Earth after being cast out of heaven, also know as Sri Pada, the sacred footprint left by the Buddha as he headed toward paradise. It's little sister was not too little and presented us with beautiful views of surrounding hills and waterfalls.

We passed this exclusive and isolated set of holiday homes en route...

...shortly before finding the helipad that serves these ridiculously nice cottages

Useful sign at the top of another nearby peak

The lovely Ruwana Falls

We managed to hitch a ride in a real life air conditioned car down to the South coast as a driver had just dropped someone off in Ella and had to go back down but wanted to make a few bob along the way if he could. So compared to 113km for £25 in a tuk-tuk, 180km in a car for £12 was pure affordable luxury. We're not getting lazy, just making sure to sample all forms of transport available in Sri Lanka yah?

stopping off for a short-eat