I am back from my incredible trip to Mexico, where I was given the opportunity to see so much of the Mexican culture, try so much of their delicious food, and meet so many people, not just from Mexico but from all over the world, including various parts of the USA, Canada, Colombia, Germany, other parts of England, and of course Mexico!

As well as meeting many Girl Guides and Girl Scouts we also met many children at our given service project as part of our friendship session at Our Cabana. It was Wednesday night and we had just finished our group meeting about the following day, where we would be volunteering at a local orphanage. All 12 girls and 3 leaders now knew which age group they would be assisting and also knew what activities we would be doing whilst there. All 15 of us split into three groups. Group 1 was the leaders helping the babies, group two was 6 girls helping toddlers aged 1-3 and the other 6 helping children aged 4-6. I was part of group 2 and so would be helping toddlers aged 1-3, During this day we would play with the children, feed wash and dress them. Thursday was an emotional roller coaster but felt really good to know we were helping somewhere where was needed. The children there were lovely and by the sounds of the other group we had the calmer lot. We spent all morning keeping the children occupied with ball pits, books, and toys. They loved it! Due to the lack of staff in the orphanage the children required a lot of attention, and as soon as we went into the room full of about 12 cots one little boy clung onto me for dear life and was now my little buddy for the rest of the day, until nap time where we took the opportunity to eat lunch and from that I have concluded that mexican cheese is much different to English cheese! After lunch we helped feed the children. They didn't need much-assisting eating and most definitely didn't need assistance with making a mess, although it was rather funny to watch, as they coated themselves in pasta sauce! Next, luckily, was shower time! Which was loud and wet, and noisy. After shower time when they were dressed we went back in the playroom to play some more, the ball pit never gets old! and after a long tiring day we left the orphanage and returned to Our Cabana. Our service project was a surreal day and was full of many emotions. But if anybody asked if I would like to help out again I would say yes in a heartbeat! It was incredible!.

Although we were able to meet many Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, unfortunately we were not able to meet as many people as planned as two groups were unable to attend our friendship session in Our Cabana, due to various reasons which did leave us the only group there for 8 days but luckily throughout the trip we still were able to meet lots of international Girl Scouts and Girl Guides, mainly in Ticalli (a Girl Guide hostel in central Mexico City) but also the staff at Our Cabana ( Girlguiding world center) who are international volunteers, so we still got to see some international culture. They presented their country in such a creative way they recreated an aeroplane atmosphere where they took us all around different parts of the world and every member of staff presented the wonders of their country through pictures, videos, jokes and games. The 'plane' then landed in England where we present Leicestershire! We put on a play choosing something significant for each year since the millennium. That play is definitely memorable. After our 'flight' we had a fiesta with lots of music, dancing, singing, and a very funny game with a very unusual shaped pinata. Although it wasn't quite the international experience we were expecting it was amazing and we met some lovely people from all over the world, who hopefully are lifelong friends!

This and the service project and much more including sightseeing, food tasting, badge collecting, Spanish speaking, and waterfall jumping wouldn't be possible without the help from JHMT Thank you so much for the grant you gave me it helped me heaps and heaps to be able to pay for this amazing trip which was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I am very grateful to be chosen to be a part of it! Thank You so much JHMT!