Seeing the world in a new way

Sophia is a Gap Year Volunteer with CAFOD and shares with us some of what she has experienced over the past few months.

Sophia running for CAFOD as part of her walk for water and half marathon training.

This academic year I am taking part in Step Into the Gap, CAFOD’s gap year programme. In a usual year, I would be working with schools or in a retreat centre and we would be taking an international trip. The times being what they are, I am working from home doing tasks for the education section, and there is no international trip.

Yet, sometimes a loss can be a gain: instead of focusing on learning solely about the country that we are due to visit, we have instead been meeting a country representative or programme officer from a different country each month, which is giving us a fuller picture of CAFOD’s extensive work around the world. This Lent, I shall be sharing some reflections from these calls.

Find out more about Step into the Gap

Step into the Gap Nicaragua – Bernadette: The joy of living is to serve

CAFOD blog

Bernadette is one of CAFOD‘s Step into the Gap volunteers. She’s currently working as a chaplain at St. Mary’s Catholic Academy in Blackpool and is visiting CAFOD partners in Nicaragua.

Hola from Nicaragua. There is so much I want to share with you already and I think the easiest way is to give you an insight into the trip so far to give people a whole view of the experience. So here goes, when I said in my pre blog about looking forward to the opportunity to see the work that CAFOD is involved in I never realised how much I would experience so quickly.

Find out about Step into the Gap

Practising for CYMFED Flame 2

On our first full day in Managua, the capital city, we headed out as a group to meet the Central America CAFOD team based here in Managua. This was an opportunity to…

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18 – 30? Want to change the world?

‘I ask you to be builders of the world, to work for a better world.’

– Pope Francis, World Youth Day, Rio 2013

Are you ready to take an adventure that will change you and those around you? Your journey begins and ends in the UK, but takes you to one of the poorest countries in the world to meet amazing people and to share their lives.

CAFOD is offering a gap year experience in partnership with Cardinal Newman School (near Brighton), Good Shepherd Parish (near Burnley), Just Youth (Salford), Newman University (Birmingham), St. Mary’s College (Blackpool) and YMT (near Durham).

The placement runs from September to July with a 4 week overseas trip during the year. Volunteers receive accommodation, living and travel expenses, training, and support and mentoring.

Deadline for applications: Monday 31st March 2014: for more information, visit the website or email youngleaderhsip@cafod.org.uk!