Joining Vine Trust’s Jubilee Hope Expedition on Lake Victoria in Tanzania was one of the most life changing experiences, and I’m so grateful for the Dr Julia McLean Grant Fund for helping to facilitate it. I honestly had no expectations prior to the expedition, and my experiences on Jubilee Hope far exceeded anything I could have possibly imagined. Our days began with a health talk and patient registration on the island, and then we returned to the ship for clinics. As a student, I was encouraged to give everything a go, from taking histories and being involved in managing patients…

Over 20 years ago the Amazon Hope 2 visited my town.  On board and through our church we learnt of The Vine Trust and it’s work in Peru and I thought what an amazing thing it would be to volunteer.  However, working in admin, I had no usable skills so it was nothing more than a ‘what if?’ moment.  However, years later and having worked as a phlebotomist/ lab assistant and now a healthcare support worker, a chance conversation with a veteran of many Vine Trust trips to both Peru and Tanzania, my ‘what if’ began to become more of…

Spending 2 weeks on the Peruvian Amazon in July 2024, as part of my medical school elective, was an unforgettable and unique time that I never thought I’d experience as a student. It was a very useful clinical and cultural experience for both my personal and professional development, and one I know that I will look back fondly on for many years. I have always been interested in remote and rural healthcare, alongside a long-term desire to travel to South America, so when I discovered the Vine Trust and the electives they offered, I knew it was the perfect choice…

  Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine I would be delivering a baby in the middle of the Amazon River in Peru!! But I did and I had the most amazing, magical experience of my life while volunteering with the Amazon Hope Medical programme in November 2023.   Initially when my friend asked me to join them on this trip I was very apprehensive as I had never travelled very far and I was scared of most things, planes, piranhas, snakes and spiders!! I knew this trip was going to put me way out my comfort zone,…

Saturday 31st of August  Wilson Shaw  With both house builds taken as far as we can help, and after saying farewell to the families, it’s time for some downtime whilst we await to travel home on Monday. The experience has been profound and touched me in ways I didn’t expect.  Whilst I was strangely able to compartmentalise and process the very challenging living conditions and heartbreaking back stories of the families we were helping, and those we were fortunate to witness getting the keys to the homes started by the high school visits earlier in the summer, it was experiencing the hand…

Updated 02/07 Kwaheri (goodbye) from Tanzania! As we are about to board our final flight home it’s time to wrap up what has been one of the most unbelievable experiences ever. Throwing it back to Thursday which was a day of mixed emotions as we went to visit the home of Jackson and his granny, the family who Mr Gruba built a house for the first time he came to Tanzania 6 years ago with a previous group of students. Then on Friday we had our final visit to the site to say our goodbyes and hand over all our…