A TEENAGE volunteer is urging other youngsters to take the plunge and help those in different

countries.

Matthew Varney recently returned from spending three months volunteering in Zambia where he was working alongside local volunteers to help fight poverty in one of the world’s poorest communities.

The 19-year-old worked on a project run by international development organisation VSO, which is part of the government-backed International Citizen Service programme.

Matthew’s project focused on improving access to healthcare, educating people about HIV and AIDS and about all other factors of sexual reproductive health.

The former Barton Peveril Sixth Form College student also lived with a host family in order to fully immerse in the local community and gain a better understanding of the challenges they face.

He said: “I knew Christianity was a sincere and precious religion for a lot of Zambians but I didn’t expect them to be so devout that all women were submissive to the men.

“This meant that there was a lot of gender inequality, which was also tied to gender based violence.

“Even though it was a lot of hard work, we were successful enough to change the mindsets of a great number of men, women, boys and girls to stamp out these problems and others for their sakes and the world’s.”

Matthew added: “I thoroughly enjoyed having the confidence to teach my knowledge I had gained from VSO to everyone I could, whether it was youths or adults.”

ICS volunteers, aged 18 to 25, work on long-term projects that seek to end poverty in some of the poorest countries in the world.

Now that Matthew is back in the UK he will be taking on an ‘Action at Home’ project, ensuring that his new skills also benefit the local community.

Matthew added: ‘’Like in the UK, despite all I was teaching, I noticed one thing that I couldn’t shake off when I spending time in Serenje.

“It was how cruel people could be towards their own pets and nature for their own sadistic reasons.

“So I decided to make it my Action at Home project to make people kinder and more caring towards domestic and wild animals, which people should be.”

Felicity Morgan, director of ICS at VSO, said: “It’s really inspiring to hear about the fantastic work Matthew did on placement.”