What's needed? PATIENCE, FLEXIBILITY and a GOOD SENSE OF HUMOUR! MAKE A DIFFERENCE Join us for a life-changing experience. In our brochure you will find a good choice of trips, providing you with opportunities to make a real difference. Whether this is your first time with Smile or you are one of the many volunteers who return year after year, we know you will benefit from seeing God at work in your life as you share the love of Jesus with those in need. Over 1,000 volunteers, from 16 to 78 years old, have given their time to help with various Smile projects. As an individual, couple, family* or church group there are wonderful opportunities for you to get involved and work in some of the world’s poorest communities. *We offer families and single parent families the opportunity to join a Smile trip to Kosova in August and December to distribute aid and shoeboxes to children and families. Minimum age for children on these trips is 11 years. Unique Opportunity Each trip is unique and is a real eye-opener to the difficulties faced by so many. as part of a team, you will not only bring real encouragement to our partner organisations and those whom they help but also be involved in hands-on mission. Some teams concentrate on working with children, young people or widows in a variety of projects, such as holiday clubs, teaching English, aid distribution or working with the local churches. Other teams focus on practical tasks such as painting and decorating, maintenance or building work.

Roma camp, Kosova Molife School, Zimbabwe

Flexible Choices
If you wish to stay for a shorter or longer period than the stated trip dates, or perhaps at a different time of the year, we are flexible in the arrangements you may make – you can stay for anything from a week to a year. We also offer Gap Year opportunities – our Gap Year brochure is available from our office. Please contact our Ministry Trips Co-ordinator at the Smile office who will be pleased to discuss your requirements. Brochure & Application downloads

    
 Laying tiles at Children's Centre, Uganda – Smile Centre, Sri Lanka – Kosova team of 35 from Tove Valley Baptist Fellowship, Northamptonshire

EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT

Book and pay for your trip 6 months before the departure date and enjoy a £50 discount off the total cost of the trip. See our Terms and Conditions of Contract sheet.

CAREER BREAKS

Do you want to do something positive, worthwhile and challenging in a developing country and give something back? More and more people are recognising the value of a career break, as an opportunity to take some time away from work and to pursue other interests, giving a complete change from their normal working environment. Use your skills, abilities and enthusiasm to make a real difference – a life-changing experience will be guaranteed! If you are interested, we invite you to contact Richard Westbrook on mintrips@smileinternational.org to discuss your requirements. Applicants must be a UK citizen resident in the UK. Brochure & Application downloads

Sri Lanka – John distributing aid and Sarah at the Smile Centre in Hambantota

SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE

We invite you to join us on a Smile trip and be prepared for God to work in your life as a result of serving Him in mission. We trust you will return from your trip with a love for the country you have visited, a desire to continue to help the people you have met, and then share your experiences with others to encourage them to step out of their comfort zone and get involved with Smile.

As you read through the brochure we hope you will feel challenged to join us. We are looking for people who will contribute to a team and who are prepared to both give and receive. You will have an opportunity to share the love of Jesus with those you meet and make lots of new friends in the process. Early booking is advised.

   
Aid for Ooty School, Bangalore, India – Hope and Faith Community School, Zambia – Roma camp, Kosova

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DESTINATIONS, DATES AND PRICES

• All prices are per person. We encourage applicants coming on a Smile trip to make a donation, over and above the costs detailed below. The suggested minimum donation for the Balkan and European destinations is £125 and for Africa and Asia is £200. The donation is put towards Smile projects.

• A non-returnable non-transferable deposit of £50 is payable with all applications.

• There is a surcharge in regard to insurance for those aged 70-75 years of age. Those over 75 years are not covered by our travel insurance and should obtain their own.

• Download Ministry Trips Destinations Dates Prices sheet 2008 PDF (106 KB)

• Download Ministry Trips Destinations Dates Prices sheet 2009 PDF (101KB)

2008:

TEAM REPORTS

Smile International Ministry Trip to Uganda 2007 – Sarah Wright On 22nd July, I met the Uganda Smile team, comprising of 13 strangers aged 14-74 years at Heathrow airport and boarded the 9-hour overnight flight to Entebbe. On landing we were greeted by Pastor Stephen, and our journey continued with the bumpy ‘roads’ and aromas of Uganda being our first insight into how different the way of life is there. In the afternoon we visited the Stephen Jota Children’s Centre, the primary school where most our time and energy would be focused during the trip. The children were very excited by our arrival and cries of “mzungu” (meaning ‘white man) could be heard across the school. We soon settled into the routine of lessons, break-times and chores, directed more by the thunderstorms than the clock! There is no being conspicuous as a mzungu and at first, entering a class of 50+ children all staring at you, was a little daunting! But they were so welcoming, with dances and songs, we soon felt part of the staff team and enjoyed our new found status as ‘Teacher Sarah’. From Maths to Geography, English, to Religious Studies, we were soon teaching anything and everything, learning many new facts ourselves!

The children are so keen to learn and desperate for attention, you have to persuade them to go to break-time, a strange comparison to English schools! Whilst some of the team taught the older ones or painted the school, I spent most my time in Nursery. Although the teaching material itself was less challenging than for those teaching ‘O-level’ maths to Primary 7 (P7), Nursery brought its own unique obstacles. Learning to be translated is a real skill that takes a while to master, as is leading a one-hour prayer session for 50 children under five years! We also spent a lot of time doing arts and crafts with the children, from Play-Doh to face painting, stickers to beaded necklaces – they loved every minute and even the total novelty of a packet of crayons was evident. Footballs, in exchange for their ‘tin can’ and endless parachute games were also well received.

During our time in Uganda we took classes P5 and P6 on their second-ever school trip. Many children had never been out of the orphanage/school let alone on a bus before and excitement was at its highest! No one seemed to mind that there were 2 kids to a seat or that our destination was the airport (to see where mzungus come from!) Their faces were priceless when we bought them each a bottle of soft drink … with a straw!

When we weren’t at the school we spent time visiting families in the slums and encouraging local churches. A visit to the main government hospital in Kampala was triggered when one of the 15 HIV widows Smile International sponsors was taken very ill. She had been left by her daughter on the side of the road due to the stigma associated with HIV deaths in the slums where she lived. We also distributed rice, sugar and soap aid to all the patients on the ward as patients in government hospitals are expected to provide all their own food and personal care.

Sadly many are just too poor or have no one who is able to visit them. Treatment is given only on condition of being able to afford the care and so many just lie there with no hope of finding the funding. Suddenly the NHS, my future workplace, didn’t seem so bad. Many of the HIV affected population suffer secondary linked diseases due to their failing immune systems but the TB isolation ward was anything but isolated. There was a real sense of helplessness. Having prayed for our friend, patient after patient, even Muslims, requested prayer from the Smile team - totally unexpected but very exciting! God was certainly at work that day. I prayed for a Christian prisoner who had not been prayed with for many years, and held hands with people who had not been touched for months. The power of human touch is incomprehensible, and although language was a major barrier, body language came into a world of its own. Somehow we’d taken a ray of light went in with us and achieved smiles from people who thought no one cared.

On the final weekend, we headed south, over another 9 hours of pot holes and ditches to Murchison Falls National Park for a rather speedy safari. It did mean getting up at 5 am for 3 consecutive days, but we were fortunate enough to see giraffes, elephants, hippos and crocodiles, plus the most amazing waterfalls! It is true that water is limited and electricity a novelty. Each mouthful of food too, we quickly learnt to receive with gratitude. Yet these people have something we do not – a real sense of community, sharing and love. Nothing is too much trouble and families … are families, until torn apart through poverty/bereavement. There is no fast pace of life, and a job is simply the most amazing blessing. If I’m honest, before I left, I wondered if short term ministry was even “right” but being a link in an ongoing project has been such a privilege and as team member ‘Teacher Jjejja’ (Grandma Joan) showed us, you are never too old! My life has been challenged, my faith has been stretched and my heart has grown. I learnt so much form these beautiful people … and hopefully given a little back to them too.

Romania Trip 2007 Morgan – "This was my first visit to eastern Europe. Romania is a very poor country and I was greatly touched by the humility of the church there. My understanding of what Paul really means has been challenged, as indeed has my own personal attitude to personal wealth." Zambia Trip 2007 Ray Avenell – "We met a number of inspirational people and our team really worked well together. We used our God-given gifts to encourage others and saw first hand how God is working physically amongst children and young people." Sue Shadloo – "The Smile trip, as with the others I have been on, has been really well organised from start to end. The time set aside for fellowship each day with team members is invaluable. This trip has been a complete spiritual refreshment for me! I have come home feeling they have given me far more than I gave and I feel privileged to have been able to work amongst these wonderful people."

Ray helping to distribute Gifts With Love chickens