Back Home!!

Well,...we finally made it back home. Claudia left in the very morning and we, Mika, Caro and me, had still a few hours to relaxx.
After the quite exhausting travel by train to the airport, we were pretty happy as we finally sat down in the airplane.
All in all we had a really good time in Southampton and want to say "thank you" once again to Carolyn. She did an awesome job and made our time in South England unforgetable.

See you all back in MCI-we can't wait to say all our peeps once again. ;-)

It's time to say goodbye

Today we had our final presentations. Everything worked well and we got a great feedback. Now we are looking forward to the evening celebrating our success with our friends from Innsbruck. Tomorrow nearly everybody is going to leaqve Southampton towards London, Ireland, Mallorca or just back home to good old Austria.
That's it for now...laters ;-)

RNLI Station in Cosham

Yesterday we visited the RNLI Station in Cosham and we were all very impressed by the organisation and the work they do. The short film we watched at the beginning gave us a good introduction but the highlight was definitely when Bryan took us for a tour around the Lifeboat. After to come up smiling a bit of seasickness, we enjoyed the rest of the day having a walk along the sea, or just relaxing at the beach of Cosham. We were really happy about the wonderful weather, which makes the day absolutely fantastic.
Of course we took many pictures of the stunning coastline, the most beautiful of them are coming soon... ;-)

The National Trust

Yesterday we visited The National Trust in Stourhead and it was an amazing excursion. First we had a short introduction about the charity and what they do by the general manager of the Stourhead Garden. In our case it was quite convenient because our project is about The National Trust. After the presentation we had the chance to stroll through the garden. Although the weather was typical british (foggy and rainy) we could take impressive pictures of the fascinating nature.

Some impressions from Southampton...

Trip to Portsmouth, Queen Alexandra Hospital

Today we visited a very very very... :-) big hospital at Portsmouth. Before having a short tour through the huge building, we listened to two speakers. Firstly Glen Hewlett, Director of Developement and Estates, explained us all the history of the hospital, focusing on the architectural process. The second presentation, held by Sue Clark, Senior Nurse was very informative too and dealed about the NHS in general and what role it plays concerning the hospital in Portsmouth. After the theory we could get a quick insight in the hospital, which was amazing. The lady who took us around was very nice and tried to show us as much different parts of the building as possible.

All in all the trip was full of great impressions and, compared to the last days in Southampton, a welcome change.

SureStart-a place where moms get help and find a place to rest and feel save.

Yesterday we finally got out of the university and visited the first organisation, called SureStart.
SureStart is an organisation for young families or single moms and dads. They get help in any type of problems and issues, they have to face, when they have a baby.

It was very interesting, since two women told us everything and were open for every question. They told us about the projects such as "How do I cook easy and healthy food?" (Some of us were about to ask, if it was possible to join as well :-) ), "How can I find a job even though I have a baby?", or they just go there, if they have any questions according to the health of the baby and general questions about parenting, or if they just want to talk to other moms who are in the same situation. The institution also offers the possibility to borrow games and books for their kids. This is especially useful for families who can't afford to buy any.

SureStart is completly supported by the government and receives most of their budget from them. The problem of being supported by the government, is that they have to proove very detailed if their work is worth it...in two years they have the next "reporting day".
We are very certain, that this organisation is definitely worth being supported and should get as much help as they need and will need.


Current weather situation: rainy, windy and if the sun is very polite, she shows up for a few minutes... :-)

Current W-lan situation:...none...