Margaret Ring: Adventure Story

MARGARET'S TOP TIP: Travel off the beaten track and volunteer with your children before they stop wanting to spend time with you!

I have always wanted to volunteer overseas with my son Charlie, so the Adventure Ashram Family Volunteering Programme seemed perfect. We really did have an adventure together and it was amazing to see things through they eyes of a young person experiencing a developing country at grass roots level (rather than some swanky resort) for the first time. I will never forget the look of surprise and delight on his face when we first visited one of the tribal villages to meet some of the sponsored children and a little boy leapt in to his arms without any introduction, completely stripping Charlie of any last ounce of British reserve! Another memory I will treasure was the sight of Charlie with 2 of the village teenagers just hanging out and laughing together, talking about photography, 'phones and basketball. Of course there were the usual arguments (it seems that whatever continent we are on, he will always leave it to the very last minute to get out of bed!) and I was a truly embarrassing mother when I fell in a ditch and had to be pulled out, but as a family it was truly one of the best experiences we will ever have.

Margaret Ring, Adventure Ashram Project Manager