VAE's original aims were to give a western educated, privileged student the opportunity to live and work in what would be a completely alien culture to them.

It wanted to challenge students and to test their self-reliance so that they would return much more confident and with a huge sense of achievement.

These aims have not changed, but the opportunities in the area of Kenya where we work have.

Over the years, VAE volunteers have been so successful that we have acquired a reputation for being an organisation that can achieve anything. Headmasters and Chairmen of schools write endlessly to make sure that their school can secure volunteers. Teachers moan that they do not have enough volunteers to help ease their chronically overloaded timetables. Educational inspectors visit the schools and marvel at the progress being made; even politicians and local chiefs want part of the action. Parents queue to ask for help, while the more serious students know that they will get extra tuition, and the less serious know that they will get games.

Why such notoriety? Because the VAE volunteer does his job. We only go to schools that are short of teachers, and so teaching remains an integral part of the job. Volunteers tend to be good at petty administrative tasks such as organising exam papers and creating systems for the few books available so that they will be used more effectively, thus making the school more efficient. They know how to set up libraries and make them work. They are often good at organising games, and each year organise the VAE football tournament in Gilgil stadium with all our schools. This for many children will be the highlight of their lives, not only being their first visit to town, but also an experience like playing at Wembley!

VAE only does a little in the grand scheme of third world poverty, but we are helping to create a more stable and mature education system and are pushing forward the development of certain communities. We are relieving a considerable financial burden on parents and giving them a vision for their future. We give a lot of children a lot of fun, and we give a few children the chance of a lifetime. Volunteers are special people with great responsibilities thrust upon them, and it is their input that gives VAE its good name.

What did you do for your gap year?