the about

Global Xchange is a programme run in partnership between the British Council, Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) and national partner organisations around the world. Based on a programme called Canada World Youth, it was adapted by VSO first as International Volunteer Exhange and then as World Youth. In 2004, VSO entered into partenrship with the British Council and Community Service Volunteers to the programme as Global Xchange. Over 6 months of the programme, 18 young people will gain new skills through volunteering and community development work in the UK and an exchange country.

This exchange is supported by the funding partner, BAA Communities Trust and V, the youth volunteering charity.

For more about the exchange partners visit: http://www.vso.org.uk/globalxchange/about/partnership.htm

For information about Global Xchange visit:
http://www.vso.org.uk/globalxchange/



Team 70 is the UK-Indonesia exchange. The team worked for 3 months already in the UK, volunteering at different placements in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire and Harlow, Essex, which both are parts of Stansted community. The Indonesian phase has started at June and took place in Padang, West Sumatera.

About Stansted


BAA Stansted Airport, a major airport and the third-busiest in the UK, is just 2 miles from the border of Hertfordshire's Bishop's Stortford. So, places where we lived, Bishop's Stortford and Harlow, plus Puckeridge and Hoddesdon, has happened to be considered as Stansted community.



Bishop's Stortford is a market town in east Hertfordshire, on the county boundary with Essex. It is situated just west of the M11, is the closest town to London Stansted Airport, and is part of the London commuter belt. It is within the London Fringe. In the 2006 edition of the Channel 4 'Best and Worst Places to Live in the UK', East Hertfordshire was the seventh best district to live in. The town has a population of about 35,000 (United Kingdom Census 2001) and is administered by the East Hertfordshire district council.





















Harlow is a new town and local government district in Essex. It is located in the west of the county and on the border with Hertfordshire, on the Stort Valley. The town is near the M11 motorway and forms part of the London communter belt. The district has a current population of 78,768 (2005 estimate).












Puckeridge is a village in East Hertfordshire. The earliest settlers in the area were the Belgae, who arrived around 180 BC. A Roman town existed just to the north of the existing village and the village is at the cross roads of two major Roman roads, Ermine Street and Stane Street. The neighbouring villages of Standon and Braughing are recorded in the Domesday Book but Puckeridge is not although it was probably in existence. It survived the Black Death in the 14th century. A number of charities were established in Puckeridge in the 17th century, which gave grants of land that enabled the expansion of the village. The village developed and thrived because it was on the coaching route between London and Cambridge, Samuel Pepys records that he stopped at the Falcon (now the Crown and Falcon). Eventually the coming of the railway in the 19th century led to a decline in the fortune of the many Taverns and Inns in the village. The village is now a popular place to live close to good road networks leading into and around London. The village shares its name with HMS Puckeridge, a Hunt class destroyer, which was lost to enemy action during World War II.















Hoddesdon is a town in the English county of Hertfordshire, situated in the Lea Valley. The town grew up as a coaching stop on the route between Cambridge and London. It is near Cheshunt, and a few miles from Bishop's Stortford. At its height during the Eighteenth century, more than 35 coaches a day would pass through the town. It saw a boom in the mid Twentieth century as gravel was extracted from the area to be exhausted by the 1970s. The lakes and water pits left behind have been used for local leisure amenities. Today Hoddesdon has a little light industry but is mainly a London commuter belt town. Hoddesdon hosted the eighth Congres Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne in 1951. It is twinned with the Belgian city of Dinant. The town is served by Rye House railway station.












About Padang

Padang (means field) is the capital and largest city of West Sumatra, Indonesia. It is located on the western coast of Sumatra at 0°57′0″S, 100°21′11″E. It has an area of 694.96 square kilometres (268.3 sq mi) and a population of over 750,000 people.



Padang is famous for a few things.

First, the cuisine. The cuisine of the Minangkabau people is commonly called Padang cuisine, due to it being the capital and largest city of the region. Padang restaurants are common throughout the country and are famous for their spicy food and their unique way of serving it. Padang food is usually cooked once per day, and all customers choose from those dishes, which are left out on display until no food is left. It is served in small portions of various dishes, but constituting, with rice, a complete meal. In a Padang-style restaurant, the table will quickly be set with dozens of small dishes filled with highly-flavored foods such as curried fish, fried tempeh, stewed greens, chili eggplant, curried beef liver, fried chicken, and of course, sambals, the spicy sauces ubiquitous at Indonesian tables. Customers take - and pay for - only what they want from this array of dishes. Food safety is generally a concern, as customers take food out of communal dishes with their hands, dishes which will be served to subsequent customers. The best known Padang dish is rendang, a spicy meat stew. Soto Padang (crispy beef in spicy soup) is local residents' breakfast favorite, meanwhile Sate (beef satay in curry sauce served with ketupat) is a treat in the evening.



Secondly, the tourism. Padang is a common transit point for surfers travelling to Batu Islands and Mentawai Islands, and for tourists visiting the West Sumatran highlands. Padang beach (known as Taplau or Tapi Lauik) which located from Samudra Street until Puruih, is well-known for its beautiful sunset and hundreds of food stalls. Bungus bay, to the south of Padang, is suitable for swimming and boating.












Third, crazy angkots and buses! The full music and full colour & decoration public transportations. Get on any angkots (public car) and buses, you will get a massive sound speaker, played various music; R&B, Hip Hop, Ballad, Indonesian, English, Korean, Minangese, you name it. And also the full coloured body, pictured random things, and a lot of decoration inside the angkot or the bus, sometimes makes the driver seems uncool.



Last, the Tsunami potential! Based on the information released in the first edition of National Geographic Indonesia, Padang is the city with the highest risk of Tsunami!