My name is Damson Tregaskis and I am 18 years old. I am currently volunteering for the year in a children's home just outside of Cape Town, South Africa and I love it! I am the daughter of 2 musicians which makes my time-keeping exceptional but my 'normal' is broken. I was brought up as a musician, I was having violin lessons from the age of 3 (I also think this is ridiculous, you should have seen the size of the violin!) and I was in a choir from the age of 4. I've played many an instrument but the only one I bothered to keep up was singing and that was only really because I didn't practise. I've sung in the Manchester Girls Choir, Halle Youth Choir and National Youth Choir all of which offered me many wonderful opportunities such as performing in the BBC Proms several times as well as live and recorded performances with the Manchester based band 'Elbow'.
But the thing I'm most proud of myself for is the volunteering work I've undertaken here in South Africa. The kids are troubled and plentiful, the work is hard and the hours are long, but I wouldn't give it up for the world. I love the 12 kids I work with as well as all the others here and I refuse to leave :) This blog is a document of my life here and what it's like living and working with 144 kids!
