Inspired by managing director Freda Newton's own trek across the Andes last year in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust, Jacobite has now decided to give one member of staff per year the opportunity to undertake volunteer work with sponsorship.

Each applicant must submit a proposal detailing what they would like to do and the costs involved. First to have her proposal accepted was Jacobite Experience Loch Ness account manager Jennifer Fraser from Kilmorack, who has worked with Freda for the past 17 years.

Jennifer's suggestion took her to the Central American state of Guatemala, where she spent two weeks working at Marina Guirola, a home for disabled children aged between five and 20, located in the capital, Guatemala City.

Though it was her first visit to the country, Jennifer already had a prior link with the nation.

"About 15 years ago I used to sponsor a child out there, that's why I thought of Guatemala," she said. "Another reason I chose Guatemala is that a large percentage of people there are living in poverty."

So Jennifer has more of an interest in Guatemala than most Britons, for whom it remains a little known nation they might have trouble pinpointing on a map. "A lot of people thought Guatemala was in Africa," she said.

Jennifer made her connection with the Guatemalan orphanage through an organisation called Cross-Cultural Solutions, which places volunteers with projects throughout the world, though she also did her own homework ahead of her visit, checking the Foreign Office website in advance to get a better idea of what she was letting herself in for.

However, she suspects husband Steven and other friends and family might have been worried about her travelling alone to a developing nation. "They didn't let on," she added. "I think they didn't want me to worry. I was a bit worried myself from what I'd read because there are some not very nice stories about Guatemala, but I actually loved it. I didn't feel threatened at all."

Jennifer may have stayed clear of trouble but others in her group were not so lucky. On the day she was leaving, 18 Canadian students on the same volunteering programme fell victim to bandits. "They were held up at gunpoint on their bus and their belongings were stolen, though they weren't hurt at all," Jennifer said. "If that had happened to me, obviously I would have thought of things a bit differently — but while I was there I felt perfectly safe at all times.

"I used to walk to the orphanage and I'd pass the same people every day. They were so friendly. Everybody I met there I thought was very nice."

Jennifer did not just get to know the locals. Her fellow volunteers were an international group, in which she was the only Scot, with Americans as well as the 18 Canadian students, and though spread across the globe, they are still able to keep in touch thanks to social networking website Facebook.

Jennifer thinks some of her fellow volunteers had a much harder time than she did, including one who helped out at a soup kitchen. The students had the hardest task of all, providing help for the children who eked out a living on the city's garbage dump.

"I helped feed the children because they aren't able to do anything for themselves," Jennifer said of her own job.

"The nuns who run the home don't have the time to give them one-to-one attention. But the children were well dressed and well fed." Among Jennifer's daily duties was assisting staff with providing educational games for the youngsters, organising activities and taking the children to the park — the only chance they had to get out. "They all spoke Spanish so it was quite difficult for me to communicate as well," she said. "I'd been studying Spanish since last June — I got CDs and I used to listen to them in the car every day.

Julio and Gerardo, two of the children Jennifer Fraser met during her two week stay at the orphanage in Guatemala, where volunteers like her perform a valuable service and help to improve the lives of the youngsters staying there.

"But if they were speaking really fast I could not undertand all of it. I wasn't fluent by any means but I was able to make myself understood, either by sign language or my Spanish dictionary.

"The nuns spoke Spanish and no English but I got feedback from Virginia, the lady who runs the volunteer programme. She said it made a really big difference to the children's lives having a volunteer there.

"It brightens up the day and gives them something to look forward to because some weeks they don't have any volunteers at all. Another week they might just have one and then all of a sudden they might have half a dozen, so it varies throughout the year."

Fortunately for Jennifer it was not all work. Cross-Cultural Solutions organised trips to Antigua, a city in the central highlands of Guatemala, which has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in recognition of its well-preserved Baroque architecture and ruined colonial churches.

Weekends were free and with a friend Jennifer went to Tikal, internationally famous for its Maya temples. "We learnt a bit of history," she said. "We had speakers in the evenings to talk to us about the history of the Mayans and the Guatamalan people, and we got a city tour as well.

"It's funny. There is a girl who has just started working here at Jacobite and she had been in Guatemala on her honeymoon. We were there for one week at the same time and we didn't know."

It was not just Guatemala Jennifer learned about on her two-week visit. "The trip was a great experience which taught me a lot about myself," she said. "The thought of going to Guatemala on my own was frightening and it was definitely out of my comfort zone.

"Overcoming this fear showed me that I'm very independent. It made me realise how much we take for granted — which, to be honest, I thought it would. But doing something like that does have an impact on you. I would like to go back and I write to Virginia and ask how the kids are getting on and get some feedback from her." The company recently posted a notice for a volunteer for next year's vacancy and Jennifer would thoroughly recommend her colleagues to take up the opportunity. "It's the chance of a lifetime really," she said, acknowledging that without the support of Jacobite it is unlikely she would have made the trip.

"Jacobite is thrilled to be able to offer members of staff the chance to undertake volunteer work for good causes," company boss Freda commented.

"Jennifer's experience has underlined just how beneficial this kind of work can be and we look forward to offering other members of the team such an opportunity in the future."

As for Jennifer, she already has plans for another overseas volunteering opportunity. "I'm actually going to Thailand to work on an elephant sanctuary for a week," she said. "My husband and I are going and we thought we'd do that before the start of our holiday. It's looking after elephants that have been rescued from the streets where they were used for tourism. It's something I'm really looking forward to."

While Jennifer concedes she might have thought of doing similar volunteer work before her visit to Guatemala, she says her experiences at the orphanage gave her a push. "Now I've experienced how it works there is a thought you can combine a holiday and volunteering. I didn't know how easy it was to do that," she said.

c.macleod@inverness-courier.co.uk

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