Oí! My name is Will, I’m 21 and I volunteered with UmRio from Oxford University in July 2016. My four weeks with UmRio were absolutely unforgettable: I made friends for life and count it among my most treasured memories. My personal highlight was being able to take so many of the UmRio Blues to the Olympics rugby sevens, an event I hope to play in some day flying the UmRio flag high for Team GB! Since returning, I’ve taken up a role as UmRio’s Oxford representative. I worked to successfully integrate UmRio with Cambridge University, resulting in the first batch of Cambridge volunteers following in my footsteps in 2017, and am hoping to continue to push this along with securing our largest ever group of Oxford volunteers for the summer of 2018. Every time I think about UmRio or talk to any of those amazing people I met out there it makes me smile, and I hope to stay involved as much as possible and see the project go from strength to strength. Tamo junto!

My name is Kiki Kruize, I am 30 years old and currently live in the Netherlands. When I moved to Rio de Janeiro in January 2017 I knew I wanted to volunteer somewhere, preferably an organisation related to sports and / or kids. A friend of mine connected me to Rob, founder of UMRio. We met up and I started the same week. My time with UMRio has learned me so much, not only about the organisation but also about myself. It has given me the opportunity to contribute to the lives of these wonderful, smart, sweet and funny kids and made me realise I wanted to continue doing this work when heading back to the Netherlands. Currently I work for a Dutch Non-Governmental Organisation called ‘Sport Helps’ which arranges meetings between sick kids and top athletes. As much as I miss the kids and my friends at UMRio, it makes me very proud and happy that my experience has contributed to me finding my dream job.

During my four months in Rio, word had spread about some of UmRio’s incredible projects and I wanted to get involved with some of the rugby training. When clash of schedules made attending these sessions tricky, I instead began to work closely with Rob to develop the Thursday Supplementary Education programme. Having trained as an English teacher in the UK, I was able to help with the planning and facilitation of study skills such as essay writing, speed reading, structuring assignments as well as public speaking and persuasive skills. During my four months volunteering with UmRio, it was amazing to watch the kids develop and progress, and it was fantastic to see some of our kids re-enrolling in education as a result of our sessions. A particularly memorable highlight was celebrating the Oxford -Cambridge Varsity game from Morro de Castro; as an ex-Cambridge student, it was a privilege to make international links and see impactful educational work in action on the other side of the globe!

UmRio is hands down one of the greatest experiences I have ever had. The opportunity to gain an in-depth insight into a fascinating social programme in one of the worlds most challenging environments, and see it develop from its infancy to where it is today has been amazing. To anyone who is interested in coming to UmRio, I would tell them to be prepared to have a real and tangible impact on kids lives in such a short period. This isn’t like other charities where volunteers are only temporality part of the kids lives, but this is an ongoing process where you can see real change. What makes UmRio so unique as a social programme is its flexibility. Rob and the team navigates a range of issues from finding employment for the parents to getting the kids access to dentists and doctors. This enables you to see the ins and outs of starting up a social programme in a very unique environment. To be able to do this amongst the backdrop of one of the world’s most vibrant and energetic cities is something I won’t forget. I would also suggest bringing comfortable shoes for cachaça- fueled samba nights, which is an absolute must!