On Saturday 9 July, 19-year-old Portia Gushlow hauled her rucksack onto her shoulders and took off for Peru. It was a journey into the unknown for the young Londoner, who had only been abroad once before, to Cyprus, for her mother's wedding.
After a two-week induction in the Peruvian capital Lima, she'll spend the next eight weeks juggling her time between volunteering in a school and in an environmental project.
It is a world away from Portia's life in Bermondsey, where she had just completed an apprenticeship in business and administration, something she realised was not for her. "It was really weird. I was talking to my mum about volunteering overseas and the next day somebody from [international development agency] Progressio rang my college and asked if there were any young people wanting to do this," she says. "It was just the right time.
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