A young professional has exchanged the comforts of city life for the rigours of one of South America's poorest countries as he embraced a 'once-in-a-lifetime' volunteering opportunity.
Tom Purkis, 25, swapped the sleepiness and serenity of St Leonard's for the hustle and bustle of Bolivia during a 10-week placement in the colourful country.
He worked side-by-side local and international volunteers to fight poverty and injustice and to gain valuable skills – including communication in the native Spanish language.
Tommy said: "I'd never visited Bolivia beforehand, and thought it would be a real opportunity to challenge myself in many ways."
Upon arriving in the city of Cochabamba, Tommy was struck by an abundance of colour and a multitude of sounds.
He said: "Exeter is very serene compared to the buzz and vibrancy of Bolivia. It was a real hive of activity and such a joyful place to be!"
His placement primarily involving the promotion of a locally-produced cereal bar called Mikuniy (meaning - nourish myself). All profits from the sale of the cereal bar were used to ensure children attend school and to help mothers to gain employment.
The team produced flyers, business cards, T-shirts and even an armadillo outfit to market the niche product.
They managed to achieve the highest sales in the cereal bar's ten-year history, and succeeded in getting six new businesses to stock the product including the most popular gym in the city.
Tommy said: "We had great success with Mikuniy! It tastes really nice, so most people who wanted to buy it. And some of the team brought whole boxes back to the UK."
Tommy also helped out at a local school and nursery – teaching lessons and running a youth club.
He said: "It was very chaotic, and hard to get the children to engage. But it was also really rewarding."
The project was undertaken on behalf of Tearfund, and it was part of the International Citizen Service programme. It seeks to encourage young people to engage in local communities, and to instil in them a lifelong commitment to development. That is especially important in Bolivia where more than half of the population reportedly live below the poverty line.
Tommy was one of five volunteers from various parts of the UK who worked alongside five Bolivian assistants. He found the "common bond" of the Christian faith was something that transcended language barriers.
"I instantly felt at home, because I was around brothers and sisters in Christ," he said. "The first time we went to church we were invited to a party afterwards!"
Another tribute to the success of the trip was the visit to Exeter last month of one of Tommy's Bolivian friends, named José Antonio, as part of a cultural tour of Britain.
José, 23, said: "It was great to have British visitors at home. I was very sad when they left and I cried a lot. Now I am so happy to be here in Exeter, because it is the most beautiful place in the world." Eight facts about Bolivia by Kezzie Luxmoore:.
Population: 10.5 million (UK:63.23 million)
GDP per Capita: 2,575.68 US dollars (UK: 37,955.11 US dollars)
Total area: 1,098,581 sq km (UK: 243,610 sq km)
Literacy rate: 91.2% of population (UK:99.0%)
Annual Rainfall: 8000 mm (UK:1330.7 mm)
La Paz, Bolivia's capital city is the highest in the world at 3,630m above sea level (London's height above sea level: 24m)
Bolivia contains 40% of the world's bio-diversity
It is home to the world's largest salt flat - Salar de Uyuni – which has also been used to calibrate satellites, because of its perfectly flat surface.
