Hard Work and No Money

                   Every year thousand of young people in Britain finish school and then take a year off before they start work or go to university. Some young people go to other countries and work as volunteers. Volunteers give their time to help people - for example, they work in schools or hospitals, or they help with conservation.
                   Pauline Jones, 18, lives in Cardiff, Wales. Next year she wants to go to university to study Spanish, but now she's living in Belize. Pauline says, 'I am working with other people here to protect the coral reefs in the the sea near Belize. The reefs here are beautiful, but if the sea water is very polluted, the coral dies. I'm helping to do research on the coral and the fish that live around the reefs. All over the world, coral reefs are drying. We need to do something about the problem before it's too late.
                    I'm staying with a family here and I help with the cooking and the cleaning. I don't get any money, but that's OK. I love my work here, and I'm learning a lot about the people of Belize - and myself! When I finish my work, I want to stay here for another three months. I want to travel around Belize and Central America.'