Muizenberg, S. Africa - Jan. 2014 - my 2nd volunteer project & 2nd country abroad

Expect the unexpected – I never thought I’d surf, nor did I think that volunteering to do so could actually make a difference!

 

Next up was S. Africa (“SA”).  When I signed up to volunteer and teach in SA, they were very upfront with me that the first 2 weeks I would be there the kids would still be on holiday (they have something like a whole month off between x-mas and into mid-January).  I had wanted to volunteer and teach for 4 weeks, but I had to make an alternative choice.  So I was given a few options: 1) work with turtles (which I honestly felt I’d never do, not realizing I would, only a couple mos. later in Sri Lanka), 2) go to a zoo like environment to work with so-called “wild animals”, which basically entailed cleaning their urine and feces and I figured I’d get enough of that working with the pandas in China during my next project)

 

or…

 

3) to do a “surf project.”  Ironically the latter was the LAST thing on my mind to do.  I thought, are you kidding me?  A) I don’t know how to surf and B) how the heck am I “helping kids” if we’re surfing (something that people in the first world consider a great sport and privilege to do). 

 

The unexpected truth about the surf project and where these kids were coming from.  Something we consider a sport for “rich kids” was actually saving the poorest kids in the community who had no direction or assistance while their parents were off working, or getting high, or prostituting, etc.

 

As I heard the details behind the program and how the children were chosen to participate, quickly I was convinced.  I was told that the kids that were in the surfing project were mainly “latchkey kids” who come from severely impoverished homes in the nearby townships commonly referred to as “Capricorn”, where there are multiple children left fending for themselves outside of school hours while the parent(s) or grandparent(s) that “care” for them are either working or off doing drugs or prostituting themselves and many cases, this is all happening in front of the children in their “home” or the kids are left “home alone” for hours on end, with no one to prepare a meal or care of them or teach them or even assist them to be clothed or bathed.  So, when the volunteer organization informed me that they went out into the community to find these kids and to offer them the opportunity to participate in this “surf project” which was during the day when they were on holiday (or after school for a couple hours, when they were back in school), I quickly thought, this actually sounds like a good cause, and yes, selfishly, I’ll be having fun in the sun, but at the same time, I will be helping these kids that otherwise wouldn’t have a chance to be “real kids” and “have fun”, so why not? 

 

I connected with two boys and feel I made an impact in their lives simply by being there for them, comforting them and showing them that I cared (not that I was only there to surf, but that I actually cared about them individually)

 

The one that stole my heart was the little 3 year old.  I’m ashamed to admit I forgot his name, but he had some sort of disease that was showing around his lips, which we were told was not contagious.  I think he lived with elderly grandparents and no one really cared for him.  Willy, the guy who ran the surf project lived next door to this little tyke, so he’d drag him into the surf shop to be with all of us, but, believe it or not, the little guy would often come on his own as well, with no adult escort.  The little kid had no one to put clothes on him and yet, he wanted so badly to fit in and to act like he was 3-4 times his age.  He insisted that he had to put on a wetsuit so that he too could surf (not possible, but he loved standing on a board in the sand on the beach).  He also would insist on having his own board AND to carry it himself.  HE WAS THREE YEARS OLD!  He stole my heart.  I connected with many of the boys, to be honest, but those two really touched me the most.


So in the end, the 2 weeks I did the surfing project selfishly made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, but at the same time, I know I reached several of those latchkey boys… two of which I had a special bond with (and one was that little 3 y/o boy).  The other boy I connected with was called Calvin.  He was very short for his age, which deceiving made you think he was younger.  He was 10 y/o but looked like he was probably only 6 y/o.  He put on a “tough” act all the time, but within the first day of meeting him, I broke through his tough shell and while we were waiting for lunch to be prepared for the kids after we’d finished surfing, and I was laying on the beanbag outside, he quickly came and cuddled up with me.  I doubt very much that he gets a lot of cuddle time at home!   I just wanted to put them both in my suitcase and bring them home with me.

Pics taken Jan. 14, 2014.

 

The 3 year old standing on a boogie board (he always insisted on taking a mini surfboard out to the beach, even though he couldn't get on it)..... so old, but so young.

 

Me & Calvin - the 10 y/o boy.

 

 

Stunning shot.... this is a sign directing people to the beach we would surf at.... well to be more clear, where the boys would surf and I would "try" but I never got further than up on my knees and by the time I'd try to stand up my wave would be done. The boys loved showing off their skills.  We were actually there for their mental support, much more than to "teach them how to surf" as they mostly all knew how to already.

 

This sign is right across from the surf shop.  Fish Hoek is the next little town down the road. 

 

A view of the beach we'd surf at.  Unfortunately I can't find the pics that were on the actual beach, but if/when I do, I will add them.

 

 

A view of the parking lot we'd walk through to get down to the beach where we'd surf.

 

 

This is the area to the right of where we'd surf.  I often was worried I'd drift off into these rocks, so I tried to start in the middle of the beach, no where near the side that was close to these beautiful but dangerous-to-surfers rocks.

 

 

A view from outside of the surf shop facing the beach.  The road was quite busy and it always worried me when the kids would freely cross it w/o supervision, including the little 3 y/o. 

 

Slow Life.  The hip vegetarian coffee shop next door to the surf shop.

 

 

The boys hang out after surfing, on the bean bag in front of the surf shop, waiting for their peanut butter sandwiches.  Check out the little one in his undies.

 

Another pic of the 3 y/o - striking a pose.

 

Yes the little tyke is sitting on top of the table top.

The 3 y/o, me & Widdy (the guy who runs the surf program) - don't ask me how he organizes and controls so many boys each day.

 

The 3 y/o striking a pose.  Too precious!  So sad that he rarely has an adult at home, rarely has someone to clothe him, let alone bathe him or feed him.  He's often left to fend for himself, yet he seems so happy.  And why shouldn't he be when he gets a chance to hang out with the "big kids" and pretend he's one of them and pretend to surf.

 

Me & 2 other boys I bonded with.... acting silly and shy.

 

Oh yeah, I got them to laugh!  Life is too short not to!  Lot's of these boys don't have much to laugh about considering their tough home life.  What a blessing that Widdy found them and gave them this opportunity.  He actually went out into the community to find the kids based on other people's knowledge of which kids needed the most help, love and attention.

 

Being fed at the surf project – for most of these kids, this was there only meal of the day.

 

The kids also loved the fact that they were FED every day after they surfed.  For many of them, this often was there one and only meal of the day!  Sure it was just peanut butter and jelly on bread, but they were ecstatic to have it.  And we volunteers would often bring leftovers from our household food that the volunteer organization brought us daily to feed us, to the surf shop to give the leftovers to these kids which would light up as if you just gave them the best new toy ever!

 

 

Inside the surf shop.

 

The boys were being reminded of the "rules of conduct" by Widdy.  Not just rules to follow while in the water but also rules of how they should act outside of the water and in the neighborhood.

 

This little boy was so precious.  He didn't speak any English and often was being scolded but it was so obvious he had a good heart and we shared a great bond as well, though I don't recall his name.  This happened to be a day he was walking by the coffee shop on the corner of the street I lived on and we took a quick "selfie" together.

The harsh reality of what apartheid left behind.

While there are many people living very well off in S. Africa, there is still a strong divide between blacks and whites and the rich and the poor.  You can stand on a nice and clean street with lovely homes and just a couple blocks away you can find the run down homes and/or the homeless on the streets.

So while we were living in a very nice neighborhood only 2 blocks from the beach and 3 blocks from the surf shop (that is located right across the street from the beach), only 1 block away are the homeless that have formed their own little "family" on the street.  At first I was afraid of them and quickly I realized they were harmless and just wanted positive attention from others.  And their old loyal dog never leaves their side.  I didn't feel comfortable taking pics while they were in their "beds" literally on the street, so I took pics while they weren't there and just their faithful dog was waiting. 

 

If you walk straight ahead to where the white car is, make a right and then a quick left on the first small street, just one block up was where I was living.  These are their beds on the ground.

 

Though they do leave sometimes during the day, the faithful dog, never leaves them or their belongings.  The dog is old, overweight and moves very slowly, but he definitely loves his owners.  I often would bring him treats and give the owners my leftovers from my dinner.

 

The street we lived on only 2 blocks away from the homeless people literally sleeping on their beds on the street.

SIDENOTE:  The townships are the worse area.  They are within a 10-15 min. drive from here and are rows and rows of tin cans that are "homes."  I wasn't able to get any pictures of them, but at least half of them had no electricity, and even if they did, there was no proper insolation and it is truly the slums and very unsafe to go there.  They call the main neighborhood in the townships "Capricorn."

Yes, I finally get to teach, but yet again, I’m thrown a big curve ball!  Tutoring vs. teaching vs. being a P.E. (physical education) teacher.

 

Finally it came time to start “teaching” as the school term started.  Unfortunately that didn’t go according to plan either as the school wanted the volunteers to develop a “year long curriculum” for all volunteers going forward for the year and to take pictures of the kids and to set up a “tutoring center” for them which in my mind really wasn’t a great idea.  Why? 

 

Pics taken Jan. 21, 2014.

 

Steenberg Primary - Muizenberg, S. Africa.

 

The front entrance to the school.

 

Because the kids that got “tutoring” were either sent there cuz they act up and the teacher no longer wants to work with them OR they really lose out on bonding with their “tutor” because the tutor is usually a volunteer that’s going to be there less than a month and the way they had the tutoring set up was that each classroom had a specific 1 hour time slot available to them once a week.  So if the kid didn’t get to go there every week and/or even if they did, the likelihood is they’d be bounced from one volunteer to another that would be here today and gone tomorrow and meanwhile, not all volunteers have the same forte in their educational background so for instance, stick a 6th grader with someone who hasn’t done factoring or prime numbers (math) in over a decade and suddenly you have the blind leading the blind (which is what happened to me).  And to boot, their workbook was in Afrikaans (their local language) so I couldn’t read it and there was only one book in English to be shared amongst about 7 volunteers and a room of about 10 kids that were there for tutoring so you can guess how well that went over (I only did the tutoring bit for one afternoon, to be honest.  That experience made me realize that was not what I was meant to be there for and I wanted more, so I went after it). 

 

Having to test kids’ athletic abilities on the playground.  Um, this wasn’t what I signed up for, but again, it was time to roll with it!

 

To boot, the school found out that they were going to be part of a nationwide sports contest and apparently there must’ve been some huge incentive for the school (like maybe monetary compensation) as they literally halted all volunteer projects and had us all on the playground pulling kids out of all the separate classrooms at different times of day to test their athletic abilities (every single child from every single classroom and grade was tested) and we had to figure out who was the best of the best in each age group so they could use them for the upcoming contest. 

 

Poof!  Quickly my teaching time was disappearing into thin air!

 

So quickly my “teaching time” evaporated into thin air before me.  Was this the fault of the volunteer organization?  Nope, I don’t think so.  Truly, it was the school.  That was their current focus and they were going to use all possible resources to pull it off, including us volunteers. 

Pics taken Jan. 29, 2014.

 

Mr. Small is prepping some of the kids about the areas of athletics they will be tested in.

 

The kids are getting tired and/or bored while Mr. Small tries to convince them they have to push through a few more athletic tests.

 

Mr. Small finally gives up and takes a rest on the high jump mats.

 

 

Getting sick…. more time away from teaching, ugh!

 

Meanwhile, I had gotten a chest infection and the doctor made me stay home for 3 days, so more time away from volunteering.  When I finally got back in the school 3 days later on Tuesday (and they had claimed all the athletic testing would have been done by the prior Friday), I came to find out they were only halfway done so it was more likely than not that the last 4 days I had left to volunteer would be stuck on the playground doing the “athletic testing” (and having never been a part of athletics as a kid, I was clueless on how to test high jump, long jump, sprints, etc, especially without timers and without the proper measuring apparatus). 

 

The light at the end of the tunnel.

 

Then I was sent into a 2nd grade classroom to get some kids for our tests only to be met by a lovely teacher (Mrs. Ludick) who seemed overwhelmed and frustrated with the fact that she’d been promised for 2 weeks now that volunteers would come every day in the morning to give the kids a “15 min. break to play on the playground” (not to be tested for the athletic competition). 

 

Pictures taken Jan. 31, 2014.

 

My volunteer namebadge.  Dreams to Reality (DTR)'s logo is a tree with hands on hands on it, so this was my version of that.

 

Me & Mrs. Ludick - truly one of THE best teachers I've ever met. 

She demands respect, she has full control the majority of the time and the children like her and admire her.

 

She begged me to take the whole class out to “play” and so I did.  And quickly the kids were all over me.  Meanwhile one of the other volunteers saw and demanded that I go take over her “long jump station” as she couldn’t handle doing it anymore and needed a break. 

Picture taken Jan. 30, 2014.

 



 

The children line up on the playground and sit down, waiting to be told they can go back into class one row at a time in a single file line.

 

Well, I quickly got winded from the kids cuz my lung infection was still lingering.  So I got the kids back in class, took over the long jump for about an hour till everyone seemed to disappear and no more kids were sent to me for “testing” on the very far end of the playground where I was alone and I decided again to take matters into my own hands. 

 

Taking matters into my own hands.  I’m a firm believer of, “if you don’t ask, you don’t get!”

 

I had asked Mrs. Ludick if she “needed help in the classroom” and if they’d let me help her, if she’d welcome me to come assist her, and she had happily replied yes.  So I marched myself back inside, found the volunteer coordination, Jama, and told her that I still wasn’t feeling that well and being on the playground wasn’t helping and I only had 4 more days left and this teacher needed help and I’d like to be in her classroom to help her and guess what, Jama said, go for it!  So I did! 

 

No one told the other volunteers where I went off to so at the end of the day I found out that, apparently, when they had come back with more kids to test and I was no longer there, they were quite upset.  But I had a small victory.  I was off to do what I had set out to do… teach English and/or assist in doing so.  Unfortunately as they say in life, “every man for himself” (or in my case woman).  I knew that my being proactive and getting what I wanted out of the experience upset some of the other volunteers, but at the end of the day, many of them still had weeks or months left there to volunteer, whereas I only had days and to boot, I wasn’t feeling that great, so it was a win-win for me.

 

 

Inside Mrs. Ludick's 2nd grade classroom.

My teaching experience had begun….. or had it?

 

The first day I went in to help Mrs. Ludick I literally sat there watching her teach while I sharpened over 50 colored pencils for the kids from the buckets they use with colored pencils that they color with (and which were mostly broken, so I decided to help fix that even if it would only last for a while.  I never knew that sharpening pencils for hours on end would make my fingers hurt so much, lol!  Yes, apparently I’m a whimp, having typed as a job for so long and not having had to do much physical labor). 

 

By the next day the teacher had me helping all day long.  She even let me re-organize her entire classroom by setting up all the desks in a completely different layout.  The idea was a good one, but we didn’t have enough room and quickly the kids were knocking things off of each other’s desks and by the next day all the desks were reset the way they had been before, but the fact she was willing to try out my idea when I’d only been in her classroom for a day, was quite a privilege.  I also assisted with tests, I answered questions and I read to the children (my favorite part). 

 

Facing reality.

 

It was a great experience, but again, quickly it would end.  Which now made me realize that all my “volunteer planning” was not planned very properly as I should’ve parked it more long term in one location rather than trying to be super woman in multiple locations but again, I went with the theory that if I touched even one child, I won!  And so, I did! 

 

Touching the life of one child who especially needed positive attention – Wayden!

 

There was a cute little boy named Wayden, which was one of the “bullies” of the classroom.  The teacher had a list of the bullies’ names on the board under the underlined word “bullies.”  I personally didn’t agree with that system, but the rest of her teaching methods were amazing (she had years of experience working with mentally disabled children, so I think that’s what really helped).  In the short time I had with her, I learned a lot from her! 

 

Never judge a book by its cover.  Physical/mental abuse, drugs and more!

 

You know they say, “never judge a book by it’s cover.”  Well, this was a well run school and all the kids wore uniforms and appeared to be “normal.  However, Mrs. Ludick shared that many of the kids that looked so “normal” were battling the fact that they lived with grandparents or their older siblings and mostly were latchkey kids and often were in households where there was regular drug use, prostitution, drug sales, and physical and/or sexual abuse. 

 

One of her girls in class was always falling asleep because she’d come to class “high” as a kite off marijuana!  She was only 8 YEARS OLD!  She did not physically pick up a joint and smoke marijuana, no, but she smoked it second hand all day every day while her mom would be smoking it in the same room with her non-stop. 

 

Mrs. Ludick even had the little girl personally share this story with me.  And there were many other issues going on at home that were affecting the kids and of course their performance in school.  So Wayden was always bullying other kids.  Ironically he’s one of the shortest in the class, yet he bullies the kids in class and on the playground the most.  So one day she had me read a book to the kids about how “being a bully is bad.” 

 

Connecting with Wayden.

 

Meanwhile, that same day, I went out to the bathroom and saw little Wayden coming back to class and I went to talk to him and waived my arm as he came up to me and completely by accident my nail scratched him under his eye and he started crying like a baby and couldn’t stop.  I checked and you couldn’t even see a nick, but I had felt it happen.  I watched as the floodgates unleashed and I kept trying to convince him it was ok and then it hit me, something bigger is going on here! 

 

So I quickly sat down and motioned him to come sit in my lap and I said, “do you want me to give you a hug?”  And he nodded and crawled up into my lap like a little baby (he’s 8 y/o).  I knew at that moment that I was meant to hold him for as long as his little soul needed to cry!  I probably held him for a good 10 minutes as he cried his little heart out and was even hyper ventilating.  I simply continued to speak calmly to him and to pet him and hold him until he finally stopped.  Then I asked if he’d like to go wash his face before he re-entered the classroom and he nodded, yes and I waited.  When we went back in class, as usual I noticed he was the first to finish his work AND it was always done perfectly. 

 

If he didn’t understand something, as soon as I explained it (like counting fruits in multiples of 3, times 5 sets of them, to get the answer of 15), within seconds his little mind was off and he would finish it all perfectly.  So his problem was NOT a learning disability but clearly something was going on at home. 

 

From the experience I had with him in the hallway, I was convinced that he was likely physically abused at home on a regular basis.  So I made it a point to tell him that day and the following day, how smart he was and to keep telling him that if he’d focus on his schoolwork and being “good” he could accomplish anything he wanted including being a doctor or a lawyer or an astronaut or a police officer and he would just smiled and nod.  Then came the 3rd day. 

 

Who would’ve thought counting donuts could be a break through?

 

That day Mrs. Ludick needed help counting donuts. Yup, donuts.  The school had brought them in as a treat and apparently each classroom’s teacher had paid for a certain number or donuts and my teacher was assigned the task of counting and separating them and then giving the appropriate number of donuts to each class. 

 

So, we quickly got the kids involved and our little “bully”, Wayden was one of the first to volunteer (and another light bulb went off for me. Clearly he needed positive attention and encouragement and he got bored easily cuz he was too smart so getting him to help would be a win-win for everyone and I made sure to discuss this idea with Mrs. Ludick at the end of class that day). 

 

As Wayden started helping count the donuts, you could clearly see that he felt so special helping and was beaming each time he got to carry a tray to another classroom to deliver their donuts. 

 

Mrs. Ludick was so happy with his behavior that day that about an hour before the end of the day she announced that she has 4 bullies in the class and today one of them has been a little angel and if he keeps it up at the end of class he will get a “special surprise” but she would not divulge who it was. 

 

Praising Wayden – the whole class gets involved!

 

Well, at the end of the day an hour later, she announced his name.  She then had him stand on a chair as all the other kids sat on the floor around him and they sang “congratulations” to him and she praised him for being a good kid and for proving that ANY child could change if they wanted to.  His little face was beaming with such pride and encouragement, it was breathtaking!  I’ll never forget that moment. 

 Pictures taken Jan. 31, 2014.



 

 

Little Wayden is beaming with pride as he stands up on the chair while all the other kids are sitting and singing "congratulations" to him for being a good boy that day. 

 

I had a great video of this moment, but it's missing.  :(  I found another one but it's cut off and barely shows him, just the rest of the kids.  If I find the one focused on him and the kids singing, I will put it online and share a link, I promise.

 

 

Another view of Wayden about to get praise for finally being good for an entire day, after day after day of being a bully.  This proves that you should never give up on a child and never prejudge, rather give them opportunity to change and encouragement to do so.

Afterwards, since it was my 2nd to last day there, she had me walk the kids out to the front of the school in a single file line, where they wait to be picked up.  As each one then left and said goodbye to me, one by one they gave me a hug.  I made it a point to stop Wayden and tell him how proud I was of him and I also told him to remember that just because he’s “good” doesn’t mean he will get to stand on a chair every day and have kids singing to him and that he should be “good” so that he won’t have negative attention by getting in trouble for being bad. 

 

The reality of Wayden’s future…. it appears bleak and the ball is 100% in his court, which for an 8 y/o is NOT where it should be!

 

He then smiled, nodded and gave me the world’s biggest hug and was off.  I walked back to the empty classroom to talk with Mrs. Ludick about him and she told me that there are no parents involved, he lives with an older teenage sibling who’s likely dealing drugs and if he doesn’t keep himself out of trouble in school eventually he will be used as a “mule” (to transport and hide drugs) once he reaches his teens. 

 

THIS IS AN 8 Y/O BOY and this is what the teacher knows is his destiny if HE HIMSELF without any assistance or support from home (and actually exactly the opposite, he will have encouragement to walk the wrong path, has to pick the right path to walk on to change his destiny). 

 

They say timing is everything!  I either made a big impact that will stay with him, just like that moment each of us has had in our lifetime where no matter how old we were, something someone told us stuck with us for life OR…. I simply didn’t have enough time.  Unfortunately, I’ll never know which is true.  I’m hoping and believe in my gut it’s the lifetime impact!, the question is simply can Wayden HOLD ON through the rough storms to come?

 

I so wished I had another week or two or more to be there every day continuing to encourage him to be good and to focus on how smart and bright he was, but unfortunately the next day was my last day.  But I know, that yet again, I reached one child.  God willing, my words will stay with him and he will try to battle the demons that surround him.

 

THE TRUTH BEHIND THE SCENES IN S. AFRICA 

So 2 weeks into me living in a very lovely and new volunteer house (don’t ask how I got so lucky as the 4 other houses were filthy and run down, but somehow again I won the lotto on living accommodations) with 7 other volunteers, two more arrived. 

 

One of them was from Canada and we quickly hit it off as we were the closest in age to each other.  The house had quite a diverse group though.  We had a 59 y/o (Adelaida) and a 70 y/o (Elaine) in that household too and the rest were in their 20s.  The new lady from Canada was called LeeAnn (she was in her late 40s). 

 

Well as she and I started talking and brainstorming about the money we all had paid for our weekly volunteer fees, we realized that between the 5 volunteer households the volunteer organization was bringing in somewhere between $10-15,000 USD per month!  HUGE MONEY for S.A.!!! 

 

Meanwhile, the kids were in school with lack of supplies and those volunteers that were in day care centers said that most of the little tykes had no diapers, were sent there with clothes wrapped around their bums that they quickly soiled and the parents expected the day care center to put a clean disposable diaper on the kid after that, but there were none, let alone no wipes or baby powder, etc.  So why didn’t the parents provide diapers and/or at least have the child delivered there with a clean one on?  Quite frankly, cuz the parents can’t afford them, so they take what clothes they can and pin them around the child’s bum and make do. 

 

So some of us volunteers would buy supplies for the kids whether school supplies or diapers for the kids. 

 

But LeeAnn and I wanted to know, WHERE DOES ALL THE MONEY GO???? 

 

LeeAnn & I at Lindsey's bachelorette party.

Just a picture to have a face to the name. 

This was the very last night after I finished my 4 weeks of volunteer projects.

 

According to first world standards, our weekly fees that covered our housing and food were at least 50% LESS than what we’d pay in our homelands per day for living costs (if not even more), but according to S.A. standards they were likely 50% MORE!  So LeeAnn got the courage to confront the local organization we were volunteering for, Dreams to Reality.  She wanted to see the books.  She worked in accounting and wanted to know where the money was going and how it was accounted for, from all the staff that helped with organization, administration, transportation, cooking and food, etc.  They ran a fine oiled machine.  Daily we had transportation to and from our school projects (only the surf project that was very nearby required us to walk) and food was delivered to our house in the afternoon for our lunch and dinner and on Friday eves they brought food for us to “cook with” for the weekend. 

 

So it all ran fairly smoothly and looked very good, but still, why weren’t the schools and day cares getting the extra assistance they needed with supplies?  And meanwhile, we found out that many volunteers would make large monetary donations before they left and/or were making continual monetary donations after they left. 

 

Meeting with the powers that be.

 

I, unfortunately, was not privy to the meeting that LeeAnn had with the powers that be, but I do know what she shared thereafter.  They verbally explained where the money is allocated and the costs for renting the 5 homes and paying for utilities and then the salaries for all the staff, etc, etc and they claimed that they DID send supplies to the schools and the day care centers.  On face value, it sounded right, but in our guts, the fact they refused to show any black and white back up left us wondering.

 

SO WHAT LESSON DID I LEARN FROM THIS? 

 

Well, just like most not-for-profits or organizations that claim to “help” others, they are started with the right intentions but somewhere along the line, it becomes a money making business.  Lots of money is generated, the organizations usually become fine well-oiled machines so the volunteers don’t have much to gripe about as they are living for half the cost of what they would back home and yet they are fulfilling their own desire to “help” people abroad.  IS THIS SO HORRIBLE? 

 

Nothing is black and white.  The grey area is what you make of it and how you perceive it, positive or negative.

 

I don’t know the answer!  It’s like anything, there’s a good and a bad side to it.  The schools and the day cares and after school programs are getting the much needed physical hands-on assistance they need, but the organization is making a lot of money and you can’t really prove that all of it is going where it’s supposed to.  But on the other hand, shouldn’t the person or people who put it all together and take on all of that responsibility and organize and do all the work to make the “machine” work appropriately get compensated for what they are doing? 

 

Is it truly possible to have it all work with “no profit”?  I say, maybe, maybe not.  But in our day and age of greed and need for advancement financially, people are all looking for a way to create a “successful business” and these “volunteer organizations” are exactly that definition.  WOULD I PERSONALLY DO IT AGAIN? 

 

Probably, but now that I have the hands-on experience in so many different countries, I actually have a grasp of how I could do it on my own and how I could go directly to the organizations in the country I want to help in (but even then, those organizations are still making money) and I could do it that way.  And as I’ve met tons of people in each place I’ve volunteered, I now am connected to a worldwide connection of people who volunteer and will continue to reach out to their fellow volunteers.

 

BUT WOULD I SUGGEST THAT SOMEONE GO TO A COUNTRY ON THEIR OWN TO VOLUNTEER WITHOUT FINDING AN ORGANIZATION TO WORK WITH AHEAD OF TIME…. personally, I’d have to say no!  Maybe if you’re in your early 20s and fearless and are comfortable with being a “nomad” (ie backpacking from place to place not knowing where you will sleep next, how you will get there and where you will work/volunteer). 

 

 

Winging it vs. having everything planned out for you, even though it never goes according to plan, sometimes having a plan is better than not having one, isn’t it?

 

There’s nothing wrong with the backpacking system as thousands if not millions of people do it all over the world on a regular basis I’m sure, but the reality is, there is great comfort in knowing you will be safe, in knowing that you can tell your family EXACTLY where you will be, WHO you will be with, the name, address and phone number of contact people that organize everything, etc, etc. 

 

That is why I personally worked with IVHQ (International Volunteer HQ).   They had great reviews online from people that worked with them in countries all over the globe, so I felt comfortable “investing “ less than 50% of what I’d be spending to live and eat at home on a weekly basis, to go and volunteer in a foreign country using them as the middle man that connected me with the organization on the ground.

 

CONCLUSION

 

I personally don’t find IVHQ to be a SCAM.  I think they are a company providing a valued resource.  And all they keep out of the entire amount we pay is a small administration fee that is separate from the actual volunteer fee that goes towards our housing/food.  It’s the on the ground organization, Dreams to Reality, that seemed to be pocketing a lot.  But again, they are a fine oiled machine, so they are truly making a difference as they bring in so many volunteers from all over the world to give of their free labor to help!  So would I work with Dreams to Reality again?  I’d have to say, absolutely!  And would I go through IVHQ again?  Yes, if I was going to a new country I hadn’t gone to before (otherwise, I’d contact the agency in the country that I worked with before directly).

 

IVHQ has done the legwork, they found the programs and the organizations around the globe and they tell you upfront what you are in store for and then they match you up with the local organization once you sign up and pay your fees.



Until next time....