A short-term intern turned long-term volunteer
http://longwayhomeinc.org/en/internreflect
I discovered Long Way Home through the very formal process of applying for an international internship with IE3 Global as an undergraduate student at the University of Oregon. At the time I was very ignorant of the range of opportunities afforded to me as a Long Way Home intern to do good rewarding work in Guatemala. These opportunities presented themselves as the basic informalities involved in performing development work in a third world country. I was soon to discover the world of possibilities that lay in waiting for me and other Long Way Home volunteers in San Juan Comalapa.
During my three month internship in Comalapa there were the regular, predictable days consisting of morning lesson planning, teaching a Latin American history class at a local school, food shopping in the market, working in the Parque Chimiya garden in the afternoon, coaching local girls in a game of pick-up basketball and ending with an evening development work discussion over dinner.
Yet, there were also the days when the distinct character of Guatemala as a developing country surprised you with what that day’s work brought you. The days when a group of Guatemalans show up to invite you to their sustainable agricultural project in a neighboring town and feed you delicious, fresh fruits you have never heard of, nor recognize. The days planting trees at a reforestation site when a small indigenous man twice my age, with twice as many tools and saplings on his back, moves twice as fast as me up and down the hillside planting trees.
Or there was the rainy day when a local woman showed up at Parque Chimiya on foot with a baby on her back and a young boy circling her legs, all drenched. She wanted to inquire about having a wood stove built at her house by us. Mateo happened to be busy at the time and asked me to drop what I was doing so that we could get an assessment of the woman’s need and reason for coming to us with this request. In general, when deciding to do a project with an individual or group, Long Way Home requires that there be sufficient need and an appropriate amount of participation or investment by the benefitting person or party.
In talking with that woman and visiting her home that rainy day I found out that her alcoholic husband had basically abandoned the family, leaving her to sustain her two boys by taking odd jobs like washing clothes and relying on a meager corn patch for some sustenance. As we talked in her sparse weaving room she served me a little sweat bread and instant coffee heated up over coals of an open fire located outside the shelter underneath some sheets of corrugated aluminum. She cooked all the family meals there, kneeling and squatting, breathing in acrid smoke all the while like all too many women in the developing world. I easily determined she was in need. Next came the discussion about what she could do or provide in the stove-building process. As I mentioned, with nearly all the development projects that Long Way Home undertakes in conjunction with Guatemalan organizations or individuals we ask the locals to provide as much materials, physical labor or logistical assistance as appropriate and possible in any given situation. In this case, the mother said she would be able to procure the block and cement required for the stove as long as we donated the expensive part - the metal stove top.
Over the next few weeks Mateo continued the process of soliciting a Guatemala City Rotary Club for a donation of a quantity of metal stove tops. All the while the woman continued to stop by Parque Chimiya from time to time to inquire about and remind us of her request and our deal. She eventually secured the materials we agreed upon and readied the stove site area. Simultaneously, my designated internship time came to a close with Long Way Home and I departed for a long awaited vacation and travel period in Southern Mexico. My obligatory and formal period of work in Comalapa came to an end and that easily could have been it for my work and continued connection with the people of Guatemala. With all due respect, for many volunteers and interns who pass through Comalapa and work for Long Way Home once their designated work period is over, their self-satisfaction secured and with a few unique Guatemalan experiences in hand, that is it. They walk away from development work. And that’s fine for some, that’s all they are looking for and Long Way Home still benefits.
However, what I feel is the advantage of the grassroots open nature of the Long Way Home organization is the opportunity for sustained, meaningful work both in Guatemala as well as back in your home country.
For example, in this case I kept in contact with Mateo about returning after my travels for another few weeks of volunteer work. The wheels kept turning during my travel absence and when I returned to Comalapa a few weeks later the stove tops had been secured and delivered to Parque Chimiya. In fact, the day after my return Long Way Home’s resident mason, Adam Howland, was planning on beginning construction of the mother’s long awaited wood stove. Thus I was able to start the project process and see it through to the end despite my brief departure from Comalapa. I was able to show the woman Long Way Home’s sustained, genuine care for her situation by placing the literal and figurative first and last blocks of her family’s new efficient wood stove.
Furthermore, since returning to the United States from my time in Central America I have continued my support of Long Way Home’s mission by fundraising, volunteer recruitment and promoting the organization in my home community. In addition, I recently made a return visit to Comalapa in October of 2009 to participate in and witness the realization of Long Way Home’s principal goal - the construction of an earth built vocational school. Yet there are many more avenues for continued stateside support of the organization upon completion of your on-site work in Comalapa including grant writing, project coordination and community presentations. If you are like me and believe that doing development work in the third world requires a sustained, long-term, on-the-ground approach, Long Way Home is the development organization for you.
I discovered Long Way Home through the very formal process of applying for an international internship with IE3 Global as an undergraduate student at the University of Oregon. At the time I was very ignorant of the range of opportunities afforded to me as a Long Way Home intern to do good rewarding work in Guatemala. These opportunities presented themselves as the basic informalities involved in performing development work in a third world country. I was soon to discover the world of possibilities that lay in waiting for me and other Long Way Home volunteers in San Juan Comalapa.
During my three month internship in Comalapa there were the regular, predictable days consisting of morning lesson planning, teaching a Latin American history class at a local school, food shopping in the market, working in the Parque Chimiya garden in the afternoon, coaching local girls in a game of pick-up basketball and ending with an evening development work discussion over dinner.
Yet, there were also the days when the distinct character of Guatemala as a developing country surprised you with what that day’s work brought you. The days when a group of Guatemalans show up to invite you to their sustainable agricultural project in a neighboring town and feed you delicious, fresh fruits you have never heard of, nor recognize. The days planting trees at a reforestation site when a small indigenous man twice my age, with twice as many tools and saplings on his back, moves twice as fast as me up and down the hillside planting trees.
Or there was the rainy day when a local woman showed up at Parque Chimiya on foot with a baby on her back and a young boy circling her legs, all drenched. She wanted to inquire about having a wood stove built at her house by us. Mateo happened to be busy at the time and asked me to drop what I was doing so that we could get an assessment of the woman’s need and reason for coming to us with this request. In general, when deciding to do a project with an individual or group, Long Way Home requires that there be sufficient need and an appropriate amount of participation or investment by the benefitting person or party.
In talking with that woman and visiting her home that rainy day I found out that her alcoholic husband had basically abandoned the family, leaving her to sustain her two boys by taking odd jobs like washing clothes and relying on a meager corn patch for some sustenance. As we talked in her sparse weaving room she served me a little sweat bread and instant coffee heated up over coals of an open fire located outside the shelter underneath some sheets of corrugated aluminum. She cooked all the family meals there, kneeling and squatting, breathing in acrid smoke all the while like all too many women in the developing world. I easily determined she was in need. Next came the discussion about what she could do or provide in the stove-building process. As I mentioned, with nearly all the development projects that Long Way Home undertakes in conjunction with Guatemalan organizations or individuals we ask the locals to provide as much materials, physical labor or logistical assistance as appropriate and possible in any given situation. In this case, the mother said she would be able to procure the block and cement required for the stove as long as we donated the expensive part - the metal stove top.
Over the next few weeks Mateo continued the process of soliciting a Guatemala City Rotary Club for a donation of a quantity of metal stove tops. All the while the woman continued to stop by Parque Chimiya from time to time to inquire about and remind us of her request and our deal. She eventually secured the materials we agreed upon and readied the stove site area. Simultaneously, my designated internship time came to a close with Long Way Home and I departed for a long awaited vacation and travel period in Southern Mexico. My obligatory and formal period of work in Comalapa came to an end and that easily could have been it for my work and continued connection with the people of Guatemala. With all due respect, for many volunteers and interns who pass through Comalapa and work for Long Way Home once their designated work period is over, their self-satisfaction secured and with a few unique Guatemalan experiences in hand, that is it. They walk away from development work. And that’s fine for some, that’s all they are looking for and Long Way Home still benefits.
However, what I feel is the advantage of the grassroots open nature of the Long Way Home organization is the opportunity for sustained, meaningful work both in Guatemala as well as back in your home country.
For example, in this case I kept in contact with Mateo about returning after my travels for another few weeks of volunteer work. The wheels kept turning during my travel absence and when I returned to Comalapa a few weeks later the stove tops had been secured and delivered to Parque Chimiya. In fact, the day after my return Long Way Home’s resident mason, Adam Howland, was planning on beginning construction of the mother’s long awaited wood stove. Thus I was able to start the project process and see it through to the end despite my brief departure from Comalapa. I was able to show the woman Long Way Home’s sustained, genuine care for her situation by placing the literal and figurative first and last blocks of her family’s new efficient wood stove.
Furthermore, since returning to the United States from my time in Central America I have continued my support of Long Way Home’s mission by fundraising, volunteer recruitment and promoting the organization in my home community. In addition, I recently made a return visit to Comalapa in October of 2009 to participate in and witness the realization of Long Way Home’s principal goal - the construction of an earth built vocational school. Yet there are many more avenues for continued stateside support of the organization upon completion of your on-site work in Comalapa including grant writing, project coordination and community presentations. If you are like me and believe that doing development work in the third world requires a sustained, long-term, on-the-ground approach, Long Way Home is the development organization for you.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment