Volunteering - My Story
When I was first thinking of volunteering abroad this year, I identified a window of two months that I could dedicate to doing something worthwhile. I then thought about where I would like to do this v and came up with Africa, India or SE Asia (based on my travel plans either side of this two month period that I was trying to fill). Basically I was pretty flexible between these locations and was pretty sure there was no shortage of need in any of these three geographies. But the next step was a bit overwhelming because these were three big areas and I kind of had no idea what to do next.
I read lots of volunteer and travel blogs, and spoke to a few people that I knew had some experience in one of these regions. All of these conversations were insightful and interesting but none of them presented a solid opportunity or reason to choose a certain location. In the end I decided to eliminate SE Asia as it was really the wrong time of year to travel there weather-wise (not that nice weather is a requirement for volunteering but I had to start the elimination process somehow!!). I also eliminated India as I was already planning to spend two months travelling there after the volunteering, and many people have warned me that it’s not an easy place to travel. I feared that a four month commitment (two months volunteering followed by two months travelling) might be too much for my first time to India. I was left with Africa which made perfect sense as I was already going to be there for six weeks of travelling and it made sense to extend my time there to include some volunteering. Why fly to another part of the world when you are already in a place that has plenty of need and worthy causes?! It didn’t seem necessary to go any further afield and let’s face it, Africa is still a big place so I wasn’t limiting my options too much.
I had also identified that I didn’t want to go with an established international organisation, but I wanted to find a locally run, grass roots organisation that may not already benefit from much international support. I figured that not all of these types of organisations would have websites, so I was actually quite prepared to go to Africa without anything confirmed. I would spend two months travelling and hope that during that time I would meet someone or come across an organisation that seemed like a good fit.
However, this didn’t stop me from continuing to talk to people who had connections and experience with Africa, to try and get something lined up. I ended up posting on Facebook that I was looking for a volunteering opportunity with a grass roots organisation in Africa and through my social network, a friend of a friend saw my post and suggested I talk to Emma Outerridge. Emma is a fellow kiwi that I had coincidentally met once the year before when I was working in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She had first volunteered in a small village school in Uganda nine years before, and subsequently returned every year since. Originally I had thought I wasn’t particularly interested in working in an orphanage (too cliché) or a school (been there done that) but when I spoke to Emma about her school in Uganda, I got a good feeling. Although it was first and foremost a primary school, Emma told me about other community initiatives that the school was involved in and it sounded like a pretty special organisation that was really passionate about supporting its children and their families to ultimately help the development of the wider community. This area was one of the hardest-hit by the HIV/AIDS crisis, so there were many orphans taken into the school and cared for by Dominic and Rose.
The fact that I was able to talk to someone who I knew that could vouch for the people involved in the project gave me a huge sense of comfort. I liked the fact that the school was run by a local couple, Dominic and Rose Mukwaya, and the fact that there was also scope to get involved in other community initiatives outside of the school. I also liked the way they structured their volunteer fees – I was to pay $650 USD directly to the school when I arrived, and this covered my food and accommodation for six weeks (approx. $150) and left $500 to be donated to a project of my choice once I got to the school and was able to see the various projects needing funding. This level of transparency also added to my sense of comfort with the way the project was run. Emma manages the volunteer schedule on a volunteer basis herself (what a legend) so they had just the right level of structure, flexibility and transparency for me. In the end, all of these things were more important than any preconceived ideas I may have had about getting involved in an orphanage or school! And I can now see just how important education is in the continued progress of the developing world.
When I think back to the time I spent travelling through Africa before going to KAASO, I wonder whether it really would have been feasible for me to find a volunteering opportunity “along the way” as I initially thought and I think the answer is yes. But there would have been much more trial and error involved, and a degree of anxiety about all of the unknown factors.
KAASO certainly ended up being the right choice for me, and I can now vouch for them in the same way that Emma does. This is not to say that everyone reading this should go to KAASO (although if you are interested, they would welcome you with open arms) but I do encourage you to use your networks and see what comes up – you may be surprised who has the connection that ends up leading to your volunteer placement!
If anyone is interested in knowing more about KAASO, see www.kaaso-uganda.org.
For those who are interested in seeing more photos of my time at KAASO, see my photo gallery here.
