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Why Volunteer?

The decision to take this 2008/2009 school year off to travel was a little difficult. A big part of me wanted to stay to finish classes and graduate with the people I started classes with. But a bigger part knew that if I wanted to go, now was the time go.

Volunteering has been a pretty big part of my life since I was about nine-years-old. My first volunteer experience was with the S.P.C.A. where I walked dogs and helped clean up after the animals.

Later when I was about eleven or twelve I started working with a program run by my town called Future Leaders Incentive Program. It was know as F.L.I.P. I think I still have an old team shirt kicking around.

With F.L.I.P. we organized events for young adults, ran a supervised playground program for younger children and helped out with other town run events. I truly feel that my time with F.L.I.P. has influenced the way I live my adult life and the career path that I am working towards.

My most recent volunteer experience has probably been the most challenging as well as the most rewarding. After taking a Doula course to better assist my sister in the birth of my niece I decided to continue to continue to use my new found knowledge and skills working with the Terra Association. With Terra I assisted young mothers through their pregnancy and birth experience. However, the nature of this work requires me to be on call for large periods of time, as babies arrive on their own time with little notice. So when I started college full time I had to put my time with Terra on hold. I hope to work with them again in the future.

Volunteering abroad has been something I have hoped to do since I was around five-years-old. My grandparents left for a three-year volunteer trip to Lusoto Africa. I remember being so proud that they were going to help people so far away and wishing that I could be there to help my Grandpa build the water pumps he designed.

My brother was also heavily influenced by our grandparents. While living in Vancouver he worked with Amnesty International and one of its sister organizations. We hope to do a volunteer trip together soon.

About the Programs

Chile

I have two weeks in Chile; I wish I had more time there but no such luck. I will arrive in Santiago on the 18th of October. I will be staying with a host family there and taking spanish lessons in the mornings and then work in a shelter and orphanage for babies and toddlers. Although it will be difficult to deal with the idea of these children growing up without families it will be rewarding to be a small part of their lives the short time that I will be there. 

Peru

After spending one of my favorite holidays, halloween, on a silly airplane I get to brave the very scary Lima airport. Someone from Volunteer Adventures will be there to save me from the mob of frightening taxi drivers though. 

I will be staying at a hotel in Lima that evening then the next morning the team heads out by bus to the northern highlands of Peru. We spend two weeks building outdoor cook stoves for the under privileged families there as well as planting trees and raising environmental awareness. The group stays together in a lodge while we are in the mountains. 

In our third week we will be in the city of Cajamarca working at a local outreach school helping street kids with lessons and teaching them to make things to sell for money to help support their families. We stay in groups of two and three with host families here.

My fourth week is for me. I am not sure what I will do with it yet. I am leaving it open because I am sure that a ton of stuff will come up that I will just have to do or see. 

I am getting nervous with my departure date creeping up. I have been planning it so long, and it has always been so far away. Now it is so close! Eeek! I think I am mostly scared of not knowing anyone else on the team. Still, I am sure everything will be just fine. 

I am both nervous and excited about staying with host families. The cultural experience will incomparable to anything else but it will be strange to stay with strangers. 

This trip has cost me a few pretty pennies. I think that for the Romania trip I will have to fundraise. So if anyone has any nifty ideas I would love to hear them.

Well, it is time for me to go to prepare to become an Auntie again tomorrow. 

Love and Luck

Preparing for South America

I think that I finally have everything prepared for South America. The flights have now changed for the third time but I hope that they will now stay as they are and more importantly at the price that they are. 

I fly out of Calgary on October 17th arriving in Santiago Chile on October 18th. On the 31st of October I fly out of Chile to Lima Peru where I stay until the 2nd of December when I fly back into Calgary. 

I will post more details about the programs later but if you would like to read more about them you can go to www.volunteeradventures.com and look at the Eco Tour and Community Outreach Program in Peru and the Infant Care Program in Chile.

Love and Luck 

Jenn