Did We Go to Change the World???? No. Not Even Close.

I was talking to somebody who asked me to explain more fully the "volunteer" part of our Peru trip. This person (who is very nice and I like alot incidentally) seemed a little interested, but really wanted to go down another path. I think the comment was "No offense, it's nice what you did, but you can't change the world in a week."

And my answer was Precisely!!!!!

Without knowing it, this person hit the nail on the head. To further illustrate why I wanted to go, as well as the CCS philosophy, I am going to include some excerpts from the CCS Insight Abroad handbook. It's long so bear with me, or at least skip it and read the end of this post. I think you will like it!

"... With international volunteering... service is equally divided between hands-on service AND cultural exchange. Cultural exchange can mean alot of different things to different people. It can be listening to local people about their lives, talking about your life and what you do, sharing your cultures through dialogue and stories, or just making friends and getting to know each other. When the local people of a country and an international volunteer are able to connect as peers, it becomes service because you have both helped each other learn a little lore about the similarities and differences we all share across the globe.

You will find in your international volunteer experience that sometimes you are not actually working, or that sometimes you get frustrated because things are not organized or on time. This is all part of the cultural experience. By understanding the priorities in the culture and working around them, you are learning about the local culture and what it truly means to live there. Just being at the local organizations communicates to the people that their work and cause are important on a global level. Such a presence has the potential to catalyze social change, shows support and solidarity and allows the local people to become aware of the world around them through exposure to other cultures.

People are sometimes disappointed when their work does not "change the world" in a few weeks, or even months. Your volunteer work may consist of helping in what you perceive as a small way. This could be taking care of children or teaching them a song: try not to lose sight of the fact that you are helping an outstanding local organization do their job better and more efficiently. You should be proud of these small accomplishments, which often reap significant benefits that may not be immediately apparent. Your presence at the project shows people in host countries that people from other parts of the world care about their situation. You will also be learning about other cultures, ideas and values, which may help broaden your own perspective. Don't forget, you too are part of the world we are all trying to change."

There's more--- keep reading if you can!

"Your CCS program will offer you the unique opportunity to establish meaningful relationships with project staff and local people. Ultimately the human connections you make will far exceed the contribution made through you service portion of the program.

CCS enables you to gain a wealth of understanding and knowledge to become a more responsible global citizen that is informed about issues confronting other parts of the world. You will be learning about the lives of people of another culture and the issues they face such as poverty, hunger, illiteracy, and innumerable others. You will learn that the images you have seen in the media are often far from reality in host countries.

You will be able to return home with a greater understanding of the world, having made meaningful connections with others while serving overseas. You will become a small, yet important. piece in the process of helping people from vastly different cultures understand each other. Hopefully, you will share this knowledge and understanding with friends, neighbors, relatives... In doing so, you will bring us closer to international understanding, making our global community a better place. In this way, a short-term volunteer does change the world."

And finally-

"Remember, you will take home what you have learned and experienced In-country. This can have many positive unforeseen effects."


Remember the conversation that inspired this post? Well, it ended with a discussion about how to REALLY change anything, the local people had to be empowered to take over and not rely on volunteers and such. And I fully agree with that as well. Thankfully there are tons of programs like that going on around the world - even in Peru with things like the rafting coop that took us down the Urubamba and the weaving coop / llama farm.

However, in my book, the world of at least one person was fully changed, and even if the rest of our trip had been horrible (which it wasn't, of course!!!), the whole thing - expense, time, illness, etc. would still have been worth going. Stay tuned.....