Volunteering: an Enriching Experience
Mariana Gledhill from Wellington, N.Z. spent 7 months, in 2005, in Peru doing voluntary work. She shares her experiences.
Hi All
I am back and Chincha and glad of it. It was wonderful to see all of my family and friends again. I cannot believe that I only have a month left.
Sometimes, I do not want to return to New Zealand. I just don´t understand the mentality of the people anymore. They think that life is tough if they cannot buy a new CD player… I used to understand but now I do not. I feel sorry for people who cannot earn enough money to eat, and for people who have to resort to bathing in open drains, and for people who live in the middle of a desert where there are dust storms, where there is little water and where the houses are made of mats woven from flax. My outlook on the world has changed completely. My country seems better, richer but at the same time, poorer. There is a quote that explains it: Richness comes from appreciating what you have. I think NZ has the richness, but it lacking in the appreciation, thus it might as well not have the richness.
Oh and I have heard that there are strikes at uni, one day strikes. I burst out laughing when I read about that. The universities here are on strikes too… but the thing is, they do strikes properly . The national universities have not been open for classes for 2 months.
Being back at work and seeing my kids again has been wonderful. Now I am torn between travelling and spending my remaining time with them. They have been without a doubt, the most wonderful part of my experience. No exchange is easy, but each time I have felt sad, my girls have cheered my up! They give me unconditional love, the best support that anyone can recieve. When I came here, I was an unknown person to them and now I am the mother of them. I have had many enquiries about what the kids need and what donations can be sent. Well, now my father is coming to Peru for a few days and he can take a certain amount of stuff with him. Clothes, pencils, exercise books, colouring books, toys… I cannot think of anything that would not be useful there but please, nothing of excessive weight. Donations can be sent to my house (19 Versailles St. Karori) if anyone has anything that they do not need that would benefit kids of the age 4 months to 18 years. Dad will take as much as he can with him.
I went to a huge parade in Paracas to celebrate a battle that they had there. It was amazing. There were Chileans and Argentines there and they were acting like they were friends with the Peruvians. The flags of the three countries were flying together. Usually, Peruvians claim to hate them. But they have San Martin (who helped make Latin America politically independent from Spain) in common so they march around and drink pisco together… even if only for a day. There were funny moments. Some Peruvian guy thought that I was a Chilean (yawhat!!!! I speak like a gringa and Chilean women are much more gorgeous and well groomed than me!!!!) and a completely toasted Argentine tried to come on to me (I tried not to laugh the whole time. It was really difficult!!!) But yeah, it was a very interesting time. There was marching and lots of speeches. Then there was dancing… God I am going to miss the dancing. I read this quote the other day that is just too true.
In Latin America not only can the men dance but they can dance darned well, now that is culture shock!
Anyway, think I have written enough already
all of you take care
Love Mariana
