Saying Goodbye

Louise März,
Hamburg, Germany

To read the english translation click here.

Hier bin ich, in Santiago de Chile. Plötzlich finde ich mich am Ende meines Freiwilligen Dienstes. Die vier Monate mit VE sind wie im Flug vergangen. Auf einmal heißt es „Tschüß-sagen“. VE hat mich zwar -wie immer- in zwei Seminaren sehr gut vorbereitet, aber der Abschied ist trotzdem hart für mich. In unserem wöchentlich stattfindenden Dienstags-Meeting lernte ich, wie ich mich von den Kindern im Hogar (Heim) wieder trennen kann, ohne sie zu verwirren oder verletzen. Dabei ist es wichtig, Gefühle von abandono (Verlassen werden) bei den Kindern zu vermeiden, ihnen das eigene Weggehen gut zu erklären. Auch über den Reverse Culture Shock wurde ich aufgeklärt, dem Phänomen eines Kulturschocks bei der Rückkehr aus einer fremden Kultur in die eigene Heimat (Noch freue ich mich darauf). Und obwohl meine Fragen, schon bevor sie gestellt wurden, beantwortet und auf meine Ängste eingegangen wurde, bleibt es allzu schwierig, dieses Leben, das ich hier als Volunteer führe, zu verlassen.

Es ist ein so buntes und aufregendes Leben.

Sich immer neuen und unterschiedlichsten Herausforderungen stellen.  Neue interessante Leute aus aller Welt kennenlernen. Zwischen Spanisch, Englisch und Deutsch herum switchen, alles vermischend, möglichst viele neue Vokabeln aufschnappend. Immer wieder überrascht sein von den Chilenen und ihren Eigenarten.

Es war eine tolle Zeit. An den Wochenenden bin ich viel herum gereist, um möglichst viel von Chile, Land und Leuten, kennenzulernen. Es gab immer soviel zu tun. Abends ging es spät ins Bett, weil noch etwas Neues, Interessantes  in der Stadt erkundet werden musste, morgens musste ich um 6.00 Uhr raus, um pünktlich ab 8.00 Uhr anfangen zu können, mit den Kindern zu spielen und sie zu versorgen.

Wir haben mit der Freiwilligengruppe eine Fundraising Aktion gestartet, um mehr Geld für Programme für die Kinder zusammen zu bekommen. Das hat auch gut geklappt.

Wir haben dann die Programme organisiert und stattfinden lassen.  Ich habe zum Beispiel einen Basketball taller (Workshop) für 30 Kinder aus sieben unterschiedlichen Heimen geleitet. Außerdem habe ich ein kleines Leseprojekt angefangen:

Ich habe angefangen, den Kindern aus meinem Hogar  lesen beizubringen. Ich verabschiede mich von den Babys, den Kindern, die mir so ans Herz gewachsen sind, von meinen neugewonnenen Freunden und nicht zuletzt von dieser  kleinen non-profit Organisation (VE Global), die mir diese wundervolle Erfahrung ermöglicht hat.  

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The Big Question

Robin Andrews,
Wilmington, USA

The big question: So, how was Chile?

As I’m getting ready to leave Chile in just a few days, I keep coming back to one thought. How am I ever going to be able to explain this journey over the past 8 months to any one back at home? For the next month or so people will ask…. How was Chile? Where do I even begin? Of course, I will eventually come up with a quick few worded answer, but for those who really want the whole story here is where I would start….

Chile was amazing. I traveled to a country that I really did not know much about only to fall in love with it. I worked in Hogar San Francisco with 27 amazing girls. We jumped on trampolines, played barbies, made cookies and cakes, made animal noses and macaroni wreathes, read books in silly voices, talked about boys, talked about their first crushes at school and danced for hours to Disney songs. On top of that, I met amazing new friends from all over the world and traveled all over South America seeing some of the most beautiful places in the world.

Chile was hard. It was the first time I was away from home for this long and the first time I lived in a non-English speaking country. I had to learn how to get around a new (and huge) city and how to think in Spanish. I worked in a hogar in the broken system of Chile’s abandoned and abused children. We had problems tossed at us on a daily basis that often were over my head, but we had to deal with things quickly and try to find a solution. I had to try to manage these 27 crazy girls and help them to get their homework done, go to doctors offices or something as simple as eat lunch, while half of the time they refused to listen to me, called me names, kicked me, hit me, or just plain ignored me.

Chile was emotional. I walked in to this hogar not knowing one person there and came out with my heart over flowing with love for each and every girl. While there were days, where I couldn’t wait to leave at 6:00, they were then followed by days where I thought I could never imagine ever leaving this place and this family.  I realized one day my purse was suddenly full of glitter, crayons, dirty Kleenex, a few toys, pop up books and candy. I constantly was showing photos of “my girls” to all of my friends and family everyday. I began to feel like a mother to them and would notice how I missed them when I was away and felt so protective over each and every one of them. When they smiled I was happy, when they cried all I thought was how I could take away their sadness and change their situation in life. 

Chile was life changing. My life will be forever changed because of the past 8 months I have lived in Santiago. These amazing girls have changed my heart forever. I can hear their laughs and see their smiling faces, each one of them so different. I think about what their lives will be like one day and what journeys they will have of their own. They have taught me patience, unconditional love, and above all the importance of laughter and a simple hug. They have changed the way I look at the world and what I value. I’m sure there’s about a million more things that I have learned or ways that I have changed because of this experience that I won’t even be able to see for quite some time.

In the end it’s been a journey too large to even try and wrap my head around or to try to explain it all to someone.In time, some of the memories may fade, but I know I will be forever changed by the adventures, the tears, the laughter, the friendships and the love that I experienced during these crazy 8 months in Chile. 

VE in Pictures: Liga April 2012

9 more pictures after the jump

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Festival de Arte

Liz Jones,
Atlanta, USA

Twice a year VE puts on a talent/art show for all of the institutions. Everyone submits a bunch of artwork and the kids have a chance to perform. They can dance, sing, or play an instrument. The artwork and the performances are all judged and some of the kids get prizes. It was such a fun night, and I’m so happy that I got to experience it!

All the performances were so great! It was really awesome to see all of the girls show everyone their artistic talents. All of the artwork was so creative, and I really enjoyed looking at it all. Some of my girls ended up dancing to a Miley Cyrus song that I taught them a few months ago, which made me so happy and was so exciting to see them perform!

To start off the show, a group of volunteers performed a dance. The kids loved it! Then, after all the girls did their performances, another group of volunteers danced to a Spanish song (I was in this group). Right before we started dancing, all my girls started to chant my name; it was sooo cute!

After snack time the judges gave out the prizes. My girls won a prize for the Miley Cyrus dance!!! I was so proud of them and they were very excited to win. Three of my girls won prizes for some of their artwork and another girl won a prize for a poem she wrote. It was so great to be able to experience Festival with my girls. I wish there could be more for me to attend; I really enjoyed seeing my girls be so proud of themselves.

I have never felt so proud of anyone like I did with my girls. It was a new feeling for me. I felt like a proud mama bear. It was interesting for me to see how I reacted to everything; it gave me a small glance into the future on the type of mom I’m going to be. I will definitely be the mom taking a TON of pictures of EVERYTHING and recording EVERY performance. And I’m pretty sure I will most definitely embarrass my kids…all the time.

One Volunteer Grant; One Great Journey

Isabelle Kraus
Colorado, USA

Before I started seriously planning where I wanted to go and what I was going to do as a volunteer in Central or South America after graduating from college, I knew I had to find financial help first. As a college graduate, I would not have nearly enough money saved to cover the cost of such an endeavor. By searching “volunteer grants” online, I found Omprakash.org. Not only does Omprakash offer volunteer grants, it also provides a long list of grass roots nonprofits with no program fees-- score!

Through Omprakash I discovered VE Global, which does not charge volunteers to participate and is another gem in the world of volunteerism. Long story short (and a lot of essay writing later), I was accepted into VE Global and as an Omprakash grant recipient. The grant goes to cover my living expenses, so I can focus on my volunteer commitment. Today, I am over halfway through my six-month contract with VE Global and am so distraught by this reality that I have recently decided to extend my stay.

Why? Because the life of VE Global volunteer is an experience I had only ever heard or read about others undertaking and could only dream about acquiring myself. I am gaining so much, and so rapidly; and most importantly, I sincerely believe I am actually making a difference. I am not the only one gaining from my volunteer work. I believe I am making a positive impact in the lives of the girls at the hogar who I spend so much time with, and they are the main reason I want to stay here longer. I do not want to say goodbye to them, yet. I want to spend more time with them and to continue to be a part of their lives. I want their trust in me to keep amplifying, and I want to continue providing them with the love, affection, and positive reinforcement they deserve. Thank you Omprakash for the generous grant I received, I would not have been able to finance this journey without it.