Sep 28
Meet Dianna Stallone, a US attorney who is now volunteering abroad in a Women’s Rights Center in Argentina. Dianna came to volunteer with uVolunteer on September 20th. This is a report of her first week in Cordoba, Argentina:
‘The first week has been an incredible mix of interesting experience and challenge. Eduardo, my contact here in Cordoba, leaped to my rescue and he had me out of there in less than 24 hours. I do not think it possible for anyone to be more accommodating and helpful. I am now staying in a safe neighborhood in a house with a couple from France. They speak Spanish too so we speak Spanish in the house. I have been attending Spanish classes at the language school. Most of the students are from Germany. Sebastian, who is I think the director of the school, took us for a walking tour of the city and we had a lunch of empanadas together the second day. Our tour was very informative and interesting. The Spanish school is well located and I can walk there from the place I am staying. I am learning a lot of Spanish. At first it was very hard because the people speak very fast and they use a very unusual pronunciation of key words and letters. They also use “vos” instead of “tu” which is a form not taught in the US or in any of the Spanish texts. After four days, I am becoming accustomed to the sound and am able to understand more.
My work with the Women’s Center has been a bit off schedule because they are physically moving the center this week. Again, Eduardo, was on the phone and arranged for meetings with the women from the center and also with four other organizations. Today we met with the second organization and I will be going on Monday to court with one of the lawyers. I really liked all of the women that I met from both organizations and they were very gracious. I am not sure how much help I can be in these organizations with the level of Spanish that I speak. I am hoping that my Spanish will continue to improve enough so that I can genuinely be of help. In any event, I am looking forward to going to court on Monday so I can observe how the legal system works in Argentina.
This weekend, I will travel to Alta Gracia, a city about an hour from here with a woman from Germany who is in my Spanish class. It is nice to have someone to travel with and I am looking forward to the trip. In all, things are going well and I am enjoying my stay here in Cordoba.’
Sep 25
Since we focus mainly on our volunteers and their stories, we thought it would be nice to look at the whole thing from another perspective as well. The last weeks we provided you with the weekly reports from our volunteer Barbara Spreng, who is currently volunteering in Nongkai, Thailand. We also asked her host family about their experiences with Barbara. Read the translated version of their reply here:
‘It has been so great to have Barbara as part of our family. We always offer Barbara to try new things, meaning food. Instead of refusing the offers she always tries everything and gives us her opinion. She is so keen to learn about Isan culture and how people in a small village like Ban Thin Dung live. It has been a long time since we’ve had volunteers staying in our house and once again life had been brought back to our family.
There are quite many people in our family and it’s very common for everyone to join at dinner time. Since we have Barbara here things have turned lively again as all of us like to exchange language skills, we try to speak our poor English and at the same time we can teach Barbara some Thai. Her Thai is getting better and better every day. In the meanwhile we always laugh and exchange stories during dinner.
The part I enjoy the most is after dinner, when we sit down at the balcony talking, exchanging life stories to get the food settled, and sometimes exchanging knowledge about different things such as mostly Buddhism and how Buddhists live and we meditate after the talk before we go to bed.
Barbara is a fun, easy going person with a good heart. She has brought happiness and fun back into our family again after a long time that it has been quiet. We all love and respect Barbara as part of our family and I am so happy to have her here!
Jack and Family’
Sep 23
Barbara Spreng is currently volunteering in Thailand with uVolunteer Teaching Basic Computer Skills and IT. She has finished her first month of what will be a 6 month experience in total. Every week, Barbara provides us with a report of her new experiences at the school, the country and the culture. Read about Barbara’s week here:
¨The oldest Volunteer in Thailand! Am I ???
I Had the best weekend so far, buying silk at the markets for a great price after a little haggling! A visit to the waterfalls where I got to play like a kid again. I think this is the best thing about being a volunteer, It allows you to step outside yourself a little or a lot, depending on how brave 
you feel. These days I am extremely brave and rise to each challenge!!!! My Bike and I go almost any where and then there are the buses which come and go at will, but are most comfortable. I have noticed no one walks much in Thailand, at least not in the rural area. When I questioned this I was told Thai people don’t like to walk! I noticed they ride a motor bike across the street and when I walk I’m told “You in Thaiand NO Walk”.
My Classes are going well with the children, I wander about between classes to observe and I am always welcome.Twice a week I eat school lunch. It’s quite good and we have at least four choices every day. The children take care of you, bringing you food and cleaning up for you. They clean the class rooms and most of the school which is not going to happen in the Western World!! I have began to work in the High Schools, three in all. The students need help with conversation so we split into small groups and talk, some are so shy! They need this because some of the teachers are not at all gifted in spoken English. My eight younger age groups are doing well, the smiles are so rewarding. So off to school today, then a Thai massage , a treat and so CHEAP!¨
Barb in Thailand
Sep 21
Author: Fei An Tjan
While our volunteers in Ghana and Kenya do give everything to fight HIV and AIDS, manpower is not the only means anymore and even technology plays its part now in addressing the issue.
“Pamoja Mtaani”, or “Together in the Hood”, is the name of the computer game that educates the youth of Kenya about preventing AIDS and HIV infection. Currently, the effectiveness of the game is only tested in Nairobi, but if the results are satisfying the game will be displayed country wide.
‘Players assume the identity of one of five characters who find themselves car-jacked in a matatu (minibus taxi) and attempt to recover their stolen goods and save an injured woman. Through a series of sub-plots, the players are put into positions where the decisions they make can put them at risk of contracting or preventing HIV infection. ‘
Kenya’s national HIV/AIDS strategy considers youth aged between 15 and 24 “most-at-risk”; young women have an HIV prevalence of 6.1 percent, four times higher than their male counterparts. Studies have shown that although knowledge of HIV/AIDS among the youth is high, many young people continue to engage in risky behaviour, such as having multiple sexual partners and inconsistent condom use.
Source: Plusnews
To me this is a great example of how fighting HIV and AIDS is not at all a lost cause. I can only cheer for people and companies, like Warner Bros in this case, that take the effort to really dive in to a culture to reach people! I think the reason this game works is a result of thorough investigation and finally understanding how to address your issue to the right target group. Warner Bros did their homework well: by creating a game these young people will be educated in a fun and creative way without having the feeling they are sitting in school. A nice extra is that the language spoken in “Together in the Hood” is Sheng, a mix of English and Swahili and often used by Kenyan urban youth; another reason why the game is probably so popular.
I hope there will be more people that will take the time and effort to do such successful projects and I’m curious about your ideas on this!
How can we improve HIV and AIDS awareness?
Sep 18
With so many new projects we are happy to share with you our first feedback! Barbara Spreng is currently volunteering for 6 months in Thailand Teaching Computers and IT skills in Nongkai, Thailand. Here you can read about her project, host family and new cultural experiences. Barbara is 58 years old and already volunteered on many different projects. About her motivation to volunteer abroad she comments: ‘ I’ve always traveled and wish to continue to do so, while helping to make the world a better place one child at a time’.
“It’s nearly the end of my second week and I have to say it’s all amazing; family, food, teaching, the tourist bits. I did find it tough without any other volunteers here for a few days but now there is a 29 year old female from Holland. We are going to see the waterfalls this weekend, a 100 mile trip and the host family will drive us. We also will see the Indo China market on Saturday so plenty to do! My teaching is going well, I am teaching one private school class for one hour and each school lunch is thrown in. The other is school is a government run program, which I actually like better; the kids try harder and I feel more support from the teachers. Most of the students have learned by rote so its a battle to go for an original thought, I do have six months so I am positive it will all improve.
Today I had my first day at the High School. Thirty children turned into sixty, we all had the best time getting the children to speak out as they are shy. The culture dictates this, but by the end it was the best class yet! I am teaching this class once a week for one and a half hours. Ban Thin Dung is really quite rural but on my old bike I have found plenty to do. I’m not too sure about the frog eating though.”
Barb in Thailand
Sep 16
Author: Fei An Tjan
It’s been a while again since I’ve provided some updates on uVolunteer again. The last couple weeks and actually months, everybody has been incredibly busy to get our new projects ready. Preparing 12 countries to run like a train is not an overnight job. Now what is there to work about? you may ask, but believe me, there is actually a lot more involved than you might initially think. Collecting information from our partners was one thing, processing and discussing things was a whole different story. Of course we want all our programs to run as smoothly as in Costa Rica and Bolivia, and in order to do that, there was a lot of time and more time involved to reach mutual agreements. Our enrollment officer Christina has been translating and talking on the phone for hours with our partners to make everything happen for all of you!
In the meantime, everybody else in the office has been making our website faster, prettier, more informative and has been writing new project documents which also takes more than a day. And that’s what we’ve been doing on a day to day basis for the past few months, doing our best to make your experience as pleasant as possible!
And for us to improve, spill out your heart! please let us know if you have any comments, compliments or advices so we can work on our services to future volunteers.
Sep 10
Author: Fei An Tjan
A while ago, I wrote an article with tips on making your volunteer vacation abroad better. The tips our former volunteers provided focussed mainly on practical aspects of volunteering, as to what to bring and your attitude towards a new culture. Naturally, there are many more people who have ideas on how to make the most out of your working holiday and many more aspects to think of before going abroad. I highlighted to articles in this blog that drawed my attention. At travelanthropist.com you will read about keys to a successful volunteer vacation and also LaVidaIdealist.org addresses this last issue.
Reading the articles made me realize something very important, namely that having a successful volunteer holiday begins with yourself. Both articles stress that it’s smart to consider your own motivations and skills before you sign up for a job and company. Doing something you truly support will increase your feeling of actually doing something good.
Speaking from my own experience I can surely agree with that! After finishing a Bachelors in Communication and New Media I felt that I was actually useful, doing exactly that where I was educated for in Bolivia. That doesn’t mean though that you can’t be valuable without any specific skills. I believe that if you’re truly committed to helping the community and have fun in what you do, you can add a valuable part to wherever you work.
Please feel free to comment and/or add more good advice on how to make the most of your volunteer abroad experience!
