Volunteer Challenge - TestimonialsMy volunteer experience was both challenging and rewarding. I worked in the orphanage for 4 weeks organising various activities for the children such as kite making and general crafts, paying games and helping out with sports. The program was great because it gave me the flexibility to work with children of all ages, in the areas that interested me. The children were fantastic I was really surprised at how humble and enthusiastic they were to get involved. In fact, it was difficult to get into the main gates without being swarmed by smiling faces inviting you to visit their homes. I also got to experience the social life in Bolivia. Teresa made real effort to introduce all the volunteers to her family and friends and she integrated us into the Bolivian way of life . We spent many on evenings on a karaoke machine, at the cinema or a local bar hanging out with locals and definitely helped improve my Spanish. One of my personal highlights was when her cousin took us to the famous carnival in Oruro, despite the fact that we got soaked with waterbombs¡¡¡¡ Olivia Ware My past experience in Bolivia has been one of the most influential educational experiences I’ve had to date. Working at the television station Sudamericana helped me enhance production skills that I already had in a completely new environment and language, and I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to choose to do my internship for my university in Bolivia. Once I managed to make myself forget that my Spanish speaking level was less than that of a child, and just spoke with confidence, I was amazed at how much I could communicate with people and how much we each took from the conversations despite my questionable speaking abilities. Being surrounded by such a different culture and attitude than those of my hometown, yet feeling so incredibly connected to and accepted by the different people around me has been one of the most powerful things I’ve been fortunate enough to experience. I count down until the time I can return to te coutry that has stolen so much of my heart! Jaime Posa I had learned Spanish in school and one thing I hoped to do here was develop it further. Boy is the local accent weird! But then, the locals were also taken aback by my strong Castilian accent, so the culture shock went both ways. The law of Santa Cruz is to offer visitors hospitality and that is true in any shop, any bus and anywhere a volunteer works. (Despite my accent.) I chose to work in 2 placements: in the orphanage I spent 2 weeks helping take care of adorable babies. This is a popular placement so you’ll be finding other volunteers there, even travelling with them; gives you a feeling of going to work with friends. The next 2 weeks I spent at a wildlife park. Now you would think I’d be assisting in the usual conservation work, but in actual fact they wished me to use my skills in translating their website. I can honestly say I went to a wildlife park everyday in order to work in an office. The chief administrator was happy with my work and since he spoke English, he agreed to be my referee in future job apps when I asked him. Now who says volunteering isn’t worth it! Ruth Hüneke Other references from past volunteers ..... Andrew Murray |