My Volunteering Story

Personal Case Study written for www.volunteeringinfo.org See the original article here

I’d been spending my spare time volunteering back home in England for a while, but I wanted more, I wanted to travel, to have a big adventure, to challenge myself and make a difference to the lives of people living in developing countries. I knew I didn’t want to pay alot of money to volunteer for an NGO where I might not have a big impact, I wanted to be supported by a reputable organisation. I did lots of internet research and went to the Volunteering Centre near my house in Bristol and VSO, or Voluntary Services Overseas, was the best I could find. VSO has a strategic alliance with the UK’s Department for International Development and work in over 40 countries, sending volunteers to share their skills rather than money. All placements with VSO are fully funded and each country has its own programme office supporting volunteers.

I applied for the Youth for Development Programme which is for 18-25 year olds, and after a long 7 month wait I was invited to an assessment day in London. VSO had been flooded with applications as the recession hit, but luckily, after group exercises and a personal interview I was accepted onto the programme. VSO matched my marketing skills to a placement in India, and once the partner organisation in rural Rajasthan approved my CV, I prepared for my year overseas. That meant leaving my job, raising over £1,000 for VSO through a sponsored abseil, immunisations, health checks, saying goodbye to my family, moving house and leaving my boyfriend behind. All VSO volunteers also attend 7 days of pre-departure training at a residential centre near Birmingham where we talk about our motives for volunteering, expectations, the development context, learn workshop facilitation skills, receive health advice and get a chance to network with volunteers being sent to opposite parts of the globe.

I arrived in India in March 2010, along with 14 other VSO volunteers from the UK, Canada, USA and the Philippines where we had a month of training on Indian culture, development issues in the country, Hindi lessons and even Bollywood dancing. I’ve been here over 6 months now, working as a Documentation and Communication Associate for an NGO called GVNML (www.gvnml.org) who work to enhance the living conditions of rural communities in Rajasthan. They do this by managing natural resources to tackle climate change, providing reproductive health care and fighting for children's rights.

Working in a developing country is very different to working back home. At times it can be painful slow to get tasks completed, even though my office is open 7 days a week. Only my boss speaks English in the NGO, so all my work must go through him with him translating from Hindi and the local Rajasthani languages. But eventually things do get finished and the sense of satisfaction is immense. In the 5 months I’ve been in placement, I’ve developed a new website, written all the content and launched it; produced a new logo and slogan for my NGO; been on multiple field visits and collected case studies; written the annual report; produced reports for donor agencies; written a brochure and helped with fundraising. All this work will help raise GVNML’s visibility, spread their good work and attract more funding, ultimately making a difference to the lives of villagers in Rajasthan.

My living conditions are also a change from the luxury of British homes. I live with my boss’ family in a 350 year old fort with 30 members of his family. There’s not a huge amount of electricity, or water, there are no showers or western toilets and in the summer it got up to 49 degrees Celsius. But, I’ve gained a new family, new brothers and sisters and parents, I’ve learnt their customs and beliefs, I eat their food, wear traditional clothes and have benefited from a new sense of perspective on life, like how much water we use in England, and how reliant we are on electricity.

I won’t pretend things aren’t hard. They are, but it’s a challenge and I’ll emerge stronger than ever. I live in a village, I have no social life except for occasional weekends away to see volunteers in other parts of India, the internet is slow but it’s one of the things that keeps me going. I’m looking forward to going home in 2011, I miss my family, friends and boyfriend, I miss normal life and the freedom we take for granted in England, but I wouldn’t have changed this experience. I know it’s one of the defining years of my life.

A volunteer's remuneration

"You're going to work for a year and not get paid for it?" asked my Grandma before I left for India, surprised that anyone would contemplate such a thing. Police officials, when interrogating you to decide whether they should extend your visa ask the same question "And you receive no salary?" "Yes", say I, the innocent do-gooder stupid enough to work for free.

You see, for me, my short professional life has never been about the money. It has been about making a difference, working for organisations I believed in, doing a job I enjoyed. I've always been happy to volunteer in the evenings and on the weekends.

No one becomes a VSO volunteer to get rich. VSO pay most of your expenses, give you an allowance and sort out your accommodation up to certain budget, but the idea is you don't make money from your VSO placement, but neither do you lose money. In reality, if you want to go on holidays or weekends away, you've got to use your savings. My allowance is 10,000 rupees a month, or £140, but compared to Indian colleagues that's a fair wage, and ours doesn't have to be spent on accommodation and supporting a family. We're lucky really.

So, our remuneration doesn't arrive in our bank accounts at the end of each month. It's etched on our memories, engrained in our future lives. Experiences so alien to life back home that they will shape our thinking for years to come. I've gained a whole new family- parents, uncles, aunties, brothers, sisters and cousins who have taken me in as one of their own and taught me how to live as a Rajput young lady. After just 4.5 months at my NGO I've got more confidence professionally and have learnt about so many development issues and how they affect local people- climate change, child marriage, sanitation, child labour, conservation. Personally I've grown stronger and more sure of myself and I'm left with a sense of satisfaction that I am using my efforts, no matter how small, to help.

Last Sunday after a staff function I was left feeling honoured that I could serve the rural communities in Rajasthan. I'd completed some work for GVNML- a new logo, a slogan (Nurturing sustainable rural change), the launch of our new website, which I wrote, and the printing of our latest annual report, and we were celebrating. The aim of the communications work is to increase GVNML's visibility so that we can spread their initiatives to other needy areas and generate more funding.
I wasn't sure what to expect at the 'logo party', and when I arrived there were 40 members of full time staff from 3 districts sitting opposite a cloth covered board. After senior staff explained the background of the logo change, six of us were invited to stand by the board and together took away the cloth, revealing the logo decorated with flowers. The annual report was wrapped up like a present and unwrapped one of the NGO founders while everyone clapped. I was invited to light a candle to celebrate. I only caught the odd word of the speeches that followed, but there was a lot of dhanyavads, or thank yous to Isabel, combined with clapping. My own unplanned speech didn't come out quite as expected, just a simple few words saying how pleased I was to be here and able to be of service. Work often progresses slowly in India, which makes it even more satisfying when it does get finished. And that warm fuzzy feeling, that's my remuneration.

Photo: GVNML staff by their new logo; the finished masterpiece; me lighting the candle in traditional Rajasthani dress.

Perceptions of time

Written on Sunday 27th June

Time may be constant, but our perception of time passing certainly isn't.

In my previous life I had no concept of time slowly ticking away, it rushed ever onwards, filled with work, evening activities, meals out, yoga classes, climbing, cinema trips, cooking, housework, love. Granted, work time often dragged but weekends never seemed long enough, and the months leading up to my imminent VSO departure flew by with last minute preparations and meaningful moments spent with loved ones who I would soon have to leave.

In Laporiya it's a different story. I can't say I've never had this much time, because I've always had 24 hours in every day so far, what is more accurate is to say that I've never had this much time with so few daily activities to fill it. In my reawakening I don't have household responsibilities like I did in England. I don't have to shop for food or cook, I don't clean, apart from occassionally sweeping my room of dust and pouring water on my bathroom surfaces which takes all of 5 minutes. I don't have to wash my own clothes, except for my underwear, something I strangely look forward to. It's the theraputic properties that sitting in the bathroom on a plastic stool, listening to BBC World Service and rubbing knickers with a clothes brush can have.

I spend a grand total of 2 minutes commuting to work. There are no opportunities for organised social events, drinks with new friends or outside excercise. In the last 8 days I haven't even left the boundary of our haveli (fort). My entire life is contained inside the sandy yellow walls of our house. When I first arrived this drove me crazy, but somehow I've adapted. It's almost like I've come to see each area of the house as a seperate destination.

The pastimes and chores that filled my pre-VSO life have almost all been snatched away. It's the ultimate opportunity to be responsibile for my own entertainment. It's not as easy as meeting up with someone, or going to the swimming pool. If I want to do yoga here, I have to motivate myself to go to the roof, set up my mat and teach myself the asanas using a book. It's a challenge but it was a challenge I had anticipated, having agreed to a rural placement. I came prepared with painting material, half a suitcase of books I'd bought in the last few years but never had a chance to read, DVDs, games and intentions to write poetry and do lots of meditating on the meaning of life.

But sometimes I can't help feeling lost with all this time to fill. I'm forcing myself to take advantage of it, thinking I may not ever get this chance again. I do write, I really enjoy putting the blog together, I have painted, I read alot, I watch films and I examine things in minute detail. This morning for example I counted all the multi-vitamins in my pot. Around 190. Every evening when I come into my room from work I cross a day off the desk calendar my sister had made with photos of my family, and I cross a day off my VSO wall planner, which has all my planned holidays marked out in thick pink pen. I focus on anniversaries, for example in 3 days I will have been in India 4 months, over a third of my total placement time, and it will be 1.5 months until Rob visits. I've been improving my soduko skills and this morning I wrote a list of all the countries I've been to. 18; 23 if you include England, Wales, Scotland, Jersey and Guernsey. I'm telling myself I'm not going mad, I'm reflecting on my 25 years and keeping my mind busy. Almost like those people who were in blacked out solitary confinement in Alkatraz who threw pebbles on the ground then found them in the dark, just to stay occupied.

I'm using the year to do some mental filing, to look at where I am and where I want to be. To appreciate what I've got, to fine tune my life philosophies.

But the truth is, I actually enjoy being busy, I like rushing around having fun, I find pottering around doing household tasks reassuring, and I'm organised enough to fit a lot into each day. Having said that, one of my favourite books is 'In Praise of Slowness' by Carl Honore, who documents the rise of the Slow Movement, where more and more people around the world are slowing down, not to become lazy, but to appreciate life at the right speed. "It is a cultural revolution against the notion that faster is always better. The Slow philosophy is not about doing everything at a snail’s pace. It’s about seeking to do everything at the right speed. Savoring the hours and minutes rather than just counting them. Doing everything as well as possible, instead of as fast as possible. It’s about quality over quantity in everything from work to food to parenting." www.carlhonore.com

Although I packed my life back in Bristol full of meaningful activites, I like to think it wasn't particulary fast. I enjoyed weekend holidays and travelling, but I rarely watched TV. I travelled by foot or bike, rather than by car. I suppose I'm living the slow dream now, but perhaps too slow. It's useful to be able to see the contrast, but what I'm after is a happy medium, neither too rushed, nor too under stimulated. I know I have to get through this year, I don't want to leave early, so I look at the days as blocks between holidays and pink ringed days, days I look forward to. I'm vowing not to clock watch, in fact I don't wear a watch, sometimes in India there doesn't seem much point. I do however check my emails incessantly, but I think that's more because it's one of my few connections to the outside world.

I'll leave you with this final thought from Carl Honore: "One of the key benefits of decelerating is that it gives us the time and tranquility to look inside ourselves, to listen to our hearts, to get in touch with our souls, to ask the big questions in life." After 4 months, with another 7 months to go, I wonder how my perception of time will change again, and how this will effect the speed of my life when I return back to England next year.

Time to reflect

Last weekend I went to Delhi. I'd been looking forward to the trip every since Jen and Nikki had invited me to their backpackers fancy dress party a few weeks before. They are both VSO UK volunteers but arrived in November 2009 so had just celebrated their 6 month anniversary, a landmark I was keen to pass.

The long weekend gave me a chance to reflect on my new life in Laporiya village and how it differed to life in Delhi. One thing that constantly comes up in conversations with other VSO volunteers is that every placement has positive and negative factors, there is no perfect placement, and different lifestyles suit different people.

Delhi, frantic markets, 2 minute access to mangos, meaty take aways, american style cafes, air conditioned bedrooms, pepe jeans, wonderful anoki, turtle cafe, pedicures, dentists, hairdressers, olympic sized swimming pools, real coffees, beer, expats, bars, dancing, karaoke, cinemas, western style toilets, showers, dust free flats and english conversations with sympathisers.

Laporiya, my home, quiet, kind to wallets, dusty, filled with family, slow, time for reading and writing, simple fresh food.

I didn't come to India to live an expat lifestyle, i came to be Indian for a year, to live how I never would again. To have time to reflect, rest, recharge and learn to value my own company, to prove to myself I could be truly independant. But the thing I've come to realise is that you are never really alone, there are always people to support you. Yes I'm here in India by myself but in under three months I have a group of new VSO volunteer friends who I'm taking trips around the country to see, 30 new family members, rewarding work to get stuck into with accomodating colleagues and of course my original family and friends on the end of my reliance net connect broadband stick.

Now I can have the best of both worlds. I can live a simple life in the country learning how to appreciate running water, electricity, rain, baths, being able to choose who you marry and where you live, lush English countryside and the cool British air. Then when I've had enough I can pop to Delhi or Kolkata and overdose on filter coffee, air conditioning and conversation.

And I can feel myself changing already. I do feel more independant, somehow stronger, more sure of my gut instinct, trusting that my own decisions are the best for me. Certain that I want to build my own eco-home back in England, that I can't spend my career doing anything apart from trying to make positive changes to people's lives. There are huge problems and I know when I'm back home I won't be able to ignore them. Forced child labour, child marriages, droughts, poor sanitation ruining lives, mothers dying from traditional birthing practices, industries exploiting precious natural resources, a lack of respect for the environment. I knew this year wouldn't be easy. It's a challenge but if you don't keep challenging yourself you won't get anywhere. Yes, I count down the days and seek landmark dates for anniversaries of how long I've done or how long until I see Rob, but I know this year will be seminal for me, a defining period in my personal development. You can't ask for more than that.

Photos: A meaty brunch over the weekend with VSO volunteers in an airconditioned american style cafe in Delhi vs. proudly displaying the butter and buttermilk I churned last week in Laporiya with my kakisa (aunty).