Get your boots dirty: Volunteer overseas
September 6, 2012 in Things to do to help others
Digging wells in Ghana
Travel is awesome. Travel that helps other people is even better. Volunteer travel, or “Voluntourism“, is a great way to learn about another part of the world, learn more about yourself and the discover firsthand the joys of lending a hand. I recently wrote an article for BootsnAll magazine about a volunteer experience I had in Ghana, Africa. Here are a few quick excerpts:
“When you think about your travel destination wish list, a refugee camp in Africa may not pop into your head. And when you think about fun activities to do on vacation, back-breaking labour behind a pick axe or being ankle deep in human excrement probably won’t make the cut.
But I had always wanted to travel to Africa. And as a graduate of Development and International Studies, I knew I wanted to skip the safari and resorts and really get my boots dirty. So at age 25, after my contract with work expired, I signed up for a two month trip through an international volunteer placement agency.
Despite my initial doubts that first night at camp, this experience would turn out to be one of the most rewarding and transformational adventures I’ve ever had…
Drummers on camp
…I spent my two months on camp volunteering with a community-based organization’s Water and Sanitation team (or WATSAN as it was lovingly referred to as). My days were filled with digging wells and cleaning out sewage drains alongside Liberian refugees and other international volunteers like myself.
With tens of thousands of Liberian refugees living in the camp, access to water was a real challenge. So armed with a rickety wheelbarrow, a pick axe and a few shovels, we did our best to build wells in the community. It was hot, back-breaking work but knowing the value it would bring to the camp made it all worthwhile.
Getting my boots dirty
However, the most rewarding part of the job happened in between the swings of the pick axe: during the conversations with the Liberian refugees who were volunteering with us…
… I wanted to go and make a difference and change lives. In the end though, it was my life that changed. What I gave to the Buduburam Liberian Refugee Camp pales in comparison to what I got back from the experience.”
Local kids pose for a shot
Read the full article on the BootsnAll website, including a couple stories about how I chased a thief through back alleys and how we made a game out of shovelling poop.
Have you had a transformative volunteer/travel experience? Share you stories in the comment section below.
The Buddha Belly Badge recognizes creative and inspiring ways to help others. Share your own awesome experiences by visiting the Submissions Section. Or add your stories, photos and videos to the Badge of Awesome Facebook Page.
[...] couple incidents come to mind for me. I remember when I was volunteering on the Liberian Refguee Camp in Ghana. My fellow volunteer, Shauna, and I returned to camp after dark and got hopelessly lost trying to [...]
[...] couple weeks ago I talked about my experience volunteering on a refugee camp in Ghana. Keeping up with the theme of volunteer travel, this week’s Buddha Belly Badge is all about [...]
[...] learned how to play “Align your gearbox” while volunteering on a Liberian refugee camp in Ghana. I shared a guesthouse with other international volunteers from Canada, the US, the UK, Australia [...]