I cannot emphasise strongly enough what a profound impact my volunteering activity had on my life.
I had a period free starting in May 2008, when my one-year fixed term contract job had ended and I desperately wanted to get away from the UK to put a very painful period in my life behind me
I wanted to work in SE Asia, preferably in Environmental Conservation. Of the many organisations I contacted, WAVA (Work and Volunteer Abroad) based in London, UK, was particularly helpful from the beginning, explaining the many programmes available and where they operated. They answered all my questions, gave me clear preliminary information and enabled me to make informed decisions when planning my itinerary. It helped that in my case I did not have a particular end date so could choose my dates and timings fairly freely, but WAVA would work to any specified time frame to accommodate a client’s wishes.
I chose to visit Nepal for 3 months beginning in May 2008, working for an organisation called CCSV-Nepal (now QUEST VOLUNTEER TRAVELS AND TOURS Pvt. Ltd), and then wanted to travel towards Australia and New Zealand by working for 6 months in Indonesia in between. I arranged my volunteering work in Indonesia independently from WAVA and directly with an organisation called LPTM based in Sulawesi.
CCSV (Quest Volunteer Travels and Tours Pvt. Ltd) – Nepal. May 2008 – July 2008
I have written up my travel stories separately and it is too long to include here. What I want to say is that volunteering changes one’s perspective on the world. It puts personal and national problems into perspective. You meet wonderful people, not just fellow volunteers from around the world but workers in your host country, who are all wanting to do something positive, to help change the lives and environments and economies of people in your host country for the better. In my case I wanted to put something back into the environment, but all problems are inextricably linked together – political, economic, educational, health, environmental – not one problem exists in isolation. Volunteering gives you the opportunity to discuss these problems and ways of solving or alleviating them. I learnt that the volunteering movement worldwide is huge and has an enormous influence on national governments, and politicians take serious note of what work is being done and welcome the opportunities of talking to volunteers from other countries about new and creative ideas to solve problems. This was particularly apparent in the Chitwan National Park of southern Nepal, where there are many international governments, charities and NGO’s working to preserve the rich biodiversity of the National Park, to prevent poaching, and to promote sustainable tourism. Many concerned Nepali local government officers meet regularly to discuss the efforts of local people and volunteers to address the many environmental problems, but an overriding concern is for the health and proper education of the poor children in orphanages and women who have been denied education and opportunities for work. I was able to participate in meetings of the Green Society Nepal with local politicians and officials, and to present my Report on the Threats to Biodiversity in the Chitwan National Park – poaching, land encroachment, waste management, elephant safaris, flooding, invasive weed growth. The Green Society Nepal is funding several local Projects to provide an Eye Clinic, a School and a Community Craft Centre to provide work for local women. The funding comes from Tourism and foreign sponsorship, so in effect without a viable Tourist industry, the livelihoods of the local people would disappear leading to desperate poverty. This is where the problems are all inter-linked and related – which is the most important to address?
C. Tim Taylor 2016