Plans for 2010: Connecting With Small NGOs

The Voluntraveler team has been speaking with a couple of small charity organizations recently that offer volunteer experiences, and we plan to offer their programs as part of our Voluntraveler mission to place excellent volunteers in exceptional programs. Partnerships like these will be our focus moving into 2010.

If you know of a small grassroots charity that is both in need of volunteers and can offer them a meaningful experience that is safe and created with sustainability in mind, please contact us.

The larger volunteer organizations have a very loud "voice" with a huge marketing budget and many staff. One of our goals for 2010 is to help pool the resources and connections of smaller organizations like Para el Mundo to help raise the profile of the little charities running on a shoestring, who need volunteers and funding. In many ways these smaller charities can offer a better, more immersive volunteer experience, especially for volunteers staying longer than a few weeks - something many of the larger adventure travel companies and volunteer organizations don't really focus on.

To keep up with what we are doing, you can follow us on twitter.

You can also find us on facebook.

Barrie high school students fundraising for PaM

On October 8th, 2009, PaM directors traveled to Barrie, Ontario to make presentations in four classes at Bear Creek Secondary School, to talk about the work PaM does in Peru and help the students develop fundraising activities as a project for their Community Involvement Program requirements. Students from the civics department were given a slideshow presentation and talk, outlining the plight of school children in this poor and remote region of northern Peru, and about the history of PaM's activities in support of education in and around Mancora.

The students will put together their own small fundraising projects over the course of this school term, and the money raised will go to support young Peruvians their own age. The project will culminate in a video-conference between the high-school students in both countries, allowing them to meet and speak to each other and foster a cultural exchange.

PaM directors have put together a presentation package that fits in well with many aspects of the Ontario high-school curriculum, including civics, history, geography, world issues and environmental science, and which can be tailored to meet individual class and topical needs. The program creates a unique opportunity for students to become directly involved in working with and assisting youth their own age in a developing country. For more information, please contact Josh Hehner (josh@paraelmundo.org) or Sean Jacquemain (sean@paraelmundo.org).

Daniel Castillo Surgery Update - Success!

We would like to update you all on the success of our fundraising campaign to raise money to assist 9-year old Daniel Castillo from Mancora, Peru, who has been suffering from a large cyst in his jaw. Daniel’s family are Primary School teachers from the remote area of Northern Peru where our partner charity, Para el Mundo (PaM), has been active since 2004, and have been unable to afford the surgery, biopsy, medical tests and imaging which were required to repair the large hole in Daniel’s jaw and heal the infection.

Thanks to the generous support of our friends, family members and the large network of kind folks we have been able to reach, we were able to raise the money required for his care. The first installment of $1,500 USD was sent to Peru via Western Union on June 16th, paving the way for the scheduling of Daniel’s surgery. Following a delay during which Daniel was recovering from a sinus infection, which temporarily prevented the surgery from taking place, Daniel entered the hospital on June 26th and was operated on during the day of June 27 by maxillofacial surgeon Dr. Santos of the University of Lima Teaching Hospital.

We have just recently received the wonderful news that Daniel’s surgery has gone successfully, and he is now recovering at home. The second installment of the $2,100 USD total that we managed to raise will be sent to the family this week, which will cover the rest of the hospital bill, as well as the expensive medications Daniel now needs to stimulate his body to repair the damage to his jaw bone. Although his jaw is now wired shut, and he will be eating through a straw for the next while, he is apparently feeling much better, and is healing quickly. The stitches will be removed this coming Saturday.

Daniel has written the following message to his many supporters, to thank you all for your contributions (translation below):

Hola como estan por alla bueno quiero agradecer por lo que están haciendo por mi y bueno yo estoy feliz, ah y tambien quiero agradecerle a los amigos mando saludos a everyone.

Los quiero mucho,
Daniel

[Translation: Hello. How are you all? Here, things are going well. I want to thank you for what you have done for me, and, well, I am happy, and want to thank all my friends. Please send my regards to everyone. I love you very much, Daniel]

To those of you who requested one, or who provided contact information via one of the online donation mechanisms (such as Facebook Causes or CanadaHelps.org), we will be sending out charitable tax receipts this week. If anyone who donated would like one but did not provide contact info, please feel free to write and request one (contributions of $25 CAD or over). To any of our American supporters, PaM USA has recently received its 501(c)3 status (charitable status), and can shortly begin offering charitable receipts for American contributions. Again, please contact us to inquire about this.

Peru is a very poor country, lacking any kind of public health care, and poor & working families are often forced to go without medical care. Without the generous contributions from all of you, this would not have been possible. We are eternally grateful for all that you have done to support PaM and Daniel’s cause, and we are overjoyed that, together, we have been able to reduce the suffering of this boy who has come to mean so much to our extended PaM family. His family’s thanks goes out to you, as does ours.

Fundraising Dinner Successful

After a few weeks of promotion and advertising in local English and Spanish media, the fundraising buffet dinner and celebration of Peruvian culture and cuisine at La Cocina de Doña Luz's was a success, with $500 in proceeds going to Para el Mundo (PaM). Also that evening, long-time PaM supporter Jennifer Balaishis donated a further $500 on behalf of her class at Langstaff Secondary School as part of their ongoing fundraising efforts to support the work being done in Peru.

Thanks again to everyone who helped make this event a success and for your continued support of PaM and Voluntraveler.

The photo above is of Josh Hehner (PaM/Voluntraveler) presenting La Cocina de Doña Luz owner Luis Parreto with a framed photo taken in Mancora as a gift for his continued support.

Annual PaM Dinner at La Cocina de Doña Luz

What? - A fundraising buffet dinner for Para el Mundo

When? - Saturday June 20th at 6:30pm

Where? - La Cocina de Doña Luz's (a great Peruvian restaurant in Toronto)

How Much? - $25/person

This is a dinner in support of Para el Mundo (PaM), Voluntraveler's partner charity in Peru to honour and appreciate the work of the organization and all it's supporters. Anyone who is involved or interested in becoming involved with PaM are welcome to attend. We look forward to seeing you there!

La Cocina de Doña Luz's

807 St. Clair Ave W

Toronto, ON

Tel: (416) 652-7430

If you can't make it on the 20th, you can still enjoy the same meal from now until the 21st of June as part of La Cocina de Doña Luz's annual Gastronomic Festival, celebrating Peruvian culture and cuisine. Restaurant owner Luis Barreto will be donating some of the proceeds to Para el Mundo.

The festival runs from Friday, June 12 to Sunday, June 21, open from 11am to 10pm for a sumptuous buffet-style all-you-can-eat meal for lunch or dinner. The cost is $25 for adults and $10 for children. Reservations are requested.

Why pay to volunteer?

The question of paying to volunteer pops up frequently, and is answered quite eloquently in this post by Le Ann Joy Adam, who worked as the Overseas Resource Coordinator at Stanford University. 

Below are the benefits she outlines for using an established organization and how Voluntraveler and PaM fit into it. The headings are hers, the points are mine.

• Orientation - Voluntraveler and PaM staff in Peru help the volunteers adjust to their new surroundings and integrate into the community quickly
  
• Language and Technical Training - Although we ask our volunteers to have intermediate Spanish, we offer additional Spanish lessons and the local professionals we work with can teach our volunteers a lot on the job.
  
• Arranged Accommodation - all of our volunteers live in the Volunteer House, have their own bedroom, and enjoy living with other volunteers and our Peruvian staff. Living in the volunteer house makes organizing projects, and having meetings very easy.
  
• A Safety Net - living with the other volunteers and our Peruvian staff means you have a shoulder to cry on when you are homesick, and other people who are sharing your experience. The staff provide logistical support as well.
  
• Clear Expectations - volunteers can run with projects started by others, or define their own. Having experienced PaM staff and established projects gives direction to our volunteers.
  
• Affordability - our program prices are less than what you would pay for a similar all-inclusive vacation elsewhere in the world, and probably less than what you would spend to live for a month in Canada or the USA. 

Voluntraveler is a social enterprise, and the fees we collect from our volunteers cover our overhead costs and offset the administration costs for Para el Mundo. We pay our Peruvian staff a handsome living wage and health insurance (rare in Peru) and this frees up money donated to PaM for their programs. It's a model similar to the one adopted by Free the Children (charity) and Me to We (social enterprise). Their trips are more than $1000 USD/week - twice what Voluntraveler fees are!

Life in the volunteer house

Living in Mancora is a bit of a transition. It's a different culture and pace of life. The volunteer house is a place where everyone can chill after a day of work and decompress. My favorite place in the house is on the wrap around balcony. You can sit there for hours and people watch from the second level. There is often a soccer game on the street with the neighborhood kids and it seems like once a week there is a procession that goes by.

I always felt like the volunteers were like a family. We take turns cooking and cleaning and maybe I've just been lucky, but every time I'm there the other volunteers are amazing cooks.

The house is nice and secure and has a lot of amenities like the PaM computer and surf boards. I like that we live in the local end of town away from all the tourist spots. We're close enough to walk anywhere in town, but our location makes me feel like a part of the community.

Robin Hood Program in Mancora

Providing undernourished, needy children with after school care and literacy education, the Robin Hood Program is a partnership between Magda Metwally and Para el Mundo. It serves as a great example of the type of project that volunteers with Voluntraveler can initiate. Magda saw a need and partnered with Para el Mundo (who provides 50% of the funding) and Voluntraveler for a steady flow of international volunteers to suppliment the Peruvian staff.  Now Robin Hood serves more than 50 needy kids.

Helping with Robin Hood is component of our Community Voluntraveler program.

Volunteer + traveler = Voluntraveler

Travel with purpose. Meaningful travel. Voluntourism. Volunteer travel. These terms and phrases are defining a new type of travel that combine unique experiences abroad with work that benefits the local community. It's time to add a new one: Voluntraveler.

What is a voluntraveler?

A voluntraveler is not a tourist with some spare time to help dig a well, but a well-meaning professional who uses their particular skills and training to better the lives of people in developing countries. Tourists want to see interesting places. Travelers want an experience.

Voluntraveler: local partners, local impact

Voluntraveler is an organization concerned with placing the above mentioned professionals with charity organizations that can best use their skills. Our closest charity partner is Para el Mundo, a fantastic organization in Mancora, Peru. Each year, dozens of volunteers travel to the beautiful coastal town to help with the various projects. They assist with the small medical clinic (the only medical facitlity in the town), teach ESL to the local population, or work with various comunity programs that benefit from their professional training. 

Voluntraveler will be launching a website and online community in February. This blog will be your source for news and opportunities related to Voluntraveler and the world of volunteer travel. Subscribe by email, or add this to your RSS feed. 

-The Voluntraveler Team