Yes. This entry is indeed about the wonderful world of volunteering.
Don't we all go through this period in our lives when we have an unquenchable thirst for helping people, animals and/or trees in need?
I believe we do.
Sooner or later we realize that there must be more to life than working your arse off to climb the career ladder or going clubbing on the weekend and snorting your way through mountains of cocaine or sliding from one disastrous relationship into the next.
And what could be better than jetting off to some remote country to help preserve an ancient culture or to save an endangered tree species or to teach a tiny monkey how to survive in the jungle?
Probably nothing other than volunteering.
However, we must ask ourselves: "What are the real reasons for choosing to sacrifice our everyday lives and sleeping on a straw mat for 4 weeks? Aren't we just trying to run away from something? Is it that society expects us to give something back? And what do we really expect to change if and when we get back?"
Look at the facts:
* Volunteering programmes can be really expensive (usually starting at $1.000 for 10 days)
* We rarely have the transparency of where the money actually goes to
* You are asked to live in very primitive conditions with often only very basic supplies and amenities
* You are told that the experience will be "life changing" but by the time you have adjusted you're already going home again
* Deep down most of us are incredibly selfish and rarely stick to the promises and commitments we made to change our lives after we get back home
So what is the point in volunteering and what can we really get out of it?
I want use my own experience for illustration purposes.
In 2009 I was offered a place in an exclusive bio-diversity project on the island of Borneo that concerned itself with "climate change in tropical rainforests".
The volunteering programme was managed by UK charity Earthwatch in cooperation with my current employer.
Every year 30 or so employees from around the world could win a place in one of many bio-diversity projects and the lucky winners were subsequently sent off to a remote location to support a local research team with its project(s).
Before I left Amsterdam for this 9 day expedition I had agreed on a vague "development plan" with my manager that would see me work on certain areas of my professional and personal skills. Considering I hardly knew what to expect it seemed pretty pointless to make rational commitments towards "enhancing my leadership skills" or "developing my team-working skills" through this or that.
After getting our security briefing in Kota Kinabalu (Sabah, Malaysia) we embarked on a short flight to the other side of Borneo (Lahad Datu) to meet the research team and to head off into the jungle.
Our team was a wild mix of nationalities and backgrounds with the only immideate common denominator: We had all won a place on this project through our respective employers.
We spent the first night at the Danum Valley Research Center and made great efforts to adjust to a very basic living. The next morning we were blessed with spotting an Orang Utan picking fruit off a tree right next to our breakfast table, which lead to wild chattering and exaggerated camera clicking. I wouldn't be surprised if the Orang Utan had wondered: "Who the hell are those monkeys there?"
After a short introduction by Senior Scientist and Program Manager Dr. Glenn Reynolds into the actual role of the research center and the projects that are being run from here we continued our journey deeper into the rainforest to our temporary base at the Malua research center.
For the next 8 days our lives would be reduced to a bare minimum. No internet, no mobile phone, limited electricity and no hot water.
At first sight, I had to ask myself: "Am I really ready for this kind of basic life?"
Looking back it's funny to note how simple it is to go from a high-tech, high-speed lifestyle to a slow moving, bling bling free life. Not being able to check your Facebook updates was actually a very welcome relief and significantly boosted inter-human relationship building in our team.
We even started telling each other stories and had plenty of time to think about our lives back at home.
Our work was tough and I can safely say that I have never in my life perspired as much as I did during those 8 days in the jungle.
Despite having read the project briefing prior to my departure and having researched the Bornean rainforest and its main issues I cannot say that I was prepared for the intensity of the labour that we had agreed to execute.
Especially planting delicate dipterocarp tree seedlings along an uneven forest path caused me to loose my breath.
Other tasks included the measurement of leaf litter, the placement and measurement of erosion bridges and digging holes for more dipterocarp seedlings.
Coming from a standard desk job where most of my tasks can be executed by punching words into my keyboard I realised how spoiled we all are in our office job environments and how we often forget that one cannot actually make things without using one's own hands.
In this part of the forest the humidity levels were ridiculously high and not a single breeze touched my soaked skin.
It ocured to me that in this part of the world one cannot rely on technology or expensive equipment to help one out because you simply wouldn't get very far off the beaten track. Instead it was a matter of going back to roaming the jungle the way our ancestors did.
I believe the biggest take out (note: I have left out any mention of my creepy encounters with numerous leeches. Maybe another time.) for me was the sheer overflow of first hand information and the unique opportunity to live a basic life surrounded by the some of lushest flora and fauna in the world.
Being humbled by a group of pygmy elephants crossing the river that we were swimming in or spotting a stunning ladybird butterfly sailing past our small huts contributed towards feeling more in touch with nature than ever before.
On the 5th day a massive thunderstorm appeared like a black curtain between the trees and blew away anything that wasn't bolted down.
Here we were at nature's mercy and it felt refreshing to be so powerless.
Furthermore, after witnessing logging operations near our camp I understood that our world is still largely ignorant to the severe crimes against the environment that are being committed in large parts of the world. Our awareness is often only temporary and we usually cry out: "Someone should stop those irresponsible loggers!" after seeing a poor monkey in a cage who was driven away from its habitat. But 5 minutes later we forget because in reality the monkey is too far away to concern us and someone's status update on Facebook is more interesting.
Logging operations are not just a huge threat to the lungs of our planet but also most of these companies have atrocious safety standards resulting in frequent deaths of their employees who often remain unaccounted for because they were illegal immigrants with no rights or papers. Glenn told me that it was no rarity to see a logger swinging a huge chainsaw without any protective gear what so ever.
In hindsight, my 8 day jungle experience was not just a deep plunge into the simple life but also a unique opportunity to see all the things that are conveniently filtered out by our mass media.
We have become so used to chasing the main headline of the day through various media that we have lost interest in looking up the right information that we should really be reading.
Julian Assange's arrest? The Euro crisis? The drug wars in Mexico?
All topics we know enough about to hold a conversation with a peer but know too little about to really care.
Of course I promised myself that I would start recycling actively, avoid purchasing any products that had been made with endangered species or start educating my colleagues and peers about ways in which one can help save the environment.
And I kept going for quite some time. I recycled bottles and paper and even adopted a butterfly at the Royal Artis Zoo in Amsterdam using a grant and launched an internal awareness campaign at work as part of my follow-up project but all good intentions eventually fade away.
Recommendation
Volunteering can really be an exhilarating experience. No matter if you go to teach English in a remote Chinese village or you help a research team with collecting important data on X, Y or Z it is up to you to make this unique opportunity worth your while.
Reading up on all matters important is only of limited help because nothing can really prepare you for what might await you when you actually get there.
Generally speaking it is only sensible to make promises to yourself once you have completed your activity as you cannot foresee how it will impact you.
But you should try and make a couple of commitments as a promise to yourself!
Especially if it involves raising awareness about a real issue such as the logging of one of the oldest rainforests in the world, or the lack of human rights in Uzbekistan.
However, don't expect to come back a completely different person because the comforts of our old lives will never be erased. We're just too used to them.
This song by M83 is as pure as the landscapes of Borneo. Enjoy!
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