Before you volunteer, think twice of WHY you want to do it

Voluntourism is becoming more and more popular way of spending a holiday, gap year or boosting your self-fulfillment. But think twice, before you decide to volunteer, what does the child begging on the street for money learn when a white person gives him 5 dollars, or when a white person takes pictures with him in his lap?

Read an article by Ian Birrel in Guardian

Before you pay to volunteer abroad, think of the harm you might do

News from Malawi team

News from Malawi team

Donata, Valentas and Daniel have been organising a theme day for the kids in the primary school in rural Malawi with the goal to make teaching more lively, instead of what is a very often situation – kids are simply repeating what teacher is saying without understanding it.

"Amazing! really nice. We made a kind of treasure hunt where the kids would review the last week of classes and put into practice what they learned. I was lucky.... I got a good group with good english speakers. But the interaction and the way they behave is fantastic. it really is very easy to fall in love with the country and the people here. especially the kids. they have so much potential! but in the other hand they lack the people and resources to explore that potential. We are definitely very lucky to grow up the way we do in europe” - says Daniel about his experience with the kids in the rural Malawian school. 

5 Ways Volunteering Can Change Your Life

Joy Paley is a guest blogger for My Dog Ate My Blog and a writer on accredited online universities for the Guide to Online Schools.

There are lots of persuasive reasons not to volunteer. It’s time consuming, often uncomfortable, and can force you to face facts about the state of the world and yourself that you’d perhaps rather leave alone. Once you take the plunge, however, you come to realize that all those excuses are far outweighed by the transformative ways volunteering can change your life, for the better.

1. Realize Your Ability to Change Lives

Throughout my college and young adult years, I’d cultivated a view of the world that went something like this: “It’s terribly screwed up, way beyond my ability to do anything about it.” This perspective left me with a general sense of anger, and powerlessness. A few years ago, I joined a group of writers that teaches the process of creative writing to inner city kids, and I realized that any skill you possess has the ability to change lives, and in the process, make a small but non-negligible impact on the world. It’s how you decide to use those skills that matters.

2. Get Catapulted Out of Your Comfort Zone

I grew up in a poor household, and although I harbored a lot of anger about the economic disparities in the U.S., once I got a decent job I didn’t want to think about the realities of being poor anymore. Seeing those inner city kids face the stress and anxiety that comes from growing up without security, I realized how selfish and ultimately comfortable I had been in my own apathy. Volunteering will take you out of your own apathetic zone, and reawaken the issues that matter to you.

3. Form Life-Long Relationships With Other Volunteers

Modern society is defined by a general sense of anonymity. It’s easy, if you don’t make the effort, to go through life with a series of superficial friendships that don’t go at all beneath the surface. As you’re volunteering and going through this personal transformation, there will be other volunteers going through it as well, people who you’re likely to form lasting, rich relationships with, due to your shared experiences.

4. Experience the Joy of Giving

Giving of yourself in a serious manner is exhausting, and that’s why most people don’t bother to do it. It’s easier and nicer in a lot of ways to put all your time and money into pampering yourself. When you volunteer and see the look of gratitude on the faces of the people you’re trying to help, however, you’ll experience a profound satisfaction at your ability to make someone else’s life a little easier. It’s a feeling of connectedness between people of very different cultures and backgrounds that few get to experience in their lifetime.

5. Gain Confidence In Yourself

Volunteering may be one of the hardest challenges you’ve faced to date. Your project may go incredibly off course, and you may be upset at your inability to enact the changes you had planned. If you’re working in the third world, you’ll probably be homesick, hot, and uncomfortable for a good chunk of the time. But once you’ve made it through you’ll know that you can do anything—a very empowering feeling that you will carry with you throughout your life.

Zapanjiti! - my first weeks in DI program

"I buckle my safety belt, pull goggles down over my eyes, turn to the men at the blocks, and nod. Frozen figures leap to action. A yank on the ropes - the wheels are free. I brace myself against the left side of the cockpit, sight along the edge of the runway, and ease he throttle wide open. Now, in seconds we ́ll have the answer. Action brings confidence and relief." Charles A. Lindbergh, The Spirit of St. Louis

Part I: It takes two to tango, but one to make a change in the world

The day was sunny, and strangely springy. It’s not common for the time of the year. Or was I more sensible to it? Now, I can’t tell. But, as usual, I woke up mindless and with no thoughts. No concerning. No worries. But rapidly, this inside feeling changed. And with it came a deep feeling of fear and uncertainness. “Put yourself together!” I said to myself. Obviously I’d had this feeling for the last 4 or 5 days, I which I’d had even, without thinking really on it, elaborated a countdown.

Backpacking time. Can the simple act of putting cloths, accessories and all kind of stuff in a backpack be so painful? It doesn’t seem so. Many times I had done it, but never have it been this way, where my mind just tends to be absorbed by any other unimportant issue besides this. 3 hours after and the job was done. At this time, I felt it: I was ready. Although I couldn’t eat or even sleep I felt that all the mental and emotional preparation I had been doing for some time, subconsciously I now understand, brought some inner comfort and safety. I was ready, definitely.

I can’t recall the trip in details. I’ve tried it, but it just doesn’t work out. I know understand that my mind was already on its way, not looking back, but instead forward. Not expecting or hoping concrete events or solid answers, not actually thinking in the way we think or reflect on new future events, but otherwise not thinking on anything at all. My mind was on standby mode for sure. Ready to be turned on.

Part II: Cold feet on warm land

The adventure had started.

It came silently. First the fingers, after the chicks, the ears and then the feet. It had get to all my body. It’s was around -2 C or -3 C! It was painful waiting all that time for the bus. But finally I entered the bus, and directed to my final destination. Happily, I met someone on the bus, someone who identified me and where I was going. This ended to be really nice and comforting at that time because in this way I could get to my destination without looking or asking out for it. It was a good start indeed. 

Awkward. I had just arrived at a Goodbye Party. I was just arriving! A Goodbye Party for my “colleagues” who were going to take the next step in this new big adventure. I was taking my first step into this whole new thing and seeing all the great enthusiasm created around these people who were just leaving was a grateful peace giver to my inner doubts and fears. But after a day of travelling on almost all the means of transport you can imagine, your body will not accompany your minds desire, so I went to my bed.

The 1st day concerned knowing the place, the people, and the program. I felt myself on warm land. Like a 2nd home. This feeling calms down all kinds of doubts and fears, giving on the other hand a powerful sense of comfort and security. The week went on with some workshops and presentations, being at times exhausting because of the amount of hours closed in a room. But at the end these procedures revealed themselves very important for the understanding of the schools education philosophy as well as the DI program. The contents and the organization of all the introduction week was really well planned, and in this way was a great help for a comforting startup. A big amount of information to be “digested”. But time is also our best allied, so with time I learned to “digest” and reflect on all this new concept of education as well as our real work here in the school. And the best way for this to be accomplished is by doing it yourself. A process called “learn by doing”. In this way, by doing you get to learn as well as to put in action your initiatives as well as to develop new activities you feel you are capable of developing. A big challenge but also a great resource on learning, by developing something new. In conclusion, this week had the goal to introduce us to our school, tasks, responsibilities, education philosophy, DI program, colleagues, teachers, etc.

The next procedure was about the school we would go to. In the beginning this seemed a matter of big importance but after the decision it was obvious that the school were I would go to was not the most important, but what we could learn and what we could give to the school. From this moment it was clear that this was the matter of most concern. Attributed to my school I immediately started making my plans and preparing me for what the job would need. The demand was high. The will too.

Part III: My home is the place where I fit

So, immediately I buckled my boots and filled myself with energy. So much to be done so much that can be done. The potential is enormous. And it comes even better when you surrounded by nice people all ready to help you and to satisfy your requests. In this way I started working on my tasks. One thing I can guarantee, I feel at home...but I do miss home, just I don’t think so much about it. If I had to express my feeling after the two last weeks of my life, it would have a name: Zapanjiti!

The name Zapanjiti is a Serbo-Croatian word meaning ‘to surprise greatly’.

by Gilberto Miranda

Project Rainbow Mozambique

Development Instructors from the project Escola de Professores do Futuro Chimoio, ADPP Mozambique: Irina Fedorova (Russia), Augustina Leonaite (Lithuania) and Santa Bieza (Latvia) former DI's from Boserup, Team August 2009 organized a mini-project called “Rainbow”. The Projects idea was to make a New Year's present for the kids and adults from the local community - to repair and to paint one of the buildings, to arrange a real cultural center. Here are the results.

Good work guys :)

Project Rainbow

Hellebaek Friskole News 2011.01.14

Happy New Year

"Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man."

Benjamin Franklin

We wish you a Happy New Year

 The Development Instructor Program

Happy Holidays

At Christmas
A man is at his finest towards the finish of the year;
He is almost what he should be when the Christmas season's here;
Then he's thinking more of others than he's thought the months before,
And the laughter of his children is a joy worth toiling for.
He is less a selfish creature than at any other time;
When the Christmas spirit rules him he comes close to the sublime...

Edgar Guest

Happy Holidays and Season Greetings

The Development Instructor Program 

Mulibuanji!

Mulibuanji!

An old lady with almost no teeth wearing the most colourful clothes you have ever seen greets you at the local market. This is the way local people in a little village deep in the bush of Mozambique greet each other and clap hands in sign of respect. How are you?

            This is one of the million of precious moments that still inspires me to do what I do know – contribute to making our world a better place.

My name is Eugenija and my purpose in Boserup is to make sure that each and every Development Instructor (this is how you are called when you decide to join the program) is ready to do what is needed here, in Denmark, and in a far away land of Africa. Am I a teacher? Am I a friend? Or am I your boss? This is a questions that I ask myself and friends ask me quite often. And I still cannot find the answer :-) But I know what I aim at – that African people are empowered by people with passion for development, people who greatly respect and admire African history and culture, who are humble in their needs and are of generous attitude, but can also show temper when needed, who are willing to share (not dictate!) knowledge they possess, but also are open to receive local knowledge, and who unselfishly dedicate themselves for making other people's life better.

So for now I choose to call myself a mentor. Someone, who has an experience of working in Africa and who has a vision of what is needed in order to make concrete and positive development in anything and everything.

Tiribuinu, kainu? - I am well, and you? - you answer to the old lady and respectfully put your right hand forward while holding it with the left by the elbow. Development can be created doing small things – a smile is already a positive change in someone's life. But we can do more than that, can't we?..

Eugenija

DI - Sjælland Newsletter Christmas Edition

Development Instructors’ newsletter for December 2010, introducing You with the most recent news from DNYS - Sjaelland Schools

Enjoy reading!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

The Editors