Y'all, I don't climb up on a soapbox often. And when I do, I don't tend to do it online. Because when it comes to controversial subjects, I'm not always on the popular side (or even the right side). So today I am not climbing up on a soapbox. I am not trying to be preachy. But I haven't had much happening this week, aside from teaching and getting a migraine (yuck…) and this article has given me a lot of thoughts!
http://m.insidevandy.com/opinion/article_5e03fa54-cb4e-11e3-a0a3-001a4bcf6878.html?mode=jqm#.U1kGSXm9vUY.facebook
This article is one of many that I've read recently (and not recently) about international development. This one, though, particularly caught my eye, because it is about Amigos de las Americas- an organization that I volunteered for and worked for, once upon a time (or four…) I have a lot of love for Amigos, which is a far from perfect- because no organization is. And I have to credit Amigos, for making 16 year-old me read "To Hell With Good Intentions." Google it, if you haven't read it (but keep in mind it was written in 1968.)
I, like many other of my peers, undoubtedly fall into the categories decried by both of these articles. I have spent a summer in Mexico. I have spent a week in the Dominican Republic. I have even spent a year in small-town Mississippi- the town where the filmed The Help, so take those implications as you may. And I have certainly been guilty of being a volun-tourist.
But I'm not sure I can condemn the sentiment the way both of these articles do.
I started out as a clueless 16 year-old in Cocle, Panama. I had 0 skills my community needed. I was humble, but not prepared. But I left that summer…not prepared. Not critically thinking. But with a lot of questions about how the USA had let Panama become what it did (and make no mistake, the USA has a lot of responsibility for Panama.) I don't even begin to assume I had a positive impact on the community of Membrillo Centro- I probably had a negative one- but who was I to let that stop me?
So off I went to Oaxaca, Mexico. At 17, I may have been slightly wiser- I had a few more questions. And I paid more attention to the partner agencies I was working with in Mexico- one, Un Kilo de Ayuda, run by Mexico, and one, Puente a la Salud Comunitaria, run by two past American peace corps volunteers.
Puente and Kilo didn't actually work in the community I lived in that summer. And as that town is now essentially off the map (thanks to mining disputes in San José del Progreso, which unfortunately is not big news in America or Taiwan, but really should be) I don't know if I did anything.
Still with me? Have I done anything positive? Transformational? NO
But you know what?
In 2008, I decided to start working at an rehabilitative alternative to incarceration- because I was impressed by the proliferation of Alcoholics Anonymous in a town in Panama where not every house had electricity. I spent 3 years working with truly amazing colleagues and seeing what it takes to be the difference- by caring, by supporting, and by recognizing that Step 1 is always something that you have to decide- not anyone around you. That's a lesson we still struggle with in international development.
My sophomore year of university I took a class in Education about teaching multiculturalism, because I had travelled abroad. I actually taught a few classes in Poughkeepsie high schools- classes about quinceañeras and reggaeton music. I made a girl in the back row of a PHS Spanish III class smile when she realized that she was not actually the only one in her class who knew all the lyrics to Dem Bow- I did too.
My junior year I believed that HIV/AIDS was an issue where others didn't see it, based on conversations I had in Oaxaca with a doctor who wasn't allowed to go to town meetings because she's a woman. And I was able to research it because I spoke Spanish.
I did an internship in China where we published articles about women's issues not just in the USA and China, but in Latin America, because I translated them from Spanish to English to 'Chinglish'. (making it comprehensible Chinese was not my job, clearly…)
And senior year of university, I helped a mother at the ER tell the attendant that her daughter's ear didn't just hurt…but that she had a temperature of 104. Because somewhere along the way of my delightful good-intentioned trips, it became one of those intentions to actually learn the language and understand another culture.
I spent a week in the Dominican Republic…and in that time, some of my fellow translators realized that American schools are teaching Spanish, because we value its importance. I met amazing people with technical skills who could create positive change in a community through medical work. More importantly? I realized that I became one of them.
… I am now a fluent Spanish speaker.
… I am now a certified teacher.
… I am now an experienced translator.
I am now someone who can go to new cities…and walk into a classroom not as a clueless 16 year-old, but as a teacher with a lesson plan, activities, and management techniques. I can write grants for organizations around the world doing good in their own communities. I can help someone who is overwhelmed with a language barrier (a feeling that I can personally relate to!)
I now have those skills that communities, like Cary, NC, or Casablanca, Morocco, or hopefully New York, New York, need.
And I am going to take all of those skills and put them to use the way I see best- by trying my best to understand that I am a privileged volun-tourist, and by recognizing and even manipulating that privilege to empower and provide a voice of support to those who need it to work for positive change in their own communities. And to work for a positive impact in my own community.
I reflect critically on all of my experiences now…not just the ones abroad, but domestic as well. I try not to be a volun-tourist. I don't go places to "help the people" anymore. Or at least I don't try to. I go to try and better understand the world around me and where I fit into it. How I can do something good, or at least not something bad, in it. But I slip up. I'm not perfect.
But I am all those things because I once was a girl who went to a country, just barely aware of how to think critically or what volun-tourism was. But I can honestly say that I became aware of it because of my experience with Amigos. So maybe I didn't help the communities of Membrillo Centro or Maguey Largo. I carry that with me, but they undoubtedly carry it more. But they helped and supported many others through what they taught me. They helped me build a future that hopefully can have a positive impact, or at least lead to more understanding.
(Full disclosure: I still volunteer with Puente a la Salud Comunitaria, 6 years later- I now help translate their grant proposals, and can see that they have become a truly Oaxacan community driven organization. (No longer run by the former Peace Corp volunteers) Also, for anyone who didn't know, I am by no means a volunteer here in Taiwan- I am a paid teacher. Foreigners are actually not allowed to volunteer in Taiwan without additional visa approval.)
Also, next week, I'll be back with delightful pictures of Jen and Jenn in Taiwan with me!!!
Don't worry- I promise no more semi-political rants!
http://m.insidevandy.com/opinion/article_5e03fa54-cb4e-11e3-a0a3-001a4bcf6878.html?mode=jqm#.U1kGSXm9vUY.facebook
This article is one of many that I've read recently (and not recently) about international development. This one, though, particularly caught my eye, because it is about Amigos de las Americas- an organization that I volunteered for and worked for, once upon a time (or four…) I have a lot of love for Amigos, which is a far from perfect- because no organization is. And I have to credit Amigos, for making 16 year-old me read "To Hell With Good Intentions." Google it, if you haven't read it (but keep in mind it was written in 1968.)
I, like many other of my peers, undoubtedly fall into the categories decried by both of these articles. I have spent a summer in Mexico. I have spent a week in the Dominican Republic. I have even spent a year in small-town Mississippi- the town where the filmed The Help, so take those implications as you may. And I have certainly been guilty of being a volun-tourist.
But I'm not sure I can condemn the sentiment the way both of these articles do.
I started out as a clueless 16 year-old in Cocle, Panama. I had 0 skills my community needed. I was humble, but not prepared. But I left that summer…not prepared. Not critically thinking. But with a lot of questions about how the USA had let Panama become what it did (and make no mistake, the USA has a lot of responsibility for Panama.) I don't even begin to assume I had a positive impact on the community of Membrillo Centro- I probably had a negative one- but who was I to let that stop me?
So off I went to Oaxaca, Mexico. At 17, I may have been slightly wiser- I had a few more questions. And I paid more attention to the partner agencies I was working with in Mexico- one, Un Kilo de Ayuda, run by Mexico, and one, Puente a la Salud Comunitaria, run by two past American peace corps volunteers.
Puente and Kilo didn't actually work in the community I lived in that summer. And as that town is now essentially off the map (thanks to mining disputes in San José del Progreso, which unfortunately is not big news in America or Taiwan, but really should be) I don't know if I did anything.
Still with me? Have I done anything positive? Transformational? NO
But you know what?
In 2008, I decided to start working at an rehabilitative alternative to incarceration- because I was impressed by the proliferation of Alcoholics Anonymous in a town in Panama where not every house had electricity. I spent 3 years working with truly amazing colleagues and seeing what it takes to be the difference- by caring, by supporting, and by recognizing that Step 1 is always something that you have to decide- not anyone around you. That's a lesson we still struggle with in international development.
My sophomore year of university I took a class in Education about teaching multiculturalism, because I had travelled abroad. I actually taught a few classes in Poughkeepsie high schools- classes about quinceañeras and reggaeton music. I made a girl in the back row of a PHS Spanish III class smile when she realized that she was not actually the only one in her class who knew all the lyrics to Dem Bow- I did too.
My junior year I believed that HIV/AIDS was an issue where others didn't see it, based on conversations I had in Oaxaca with a doctor who wasn't allowed to go to town meetings because she's a woman. And I was able to research it because I spoke Spanish.
I did an internship in China where we published articles about women's issues not just in the USA and China, but in Latin America, because I translated them from Spanish to English to 'Chinglish'. (making it comprehensible Chinese was not my job, clearly…)
And senior year of university, I helped a mother at the ER tell the attendant that her daughter's ear didn't just hurt…but that she had a temperature of 104. Because somewhere along the way of my delightful good-intentioned trips, it became one of those intentions to actually learn the language and understand another culture.
I spent a week in the Dominican Republic…and in that time, some of my fellow translators realized that American schools are teaching Spanish, because we value its importance. I met amazing people with technical skills who could create positive change in a community through medical work. More importantly? I realized that I became one of them.
… I am now a fluent Spanish speaker.
… I am now a certified teacher.
… I am now an experienced translator.
I am now someone who can go to new cities…and walk into a classroom not as a clueless 16 year-old, but as a teacher with a lesson plan, activities, and management techniques. I can write grants for organizations around the world doing good in their own communities. I can help someone who is overwhelmed with a language barrier (a feeling that I can personally relate to!)
I now have those skills that communities, like Cary, NC, or Casablanca, Morocco, or hopefully New York, New York, need.
And I am going to take all of those skills and put them to use the way I see best- by trying my best to understand that I am a privileged volun-tourist, and by recognizing and even manipulating that privilege to empower and provide a voice of support to those who need it to work for positive change in their own communities. And to work for a positive impact in my own community.
I reflect critically on all of my experiences now…not just the ones abroad, but domestic as well. I try not to be a volun-tourist. I don't go places to "help the people" anymore. Or at least I don't try to. I go to try and better understand the world around me and where I fit into it. How I can do something good, or at least not something bad, in it. But I slip up. I'm not perfect.
But I am all those things because I once was a girl who went to a country, just barely aware of how to think critically or what volun-tourism was. But I can honestly say that I became aware of it because of my experience with Amigos. So maybe I didn't help the communities of Membrillo Centro or Maguey Largo. I carry that with me, but they undoubtedly carry it more. But they helped and supported many others through what they taught me. They helped me build a future that hopefully can have a positive impact, or at least lead to more understanding.
(Full disclosure: I still volunteer with Puente a la Salud Comunitaria, 6 years later- I now help translate their grant proposals, and can see that they have become a truly Oaxacan community driven organization. (No longer run by the former Peace Corp volunteers) Also, for anyone who didn't know, I am by no means a volunteer here in Taiwan- I am a paid teacher. Foreigners are actually not allowed to volunteer in Taiwan without additional visa approval.)
Also, next week, I'll be back with delightful pictures of Jen and Jenn in Taiwan with me!!!
Don't worry- I promise no more semi-political rants!
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