Mara’s Volunteer Story

One of the first friends I made in Isaan was a lovely child, she was very shy, eleven years old, and was in grade 6 in a very poor Thai school. She was very affectionate towards me when I first arrived as a volunteer at the small rural Thai school. Almost everyday she had gifts like flower necklaces, self drawn Hello Kitty’s or Barbie stickers to shower me with. Although not speaking much, she enjoyed being around me and simply holding my hand. I later asked a teacher about the girl’s background and was quite shocked of the brief overview I got.

Volunteer Experience in Thai rural school.

I was told that this young girl’s mother had been sexually assaulted almost a year prior to her birth. Nong’s mother neither had the money to bring up a child nor the will after what she had been through. Her first thoughts were to abort the unborn child as it seemed the easiest solution. To achieve this end, she swallowed several types of medication and washed them down with alcohol. Although the fetus was not harmed, the mother is said to have gone a bit crazy after this occasion. She abandoned her child after she was born and left her to live with her 60 year old Thai grandmother.

During an English class the children were taught to introduce their relatives in English. When it was my young friends’s turn to describe her father, she broke into tears and was not able to speak a word. Everyone apparently knows of her situation but no one seems to know how to talk with her and help her deal with her past. That’s why she is left fatherless, confused and alone. There is a beautiful close-knit community throughout Isaan, it’s just that talking about someone else’s issues is seen as rude – as is bringing up personal issues. Whilst I respect that difference of culture I do stand by my resolve that my young friend should be able to get proper guidance on this matter before she reaches adulthood – Mara

Many children around the world have similar backgrounds as Mara’s friend. As educational and community development volunteers we can show empathy towards these young people and help them see that we care about them greatly through utilising informal and progressive teaching techniques, being open to cultures and problems that we do not understand and listening to the young person try to find the means to reach out to us. Whilst these are great skills to already posses before venturing out into the big wide world of international volunteering we do have short courses where we can supply some useful techniques for success in helping people understand how questioning,  active listening and tolerance as part of our culture induction if need be. An exchange of cultures is just that – an exchange. We keep bias out of our process but equality in our mandate. Everyone learns, if only a little sometimes.

Mundo Exchange director, Joan Williams, has assisted children and adults throughout the world who are experiencing feeling of neglect, abandonment, and post traumatic stress disorders. If you would like to correspond with her and exchange ideas as a mental health specialist or volunteer feel free to contact her at info@mundoexchange.org. We thank our intern and volunteer for writing this story regarding perceived social problems in Thailand.

The child’s name has been changed or omitted to secure their privacy.

Virtual volunteering provides an exciting way to exchange skills and ideas while working from your home country. Some virtual volunteers and their recipients due to age, work responsibilities, illness/disabilities and other personal reasons are unable to travel abroad to volunteer. Virtual volunteering gives people a means of providing positive guidance by being available on-line a few hours a week. For virtual recipients it gives another learning opportunity and an intercultural experience. Both the volunteer and the virtual learner are able to share globally while learning locally.

FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions

What are some of the virtual volunteering projects?

• Helping with English writing and vocabulary building
• Tutoring students studying for English entry exams
• Helping English teachers with teaching skills
• Writing curriculum to be used in English classrooms in Thailand
• Writing curriculum to be used in Computer classrooms in Thailand
• Designing internet learning projects on subjects that interest you (web design, art, music, environmental projects)

How does virtual volunteering work?

You apply to become a virtual volunteer through our application page. Selected Virtual Hosts supply a 4-week outline of the course of study and on-line materials and assignments/projects that will be used. We give feedback and further information on how to initiate and complete these projects. We then match you with a virtual student. The virtual volunteer contacts the recipient by email and provides a letter of introduction and the agreed upon outline of study. The Recipient responds with questions and ideas of their own. During the virtual volunteer process you both will submit time sheets and progress reports. At the end of the project we conduct an evaluation so as to offer better support in the future.

Is there a fee or expense involved in volunteering online?

No. Our virtual volunteering program is free to teachers, organizations and interested individuals. Age is not limited, so students and retired people may join, in fact are encouraged to do so. If you would like to donate to Mundo for this service that is up to you or your organization.

Contact Us if you are interested in joining this interactive learning experience!

Mundo works with local Mayans and supports their self-defined community-based projects that focus on educational and mental health services. Human rights, health, and safety statistics continue to be dismal in these areas. Through the country, an enduring and significant inequity between indigenous and non-indigenous people has always existed. The poverty levels in Guatemala remain higher than in any other Central American country.

Mundo Exchange has helped with mental health workshops, has provided nutritional meals for children, and leadership, tuition assistance, and women’s rights programs. We have also arranged for virtual cultural exchanges between children in the western world and Guatemala youth, have assisted by providing much needed school materials and have helped to purchase a vehicle to take community members to medical appointments and social service meetings in remote areas where violence of war continues to effect our Guatemalan friends.

At this time Mundo provides a few select internships and supports Guatemalans who continue to suffer from the insidious post effects of long-term exposure to violence. In 2009 we helped to bring a group of medical specialists to remote areas of Guatemala where the poverty is extreme.

To learn more about Mundo Exchange projects in Guatemala please contact us at dalyn@mundoexchange.org or call us in the US at 503-227-8442.

Here is Nolinrat & Dalyn to give you a brief update on what we’re up to.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewfsSpsU36s

As you can see we are still having sanuk and working mahk mahk up in Issan getting our culture centre up and running.

We’ll be updating more often and wanting you guys to share your thoughts (good + bad) with the world.

Lots to say – but had best get it organised and put into snippets that are easily digestible.

Feel free to join our Facebook group. follow us on Twitter and a medley of other web avenues once we figure out how to connect the pipes of the interwebs.

Any and all comments are welcome, from friends past and friends yet to be made.

Jai Dee!