My volunteer experience for Wasiymi Wasiki (www.wasiymiwasiki.com) was eye-opening and very positive. I volunteered with them for 3 months between May and August 2010.
I knew I wanted to volunteer -somewhere- after I spent a summer in school taking classes full-time, but I realized that I had stopped learning.
That sounds really cliché, but I can say that in all honesty especially after my summer.
I first heard about Wasiymi through a friend, but my interest
grew when I knew that I would be given more responsibility to take on more of a leadership role than most other programs allow.
In a sense, I was told, "Use these computers and design an activity program that aligns with the NGO’s goals and addresses the problems identified in the community."
It was an exciting challenge.
Before I left, I expected the language to be difficult, but didn’t
expect working within the Peruvian culture to be as difficult as it
was.
To be fair, I have lived most of my life outside my own country and was not naïve enough to think that everyone would acquiesce to doing things my way.
Yet, beyond these initial worries, when arrived I encountered other challenges: living with families in the town, working in a very diverse team
(2 foreigners and one Peruvian from the local area) and working very independently from the central leadership to ensure the success of the classes.
I helped do some fundraising before I left, and that helped me become more invested in the project.
As I lived in the town, I learned a lot more about the people I was working with, other than the typical foods.
I struggled with them, and lived like they did. The adjustment was probably the hardest part, but it was worth it.
The most rewarding part was the classes, no one above me handled down lesson plans, it was up to the team to design the lessons.
As we taught through our lessons plans, we began to see positive results. The moments where we could see the connections being made -between what
we were saying and what the children were doing on the computer- were very exciting.
Overall,
I am very happy I volunteered with Wasiymi and my relationship with the organization lives on as I remain in continual contact to spread the
word about its project and help fundraise to realize future projects.
- Katie Marney
(01-Nov-2010)
Katie Marney volunteered with Wasiymi Wasiki between May and August 2010
