ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, July 14, 1996 TAG: 9607120072
SECTION: TRAVEL PAGE: 8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE
VOLUNTEER vacation.
Placed together, the words sound like an oxymoron, or even some cruel joke - a get-away torture planned by sadistic travel agencies.
But increasing numbers of Americans have willingly signed up for these working holidays, spending their one- or two-week vacations living in a crowded dormitory, with local families or even camping outside.
Usually, they head to developing countries, like Guatemala or South Africa. Some volunteer in more developed countries, like Russia.
They dig ditches, plant trees, build homes, paint walls, teach children, help the elderly, try to speak the language, ask a lot of questions.
Jules Hermes, media coordinator for the travel group Global Volunteers, said she's seen a huge increase in applications since 1990. The reason?
"In my own opinion," she said, "we went through the whole '80s generation and people started thinking that there's got to be more than making money and spending it on themselves."
Hermes said the fact that people pay for their own volunteer experience indicates not only a willingness to give to others, but a determination to get the most out of their time as possible.
Often, people who volunteer overseas have visited developing countries, and want to do something more than just add dollars to the tourism trade. Some want a more in-depth understanding of a culture than what the "post-card" sites have to offer.
Pat Garvin, of Roanoke, finally got the nerve up to leave the country and volunteer in Mexico last winter because she wanted a challenge.
"The point of doing any activity is to stretch your limits and learn to tolerate others," she said.
Garvin traveled with the Blacksburg-based Peacework, a humanitarian nonprofit group that sends volunteers to Russia and Central America for two or three weeks at a time.
As a nurse for 28 years, the mother of two grown daughters and the grandmother of a baby girl, Garvin certainly deserved a few weeks simply lounging in the sun. Instead, she worked in the sun.
Garvin helped plant prickly - but edible - cactus in the dry mountain dirt. Shovel by heavy shovel, she turned rocks, water and cement mix to form the floor of a new Habitat for Humanity home. And, she examined dozens of school-age children to check for ear infections or other minor ailments.
The work, she said, was relaxing, rewarding and - believe it or not - enjoyable.
"It's really fun working side by side with people in their own environment, in their own gardens and building their homes," she said.
Most volunteer travel organizations are invited into a community, and into its on-going projects. That, said Council on International Educational Exchange's Lillian Lai, is essential to keeping good relations.
She said some groups, usually made up of Americans, enter a foreign country with specific ideas of what needs to be done. If those plans don't match what the community actually needs, little will be gained for local residents, or their visitors.
Often, in exchange for the volunteers' efforts, communities will provide room and board. Lai said that can be financially difficult because most communities could simply use local volunteers, especially if there is high unemployment.
"But usually, there are enough people out there [in the host country] who believe in the idea of cultural exchange through service and thus sustain programs like ours," she said.
But in a two-week time frame, warned Hermes, volunteers should be prepared for little change.
"In Vietnam, for example, a community wanted big wall around the school. Well, for the first team it was hard because they didn't see tangible results. But the seventh team came back and it was done," she said.
Hermes said it isn't so much what gets done, but how much sharing and learning occurs between cultures that matters.
Garvin said her experience in Mexico "put everything into perspective, your whole life and what's important to you."
She said she learned to listen better, to simplify her own life and keep her priorities clear. Spending two weeks with a group that ranged in age from 16 to 78 challenged her to tolerate everyone and learn something from each of them.
Garvin said she recommends volunteer vacations to anyone, even if they can't speak the language.
The key, she said, is to go with an open mind and a willingness to accept and learn from the people you meet.
"We in America can have almost everything want," she said, "and it's really powerful to meet people who are happy with what they have."
Some information sources |Books| * "Volunteer Vacations: Short-Term Adventures," by Bill McMillon, Chicago Review Press
* "Volunteer!" Council on International Educational Exchange (205 E. 42nd St., New York, NY 10017; (212) 661-1414
* "Arthur Frommer's New World of Travel," fifth edition, Macmillan Press |Organizations| (Many of the costs are tax deductible and all costs include room and board. No experience is necessary.)
* Earthwatch: Volunteers work alongside scientists to help research ongoing projects such as excavating ancient archeological sites in Ecuador or studying wildlife in Australia. One to two week trips range in cost from $700 to $1,900, not including airfare. Call 1-800-776-0188. (www.earthwatch.org)
* Global Volunteers: One- to three-week projects in Europe, Asia/Pacific, Africa and Latin America. At the request of local host groups, volunteers live and work with local people and teach English, business or other subjects, or help with construction, reforestation, dentistry or public health. Costs range from $300 to $2,350, not including airfare. Call 1-800-487-1074. (www.globalvlntrs.org)
* Peacework: Volunteers from around the world come together for one toO three-week projects in Russia and Central America. Volunteers live within the community and help with on-going projects like agricultural or construction. Costs range from $700 to $2,200, which includes airfare. Call (540) 953-1376. (e-mail: 75352.261@compuserve.com)
* Habitat for Humanity International: One to three-week work camps in Africa, Asia/Pacific, Europe and Latin America for groups or individuals. Volunteers live in communities with local Habitat affiliates and help build homes. Costs range from $1,100 to $3,200, which include airfare and travel insurance. Call Habitat's Global Village at 1-800-422-4828, ext. 513 or 545.
* International Volunteer Project, Council on International Educational Exchange: Two- to four-week camps in Europe, Africa, Asia and South America. Volunteers from around the world gather to help with environmental conservation, construction, archaeology or work with children, the elderly or disabled. $195 program fee; volunteers arrange and pay for their own transportation and insurance. Applications accepted through June each year; call (212) 661-1414. (info@ciee.org).
LENGTH: Long : 142 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: LISA APPLEGATE 1. During a February Peacework trip, Lizby CNBKohler of Blacksburg and a local resident plant a nopal cactus in
the dry mountain dirt of Ixmiquilpan, Mexico, about an hour north of
Mexico City. 2. A local girl helps Virginia Tech student Sarah
Hammond clear rocks from a Habitatt for Humanity house, in which her
famiy will live. 3. Roanoke nurse Pat Farvin takes a break froom
weeding during her Peacework trip. 4. Roanoker Pat Garvin
(above,left) shovels dirt to be used to form the foundation of a
Habitat for Humanity home. 5. A dormitory (right), owned by a local
community development organization called SEDAC, housed Garvin and
the other Peacework volunteers. They hung a pinata across the open
courtyard during the last night's festivities. 6. Christiansburg
High School student Stewart Milton (right) helps shovel out thick
weeds to make room for new fruit trees on a working vacation in
Ixmiquilpan, Mexico. color.