| Volunteer
Vacations |
| by April
Thompson |
| It's 6
a.m. in Bansko, a farm village at the foot of Bulgaria's Rila mountains.
Joulia, the 20-year-old Bulgarian leading this workcamp, wakes her twelve
volunteers for a breakfast comprised of banitza, homemade cheese pastries,
and milk so fresh it's still warm. The dirty dozen is bleary from
a late night of plum brandy and dancing in Bansko's disco.
After breakfast,
these group members join their co-workers, local laborers with the forestry
department. Their rickety bus climbs pine-scented peaks, where they spend
the day clearing paths and picking medicinal plants from rainbow fields
of flowers. A leisurely lunch under cool willows gives their backs a break.
Conversation centers on their weekend plans to visit Rila monastery and
climb Mount Virhin. The workers and volunteers, who represent nine countries,
bridge language barriers with charades and laughter. |
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Every summer,
33,000 people leave their countries for parts unknown. Their destinations
are any one or several of over 2,200 workcamps scattered over 90
countries, from Argentina to Zimbabwe. Some will work with farmers
in
the fields, others with children in the inner cities. By volunteering their
time and money to help distant neighbors, all share the common goal of
global peace and responsibility. "When local people see volunteers paying
their own way to better their lives, that alone is such a statement they
can't help but be grateful for the initiative," says Peter Coldwell, founder
of Volunteers for Peace (VFP), in Belmont, Vermont.
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| The largest
of three U.S. organizations linking volunteers to workcamps, VFP has placed
over 10,000 Americans abroad since 1982.
"For good-hearted
paupers, workcamps offer an attractive alternative to volunteer projects
requiring large sums of time and money. The typical third world program
covers everything from inoculations to airfare, but it can cost as much
as $4,000 for a month-long program," Coldwell explained. VFP's small program
fee of $175 to $300 per camp merely covers organizational expenses. "I
still can't believe that for $175 I lived, ate, played and worked in a
remote village in central France in the heart of a valley summer," said
Angela Kolter, a former VFP volunteer.
Worldwide,
roughly 150 organizations coordinate more than 2,200 volunteer projects. |
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Offshore
Resources Gallery
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| Each group
partners with particular camps locally and internationally, placing volunteers
abroad in exchange for receiving foreign volunteers into its domestic programs.
By virtue of a body-for-body swap, money never needs to change hands between
groups.
Any local organization,
be it a church, arts group, or state park branch, can coordinate a camp
to help with a community project. The local host group provides everything
from tools to leaders, often with financial support from the community
and government.
The work
varies widely from site to site. A group may excavate a medieval Jewish
necropolis in Spain, plant mango trees in Thailand, or set up a summer
music festival in Norway. Projects often involve the environment, arts,
social services, archeology, construction, and historic preservation.
Volunteers
may find themselves sleeping in a school, church, private home, community
center or even a tent. Some groups cook and clean for themselves, while
others eat meals donated by a local family or restaurant. Most camps arrange
evening and week-end excursions to local attractions, whether a city cultural
tour or a trip to a national park. |
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| "Though
volunteers
tend to be college-aged, workcamps are for a mature audience only,"
Coldwell cautioned. "Volunteers must make their own travel arrangements
and inform themselves about their host countries. Because camp conditions
vary so widely, volunteers must come with open mind and heart."
"None of us
realized we would be giving 100% for 14 hours a day, yet no one balked
or moaned; we loved it," said Sandy Stefanowicz, who volunteered with a
children's program in Ireland.
Workcamps trace
back to peace pioneer Pierre Ceresole, a Swiss pacifist and Quaker. In
1920, Ceresole led a small international team in reconstructing a French
village destroyed during World War I. He hoped that such projects would
provide an alternative to military service. Ceresole's efforts evolved
into Service Civil International (SCI), a volunteer service organization
that now has 33 branches worldwide. |
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| Located in
Seattle, Wash., SCI's volunteer-run U.S. branch sends about 50 Americans
abroad each year, according to Traudi Krausser, volunteer coordinator.
Workcamps are
well established in Western Europe, where service projects have carried
the olive branch since Ceresole's post-war effort. The region now is saturated
with workcamps, several hundred in Germany alone. European camps often
recruit unemployed youth to help organize projects, Krausser said.
Camps have
also spread through Eastern Europe over the past two decades. In the 1980s,
VFP focused on exchanges across the "Iron Curtain," using individuals
to span the distance between communist and capitalist governments.
Today, developing
nations in Asia, Africa and Latin America abound with new projects, according
to Coldwell. Several countries hosting camps, such as Azerbaijan, Israel,
and Northern Ireland, face terrorism and political turmoil. Volunteers
in these areas ultimately sign up at their own risk.
"We rely
on information from our partners. If a country's residents feel an area
is safe, that's what we tell our volunteers," explained Coldwell. Those
who do venture into such torn nations are often glad they did.
"Here was this
place so devastated and destroyed, and yet the people were the most beautiful
I ever met," said Hau Truong, a volunteer in Bosnia. "They seemed more
real to me, unspoiled by the things we take for granted in the West."
Ultimately,
volunteers get back much more than the time and money they give. By working,
living and playing with people from a variety of countries and cultures,
volunteers transcend a country's tourist facade and transform their sense
of the world.
"People cared
enough to travel around the world to help a small town called Allemont,"
said Patrick Nolen of his camp in France. "Through our experiences, we
created a magic that penetrated the boundaries not only of our minds, but
also our countries."
Molli Grant,
who volunteered in the Czech Republic, summed it up. "When representatives
from ten different countries get together and hold hands and pitchforks
for two weeks, I call that Peace. Mission accomplished."
The Who,
Where, When and Cost of participaption:
Who 10
to 20 volunteers per camp. In general, volunteers must be at least age
18. Campers tend to be college-aged, though certain camps cater to younger
or older participants.
When 95%
of camps take place between May and September. Each camp is two to three
weeks. Many volunteers sign up for multiple camps in a single season.
Where
Over 2,200 projects in more than 80 countries.
Cost
$195 to $400 per session, not including transportation to the camp. |
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Article
Index ~ Balkans
Index ~ |
