Travel to Teach: Mexico Volunteer Story

Jessica O'Laughlin, 21, Ireland
and Koen Smulders, 26, Netherlands

What do I think that volunteering work means?

Do you participate in volunteering work for your own benefit, or do you do it to help people who need it? Probably both. But which one of the two reasons comes in first place? I believe that this is a very important question to answer before you partake in volunteering work. Sincerely answering this question is not only in the benefit of the people you help, it will also make sure you will enjoy your stay abroad much more. Realising why you are doing it makes sure you will not get disappointed quickly. It will make you see the positive things of the work, instead of the negative things. So make sure that you’re going to do this kind of work because in the first place you want to help people. Other reasons come into play as second motives. For example, a lot of people volunteer abroad to gain working experience after finishing college/school, get extra school credentials, or because they want a period in which to reflect upon their futures.

It is possible for the voluntary experience to be one of the most important and life changing experiences you have throughout your life. If one only remembers one simple rule: the more you put in, without a doubt, the more you will get out of it. To fully embrace yourself in the experience, you must be prepared to work hard. This isn’t to say you won’t enjoy hard at times as well. Even volunteers know how to have a good time.

As a volunteer myself, I have had a very valuable experience in Travel to Teach, one that I won’t forget easily. But I would like to stress the point that, without being fully prepared for what volunteering entails, one can become very disheartened. And in the end it is the people you work with that suffer that disappointment more than us volunteers ever will. But take the right attitude and you have the power to change lives and in exchange enrich your own life also.

So, in what way do you enrich your life? First of all, you get to see the country and its culture in a unique way. You’ll come to places and you’ll meet people you would never get to or meet on a vacation. You’ll see a side of the country that is not shown to tourists. But the best reward you get is the grateful faces of the people you’ve helped during your stay! How often in your life do people cry for you because you stop teaching to them?

Email: Jessica, Koen

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