Older, wiser and volunteering abroad

When is the best time to volunteer abroad? After high school? After university? If you think international volunteering is just for kids, think again. More and more career-breakers and retirees are packing their bags and heading out to donate their time to a good cause. What’s more, most NGOs will jump at the chance to welcome people who can bring lots of skills and experience to the team.

Chris with 8th grade students on a school 
picnic in Cheung Ju, South Korea,1979 

But don’t take my word for it. Chris Kondas from Ohio, USA, is a volunteering veteran who’s balanced a busy professional life with a will to do good at home and around the world. At 60, Chris has volunteered in countries from Asia to Latin America. He now runs his own insurance agency, enjoys time with his three young grandchildren (aged six, three, and four months) and volunteers in the community as much as possible.

So what sparked a lifetime of amazing volunteering? It all began with an adventurous step into the unknown world of 1970s far-east Asia. Chris recalls, “I started in South Korea as a Peace Corps volunteer helping to teach English in a girl’s middle school. There were 80 girls in each class so it was pretty difficult. I thought Korea was crowded but exciting. I’ve been back many times since and seen it change and modernise over the years.”

As tough as teaching a class of 80 kids must have been, Chris wasn’t put off from volunteering and he’s been giving his time to different causes ever since:

“I wanted to try volunteering in a different country every year. It hasn’t quite turned out that way because I seem to keep going back to Arequipa.”

In fact, Chris has been to serve the Flora Tristan community in Arequipa five times. Why does he keep getting drawn back to the white city? “Arequipa has so many different things you can do, and the city shows lots different sides of Peruvian society. There’s also a lot of history, and seeing the main square lit up at night is amazing. Arequipa just offers everything. And although I’ve volunteered all around the world, I think the volunteer experience at Flora Tristan is just wonderful.” Arequipa is such a great destination that Chris has brought his daughter, niece, son-in-law and godson here too (and we’re exited to be welcoming back his niece McKenzie next week!).

Chris on a recent trip to Flora Tristan

So why spend your vacation volunteering? Well, for Chris, a vacation isn’t about sitting on a tour bus and being shepherded around the sites. It’s about living in a country, experiencing the culture, and meeting incredible people: “I really like interacting with people. I don’t care if it’s five year olds or 80 year olds! As a volunteer, you get to meet a lot of great people.”

Even back home, Chris can’t help helping people. During the 1980s he set up programs for migrants from Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam to help them settle into the community and learn English.

So what advice can Chris offer to anyone reluctant to volunteer abroad because they think it’s just for college grads? “If you really want to get to know a country during your vacation, do a volunteer trip. If you want a career break but you’re not sure what to do, do a volunteer trip. If you’re a retiree or someone looking to retire and want to travel, do a volunteer trip! Don’t just tour the country. Actually live in the country – even if it’s just for a few weeks.”

Any other tips? “I worry about companies that charge you $1,000 a week to volunteer, but there are plenty of opportunities with organisations that are free or charge a nominal admin fee – and volunteering for them is the best way to travel in the world.”

So where is Chris planning his next trip? Well, there’s only one option really… “Arequipa!”

Words by Tom Hornbrook

MAN vs SCHOOL

Sponsor John's big demolition by donating to 'volunteer@hoopperu.org' on PayPal

How difficult is it to single-handedly demolish a building? John Vecchio from New York state is trying to find out.

Work will soon be starting on HOOP’s brand new community centre, and John has been smashing down walls, tearing off roofs and breaking up hard concrete floors to make way for construction.

It’s not that he has a personal vendetta against the old school building (as far as we know!). In fact, he has taught many fine classes of English there. But now, John has made it his challenge to personally demolish the old building to make way for the new.

With John’s help, HOOP will be able to start constructing a new, safe building to teach more children, offer more community programmes, and provide an amazing resource to help break the cycle of poverty in Flora Tristan.

John has already spent more than 100 hours working as a free demolition man for HOOP. For him, nothing says “I love education” like smashing a school to pieces.

HOOP is asking for donations to sponsor this great feat of human destruction. We need funds to go towards fitting out the new school with furniture, equipment and to get our new education and health programmes up and running so we can help more families than ever in Flora Tristan.

How can you help? Visit PayPal and sponsor John’s demolition by sending a payment to volunteer@hoopperu.org. Please write ‘man vs school’ (and tell us who you are) in the PayPal ‘notes’ box and we’ll keep track of John's fundraising total! 

Pestering parents? Here are five ways to get your folks on-board with your volunteering plans

Some parents may not be enlightened enough to see why flying half way round the world to go and work for free in a foreign country is a good idea. If you’re the child of parents like this, read on as we share the top five complaints of pestering parents and how to deal with them:

1. “It’s a waste of money!”

Your parents spent a lot of time, love and money raising you so they will naturally be concerned that you spend your cash as wisely as possible. It’s important to reassure them that a) volunteering can be done without breaking the bank, and b) it is an investment in your personal development that will pave the way for a future of such magnificence that they will one day shed tears of pride on a regular basis (feel free to adapt this second point to suit your personal requirements).

2. “Don’t go anywhere ‘dangerous’!”

Parents can be very susceptible to the modern-day 24-hour news cycle. After all, when they were young, news came in bite-size chunks just one or two times a day. The 21st Century bombardment of news – usually bad news – leads some parents to believe that any country beyond the borders of their own is a lawless jungle of crime, exotic diseases, and other perils beyond imagining. Don’t let your parents cover you in cotton wool; explain that many travellers safely navigate the country you’re planning on visiting every year. You can see the latest advice from your home government on safe travel in the country in question, and reassure your parents that you will take all the necessary precautions for a safe trip. For a start, make sure you have all the necessary vaccinations and carefully research the best travel insurance!

3. “You should be focussing on your career”


If you’ve just finished school or university and you’re now facing the question of, ‘what next?’, some parents might think now is the time to get your head down and find your footing on the career ladder. Going abroad to volunteer might seem like you’re putting off the inevitable, but it is actually an invaluable time to think about your future. If you don’t know what you want to do, it’s a chance to try out different things and speak to incredible people you wouldn’t meet back home. If you know what you want to do with your career, why not try to volunteer in a related area? Make sure your parents know that you will be treating the experience as an important step in journey to personal fulfilment.

4. “They’re just cowboys, some of these NGOs”

Some of the more ‘hard-core’ pesterers might have the idea that NGOs are just taking money from naïve tourists so they can put their feet up and sip piña coladas. To put the minds of your worrisome folks at ease, show them that you’ve done a thorough check on the NGO you want to work with, and you know what they spend their money on.

5. “You will fall in love and won’t come back”



This is a tricky one because you never know when you might meet the person of your dreams. In fact, HOOP has already had three marriages between volunteers, with a fourth one on the way! As much as your parents want you to be happy, they prefer you to be happy and close to home. The best thing to do is reassure them that there is absolutely zero chance of you permanently moving abroad for a guy/girl. Then if it does happen, win your parents over with a passionate speech about how you met the perfect person for you and if you only had their blessing you’d be the happiest person in the universe. Visit on special occasions and Skype regularly.

We hope you can use these tips to help your parents understand why volunteering abroad is a great idea! If you want to volunteer with HOOP, send us an email at volunteer@hoopperu.org!

Words by Tom Hornbrook
@InTomsHead

Doing good, badly: a crash-course in unethical volunteering

So you want to donate your valuable time to a good cause? Great! But before you set off to save the world, have you stopped to make sure the work you sign up for will actually be doing some good? Most volunteer organisations work with careful consideration of their impact on a community, but there are some out there that miss the mark when it comes to working ethically. That’s why we’ve put together a handy crash-course in some common ethical pitfalls - so you can avoid them:

1. Go in blind

A great start to unethical volunteering is not checking out the organisation you’ll be working with. If you don’t do a few simple checks, you could end up working somewhere you’re not needed, or even being a burden on the charity or community in question. This wouldn’t just be bad for the charity but would make for a bad experience for you too.

If you go through a placement company, make sure they have a good relationship with the host charity, and not just taking money from well-meaning volunteers to place them somewhere they’re not needed. There are also plenty of low-cost ways to volunteer by contacting small charities directly - but again, forgetting to do some simple checks is a surefire way to risk unethical volunteering!

2. Go way over your pay-grade

Another way to volunteer on the blurry side of ethics is to bite off more than you can chew, and take a role you’re just not qualified for. While enthusiasm and a willingness to learn is a great basis for many kinds of volunteer positions, that doesn’t mean you can try your hand at medicine or engineering if you’re not qualified. A good NGO will match your skills and experience to job in hand.

3. Go with the NGO that asks the least questions about you

If an organisation offers you a position without trying to find out anything about you, they could be leading you down an ethical dead-end. Application processes may seem like annoying hoops to jump through, but they are a sign of an organisation’s integrity - plus an interview over the phone is a great chance for you to find out more about them too.

4. Don’t think about the community

Well-meaning NGOs can get into an ethical mess if they impose themselves on a community, rather than working with them and listening to their needs. A good NGO will have local involvement - not just in running the project, but having a say in its aims and aspirations too.

Before signing up, check the NGO is providing a useful service for the community, with local involvement, and that it’s valued by those it seeks to help.

5. Do a local's job for free

If you get stuck into some hard work on the ground, with the best intentions in the world, what if your well-meaning toil actually puts a local laborer out of work? This is especially a danger of low-skilled volunteer labour, which would otherwise be paid work for a local.  Do your homework first and make sure you won’t be digging yourself an ethical black hole.  

Volunteering abroad will probably be the most exciting and rewarding thing you can do in your life. But if you’re not careful, you could end up turning your good intentions on their head. Make sure you avoid these common pitfalls for a good experience for you, the charity and the host community. For more tips on best practice, check out the guide at Ethical Volunteering.

If you’re interested in volunteering with HOOP in Arequipa, Peru, then get in touch! (volunteer@hoopperu.org)

Words/photo Tom Hornbrook
@InTomsHead

New Year, new school

2014 was a great year for HOOP with some big achievements. So how can we make 2015 even better? Well, we’re going to start by building a brand new school!

With the generous support of engineering company, Chien Mau Inmobiliaria, work will soon be starting on a modern three-story building. As well as providing an even better learning environment for our students, the new school will create spaces for new adult programmes for the whole Flora Tristan community.

The new design

We caught up with one of HOOP’s founders, Li Shang-Ju, who has watched the school grow over the years and is now helping coordinate the new school’s construction: “When we started the school we had just one tiny classroom. We soon outgrew that and built the current school with four classrooms - but the organisation just got bigger and bigger so in 2013 we decided to try to build a new school, with more facilities for community and health programs as well as teaching.”

“It’s been amazing to see the project grow over the years and now I can’t believe Flora Tristan is going to get a modern three-story multiple-use school and community centre!”

When complete, HOOP students will be able to use seven new classrooms, a library and computer lab, a garden, a kitchen, an auditorium, an adult learning area and a roof terrace. The extra space will also give us the chance to expand our teaching and community programmes - so watch this space for updates on how HOOP is growing its services in 2015.

Micha and Eva packing away the old school

As amazing as the new school will be, there’s more to teaching than bricks and mortar. We also need equipment, which is why we’re asking for businesses to help out by donating items or funds to help. If you can provide any school equipment or furnishings, we’d love to hear from you.

And, of course, the absolute most important part of the school can’t be bought: Great volunteer teachers. That’s why we’re calling all enthusiastic, aspiring and energetic volunteers to come and teach as soon as the school is ready in the spring. If you (or anyone you know) is interested in teaching English here in the beautiful city of Arequipa, or supporting HOOP’s behind-the-scenes management, fundraising and communications, then get in touch (volunteer@hoopperu.com)!

Written by Tom Hornbrook
@InTomsHead