"Life at the center of the world"
Irene Stütz on her year as a volunteer in Ecuador
Latin America. Andean highlands, indigenous population, poverty. Street children, working children and shoeshine boys in the larger cities. Prostitution, violence, abuse.
But as Don Bosco used to say: "What is the use of crying over the evil in the world?
It is better to use all your strength to remedy it."
The organization Jugend Eine Welt (now: Volontariat bewegt - Verein zur Förderung von Freiwilligeneinsätzen) made it possible for me to experience all these impressions up close for a year. Jugend Eine Welt has been supporting Don Bosco projects worldwide for over 15 years and enables young people to do alternative civilian service or volunteer work on all continents. In addition to Ecuador, there are also placements in Mexico, Ghana, Malawi, India and more. The Don Bosco projects supported are mostly youth centers, schools and orphanages. Experience in the field of children and youth work is therefore the most important requirement for those interested.
From August 2007 to August 2008, I was a volunteer in Ecuador and worked in a street children's project. Illiteracy, hunger and drug abuse are a daily part of life for many children and young people in Ecuador. The Don Bosco project in Ambato, Ecuador specializes in working with socially and economically disadvantaged children and young people. True to the motto "Education overcomes poverty", the children are motivated and supported to get off the streets and go to school. Together with four sisters from the Murialdo order, who run the project, 20 children from broken homes and three volunteers, I spent a year living in an orphanage in a family-like community. In the mornings, I taught English in an elementary school outside the city, and in the afternoons I worked in a youth center at Ambato's bus station, which is visited by around 30 children every day.
Despite the difficulties, the work with the children was very rewarding, the decision to do this voluntary service was one of my best and I would do it again.
For me, this traineeship was a milestone in my life and it had a significant influence on my future career. I had very positive experiences with the Jugend Eine Welt association and also worked for Jugend Eine Welt in Austria for a few months. I got to know a lot of wonderful people in preparation for my volunteer work and valuable friendships developed as a result. My enthusiasm for volunteering has not waned in Austria either. For example, I was involved in the start-up phase of the "Sale für alle" youth center in Vienna's third district and supported the project for several years.
If you are interested in working with children and would like to spend a year immersed in a new culture, I can warmly recommend volunteering with Jugend Eine Welt.
(And for all those who want to gain experience in children's and youth work, I can recommend working at Sale für alle. - Also as preparation for volunteering).
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