Posted Sunday, January 20, 2008, 4:54 PM by Lonely Planet
Every Sunday here in Arusha, someone, somewhere celebrates their Ubarikio, or first communion. Parties that at first appear to be a wedding reception, on closer inspection reveal no bride and groom, rather one very happy looking kid.
This week a family we know held an Ubarikio party for their son Peter and we were invited. We had front row seats in their hot and very crowded living room and in typical tourist-style we just sat there like dummies smiling at our hosts. I had my first mbege - a home-brew drink made from bananas and think I'll be sticking to beer in future.
During lunch my arm was being stroked by a young girl who was saying:
"aaaa, paka, paka".
"What's 'paka' mean?" I asked Kelsey.
It turns out it means cat. She was stroking my hairy arm and calling it a cat. Why the cheek of it all!
To escape the stifling heat (they just don't like open windows or doors in Arusha) we went outside, only to be followed by all the kids who decided it was playtime - lucky because our present for Peter was a true-blue, you-beaut, Aussie boomerang.
How much fun can you have in one day?
- By day he's a Lonely Planet web producer but by night Ben Schwabe is the volunteer IT manager for foodwatershelter, an Australian NGO that builds eco-friendly children's villages with education, social and health facilities in developing countries. He's been working on the ground as part of the Kesho Crew in Tanzania. Stay tuned for his next update.
Labels: Africa, Volunteer
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Posted Wednesday, January 02, 2008, 8:29 PM by Lonely Planet
Then you should try Tanzania. Time consuming and convoluted comes to mind when I recall my experience...
We had already applied to open the account earlier in the week. Today it was my job to simply deposit some money into the two foodwatershelter bank accounts. Sounds like a simple 15-20 minute job yeah? Oh no. I had to sit and watch while the bank clerk manually copied all 12 forms that six of us had painstakingly completed earlier in the week.
The problem? After picking up the application forms, but before the accounts were opened, the bank had issued new forms, making the old ones redundant! Grrr. Three hours later I was given two account numbers, deposited the cash and went home with a stack of forms for all of us to re-sign and send back.
My next task was to shop around for a wireless router so that all the foodwatershelter members here can use their computers at the same time. I just cannot escape my IT urges and thankfully (surprisingly) there are a number of computer shops in Arusha.
I ran into Caroline from African Peace Ambassadors in town and after a brief chat it seems they may be able to help foodwatershelter with HIV/AIDS medication and awareness education.
Volunteering will teach you invaluable skills like networking, so on a roll, I went to the airport to see what kind of job opportunities there might be for a newly licensed pilot (me). Who knows, I might just be able to get a flying gig here late in 2008.
- Perhaps Ben Schwabe, Lonely Planet Web Producer and foodwatershelter recruit, won't be back after all? Ben is volunteering in Tanzania for the Australian NGO, building an eco-friendly children's village with education, social and health facilities. You can read more in his series here.
Labels: Africa, Sustainable and responsible tourism, Volunteer
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Posted Tuesday, January 01, 2008, 3:09 PM by Lonely Planet
What do you know about metal works and composting loos? I'm glad there wasn't a formal interview that included this question - or I mightn't have made it to Tanzania.
This week's lesson started with a visit to Babu, the metal fundi (engineer). He's making the doors, window grills and other metal-bits for our volunteer huts. I went to pick up the scaffolding frames we asked him to make, but the paint wasn't dry so I came back empty handed. No worries, there's no hurry in Africa (another thing I've had to learn).
My next job was to help Darren, our building foreman, cut and assemble the timber for our new shower block. I say shower block, but technically it's a bucket-bath-block as water is pretty scarce here at the moment. The town's water is only on for a few hours a day - if we're lucky. We really need to get some rainwater tanks installed ASAP.
Another day another task - this time it was marking out the slab for the walls of our composting toilets. It's great to know that the walls I've helped align will contain heaps of poop, which within 6 months will turn into odour free compost that's safe to use on the fruit trees - fantastic!
I'd be keen to know what crazy things fellow volunteers have learnt in the field...
Sound better than working in web design? Ben Schwabe is a resident Web Producer at Lonely Planet, but he's absconded to Tanzania where he's moonlighting as a volunteer for foodwatershelter, an Australian NGO that builds eco-friendly children's villages with education, social and health facilities in developing countries. For six weeks he will be working on the ground as part of the Kesho Crew in Tanzania. Stay tuned for his next update.
Labels: Africa, Sustainable and responsible tourism, Volunteer
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Posted Monday, December 17, 2007, 8:53 PM by Lonely Planet
They say volunteering has its challenges, but I didn't think a simple shopping errand could be so complicated. I was to head into Arusha to buy some timber and steel from the hardware store. It was my first time driving in Tanzania, so the first step was to interpret the road rules.
The what? Give way? Right of Way? Not seemingly so!
Add to that the mix of bicycles, pedestrians, trucks, cars and Dulla-dullas (mini buses) - it was a touch stressful. I had a couple of passengers riding on the back of the Ute which the policeman who stopped me wasn't too happy about it. A bit of negotiation and a gift of 5000Tsh and the problem was solved - and a lesson learnt.
I hit a bit of a low towards the end of the week - perhaps some culture shock I didn't anticipate. Maybe it was the experience with the police or the general hustle and bustle of Arusha life, I don't know, but after a day or two to adjust (spent reading, eating and relaxing) I felt a lot better.
A friend of ours, Br. Frank O'Shea who has been running the Edmund Rice Secondary School (where I helped out with their IT) is retiring this year, so we were invited to his place for a farewell BBQ and beers - a great way to round off our first and slightly hectic week.
Back to the building...
- By day he's a Lonely Planet web producer but by night Ben Schwabe is the volunteer IT manager for foodwatershelter, an Australian NGO that builds eco-friendly children's villages with education, social and health facilities in developing countries. For the next six weeks he will be working on the ground as part of the Kesho Crew in Tanzania. Stay tuned for his next update.
Labels: Africa, Sustainable and responsible tourism, Volunteer
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Posted Monday, December 10, 2007, 2:49 PM by Lonely Planet
Within an hour of leaving Nairobi airport we arrived at the Giraffe Centre in the city's Lang'ata surburb where I had my first ever contact with these amazing animals. Not only contact, but intimate contact; we fed them pellets which we held in our lips and the giraffe grabs the pellet with its incredibly long tongue!
After spending the night in Kenya we woke up super early for the five hour bus trip to Arusha, in the foothills of Mt. Meru, Tanzania where foodwatershelter's first children's village is being built. The journey though bumpy and hot was spectacular. Seeing Maasai wandering in the bush and witnessing the vast open spaces, it was hard to comprehend having been in Perth only 24 hours earlier.
The last part of the journey to the volunteer house was perhaps the most striking. We're living in the Sinon district just south of Arusha and our ute ride through Unga Limited (the slum named after the adjacent flour mill) was both heart breaking and joyful. The poverty is all too visible, and yet most people seemed excited to see us, welcoming us with waves, smiles and greetings - especially the over excited kids; "Hello Mzungu! How are you!" they shouted as we bumped past in the dust.
My first bit of actual volunteering work ended up being for a local secondary school who were having some IT problems - I'd come here to do some practical hands on work like brick laying or wood work and here I was two days after arriving helping out a school with their website! It wasn't until day four that I finally got to help the foodwatershelter building foreman Darren with some carpentry on the "Kesho Leo" building site. I think next week (when the blisters on my soft office-worker hands have healed) will see a more productive week for me!
By day he's a Lonely Planet web producer but by night Ben Schwabe is the volunteer IT manager for foodwatershelter, an Australian NGO that builds eco-friendly children's villages with education, social and health facilities in developing countries. For the next six weeks he will be working on the ground as part of the Kesho Crew in Tanzania. Stay tuned for his next update.
Labels: Africa, Sustainable and responsible tourism, Volunteer
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Posted Tuesday, December 04, 2007, 3:27 PM by Lonely Planet
On my first day in the Ubon Ratchathani province in Northeastern Thailand 3,405 people received free eye exams and eye glasses if they needed it, thanks to an organisation called Give the Gift of Sight. "Slow day," one of the volunteers said.
Their humanitarian mission has just wrapped up and the group is hoping to give away all of the 65,000 recycled glasses that a family of eye glass specialists brought from Italy. Give the Gift of Sight is handing out heaps of sun glasses as well to stop the sun damage they're seeing.
(photo by Zack Seckler)
Farmers, monks, and villagers come from miles around to get their eyes examined. There was one old man with new glasses sitting in the middle of the hectic scene looking at the detail of his own weathered hands, amazed. Imagine what it must feel like to suddenly see that you're living in an old body.
The area is famous for "forest monks," and on Wednesday I went out to see a group of monks who went to the Give Gift of Sight clinic that morning - one of them was the 6 millionth recipient of the program. Some of the monks were quite flash in their flowing orange robes and new sun glasses, and others were hunched over Buddhist text, reading with their new spectacles.
The head monk showed me around the temple, and probably because I kept asking him questions about Buddhism took me to the outdoor meditation area - where bodhi trees grew between red bricks - and made me meditate with him for ten minutes. I felt truly honored.
"Did you get what you wanted?" Pete Simsamer, a Thai high school student who volunteered as a translator, asked at the end of the trip.
"Yeah," I smiled at him. "I got more than I wanted - in a good way."
- Josh Krist
Labels: Asia and Pacific, Thailand, Volunteer
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Posted Wednesday, October 17, 2007, 4:36 PM by Lonely Planet
You can help the Azafady organisation continue its work alleviating poverty, improving well-being and protecting the beautiful, unique environment in southeast Madagascar. Azafady run the following volunteer projects and internships in Madagascar:
Pioneer Madagascar
This volunteer-internship of integrated conservation and development work offers a life-changing travel experience. A 10-week expedition gives volunteers the chance to work as part of an award-winning team tackling poverty and environmental damage in southeast Madagascar. On this program you'll work among rural and urban communities on a wide range of humanitarian, sustainable development and conservation projects.
Lemur Venture
Azafady's specialised conservation volunteering program helps halt the decline of this threatened animal. Working with Parc Botanique et Zoologique de Tsimbazaza in Madagascar, Lemur Venture aims to gather information on endangered lemur species for international captive breeding programs.
Azafady, loosely means 'please' in Malagasy, or more specifically 'excuse me', but really it translates to 'may it not be taboo to me'.
- Lou McGregor works in Lonely Planet's Melbourne office and has recently volunteered for Azafady at their London HQ
For more information on volunteering visit our Volunteer website.
Labels: Africa, Inside Lonely Planet, Sustainable and responsible tourism, Volunteer
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Posted Tuesday, October 16, 2007, 5:01 PM by Lonely Planet
London's not all about shopping, exhibitions and partying. I was lucky enough to work voluntarily for Azafady for a few weeks in their Kilburn office. My job was to make their website more user-friendly. Or so I thought...
On my arrival, Mark the director had me writing emails, answering the phone, posting voluntary positions on university websites, scanning applications, running to the post office, making tea and contributing to the madness that is the office of Azafady. You think London is glam? Well Azafady's office is quite the opposite. And for good reason - 90% of the donations they receive go straight to Malagasy communities.
Here's what I learnt about Azafady in between making cups of tea:
A Malagasy NGO and UK-registered charity, Azafady works on conservation, development and community projects in Madagascar.
Azafady supports local communities by providing health and sanitation infrastructure and education, and by helping to develop alternative sustainable livelihood strategies. They also aim to protect and enhance the unique environment of Madagascar.
Besides working for the environment through tree-planting and a range of conservation initiatives, Azafady have built rural school buildings, wells, latrines and pharmacies as well as training community health workers.
The boys (Mark and Mal - top assistant) constantly rave about Madagascar, and for good reason:
Madagascar, the world's fourth largest island, has a staggering diversity of plant and animal species, some 80% of which are found nowhere else on the planet. Besides being the home of the lemur, the island supports two thirds of the world's chameleon species, plus the cancer-treating Rosy Periwinkle.
While one of the biologically richest places on earth, it is also one of the world's poorest countries. Only about a quarter of the 17 million population has access to safe drinking water and the country typically spends as much on debt repayments each year as it does on health and education combined.
It's amazing what I learnt in a few weeks and I highly recommend a volunteer stint at Azafady. Of course it's not all about helping out in their London office. Stay tuned for the sorts of projects you can volunteer on in Madagascar.
- Lou McGregor
Labels: Africa, London, Sustainable and responsible tourism, Volunteer
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Posted Sunday, October 14, 2007, 6:41 PM by Lonely Planet
How many times have you been travelling and come across a charity, orphanage or local organisation that you would really love to help. If only you'd known the kids were desperate for sports equipment, the library really needs books or the NGO doesn't have a cent for stationery then you could have easily brought something along. You take the address and mean to send something but by the time you get home...
Well a new website site Stuff Your Rucksack means there are no more excuses for not being able to help out. The site lets you tell other travellers where and what is needed so they can take it along next time. Those heading on the road check the site to see if there is an organisation in their chosen destination that needs something and stuff their backpack with it.
Now the only question is...how many footballs can you squeeze into a 60L rucksack?
For more information on making a difference check out our volunteering site.
Labels: Sustainable and responsible tourism, Volunteer
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Posted Thursday, September 20, 2007, 11:33 PM by Lonely Planet
Gale force winds and sleep deprivation were two things we hadn't expected. But camped at the Nepabunna community in outback South Australia, they were just a couple of the challenges we faced on our volunteering stint...
Lonely Planet staffers Emma Gilmour and Ellie Cobb recently pulled on their volunteering boots. Here's what they experienced:
On paper it sounded good
Join a Friends of the Earth trip to a remote Aboriginal community to help in the Bush Tucker garden and build on existing relationships with the community and the Adnyamathanha people of the area.
In reality it was amazing
Eight of us were on the trip - a diverse group of people ranging from a paramedic to an anthropologist - all with our own reasons for volunteering. We drove 10 hours north of Adelaide to the Gammon ranges, and camped in some of the most epic and impressive scenery we've ever seen.
The wind was strong and the nights bloody cold, but the priviledge of staying on indigenous, protected land and being accepted into an Aboriginal community was fantastic. We helped out in the bush tucker garden, ripping out old crops in preparation for new season planting. We learnt about native plants, and as a thank you were taken to see sacred sites of the Adnyamathanha people.
Not everything was perfect, we questioned how useful our work was and whether we could have been more effective, but overall it was an incredible experience and one that neither of us will never forget.
For more information on Volunteering including tips on how to get started click here.
Labels: Asia and Pacific, Volunteer
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Posted Thursday, September 13, 2007, 11:23 PM by Lonely Planet
Thank God, thank the Virgin of Guadalupe, thank whomever you wish, nobody died at the hands of Hurricane Dean... Now the hard part: rebuilding a town ripped to shreds.
At the height of the storm, much of Mahahual, a tourist town about 300 km south of Cancún, Mexico was underwater. The other coastal areas, including the tourist town of Xcalak, are fine. There's a bit of wind scour, but they are up and running and the beaches and reefs are still in good shape throughout the Costa Maya.
Two inland ruins, Dzibanché and Río Bec, are temporarily closed. They should be opening up in the next week or so, according to authorities.
The first person I came across in Mahahual (weeks after the storm) was Aura. She was selling Corona t-shirts near the beach. She used to have a great spot, just a block or two from the port that brought in up to three cruise ships a day. But now that port is underwater, and most people think it will be at least a year, maybe two, before it gets rebuilt. In short, the people of Mahahual, who depended on tourist traffic to stay alive, are royally screwed.
But Aura has set up her little t-shirt stand again, looking expectantly at the horizon for any ghost ships that might roll in and businesses remain optimistic, many expecting to reopen within a week or two.
So now could be a good time to travel to Mahahual, buy a t-shirt, some conch stew, and look out over that great blue sea.
Hurricane relief can be sent through www.playa.info. The Red Cross is not operating in Mahahual.
- Greg Benchwick
Labels: Breaking travel news, The Americas, Volunteer
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Posted Sunday, August 19, 2007, 5:53 PM by Lonely Planet
At the Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand, orphaned, injured and neglected elephants find a rehabilitative home. The founder of the park, Sangduen (Lek) Chailert, along with a band of employees and volunteers nurse elephants back to full strength and provide a sanctuary for their future welfare.
Brienne Walsh recently spent two weeks volunteering at the Park and said of her experience:
"It's truly the most special and moving place that I've ever been. It has a spiritual quality which I think is rare and unique.
It's an amazing volunteer experience, because each person is able to care for the elephant in a way that isn't possible in zoos or amusement parks. They are invited to bathe and feed the elephants individually. One group, before I came, invented a bed for an elephant who had a damaged hip, and could not lie down. It was truly wonderful to see the way that the elephant slept comfortably after they designed a proper place for her to sleep.
The elephants live in a free-range environment, and natural social behavior is encouraged. All proceeds from tourism are invested back into the park to enable the staff to care for the elephants. The volunteer program, which requires a one-week minimum stay, keeps the camp running, but it is also possible to do overnight stays and day trips to the Park.
The tourism market in Thailand, can foster violent and severe handling of elephants - only a very small percentage of elephants live free of chains and brutal treatment that often leaves the elephants lame and blind. The Elephant Nature Foundation is one of the only places in Thailand where these gentle, intelligent creatures can roam free and live in their natural habitat."
Brienne Walsh and photographer Gregory Colbert exhibit more images from the Elephant Nature Park on their website.
To volunteer at the park or for more information visit the Elephant Nature Park website.
Share your volunteering experience by commenting on our blog.
Labels: Asia and Pacific, Elephants, Sustainable and responsible tourism, Thailand, Volunteer
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Posted Sunday, August 12, 2007, 9:14 PM by Lonely Planet
Only five months old and ready to charge, the Lao Elephants are the first Aussie Rules club to hit the Lao People's Democratic Republic.
Kicking around Vientiane's National Stadium every Sunday at 5pm and at the Sandpit on Wednesday's at 8pm, the Elephants are a motley crew of 10 to 15 players from Laos, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Norway and the UK. Sharing a love for this uniquely Australian code of football, a game some have described as 'the bastard child of basketball and rugby', the team is even designing its own jumper.
"...goals include designing the perfect jumper that truly reflects the club's heritage and represents the pride of the nation. Presently the idea is to have a pink background with a grey elephant on the front. This design is unlikely to clash with the jumpers of other clubs," organiser Marty Sharples told worldfootynews.com
The Elephants are planning their debut international match against neighbours the Vietnam Swans later this year. The Swans played host to a few of the Elephants last month with seven Lao players joining the Vietnam team for the Asian Championships.
If you're living in or passing through Vientiane feel free to drop in on a training session (followed by a Beer Lao booze up) or email Marty at martysharples@hotmail.com
Picture caption: Matt Hegarty (Japan honorary Elephants member), Alex 'Ronnie' Barker, Mick 'Aker' Hassett, David's 'Pretty' Kamp, Marty 'Richo' Sharples
Labels: Asia and Pacific, Travelsnitch, Volunteer
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Posted Wednesday, August 01, 2007, 6:32 PM by Lonely Planet
People often cite education and understanding amongst their reasons for travel. Sometimes this means accepting the hard truth that not everyone lives the way they do. It also highlights the importance of optimism and an eagerness to address the imbalance. As a result many travellers find volunteering an important and rewarding experience.
Tom Spurling gives us some background on the Amazwi School of Media Arts where he is volunteering.
"According to a survey conducted by the Media Monitoring Project, in 2005, only 26% of news coverage in South Africa focused on women. Furthermore, the huge majority of this coverage presented women in reference to their families, or as unfortunate victims of crime. This in a country with a nearly 52% female population highlights a discrepancy in gender representation. The old boy's club, it seems, has only changed colour.
Similarly disheartening is the way in which gender stereotypes are upheld by South Africa's influential tabloid press. For every story of witchcraft and fraud, it seems there are two dealing with sexual assault. 'There is a lot of media reporting on rape,' states the Media Monitoring Project report, Who makes the news?, 'but it tends to victimize women or keep them silenced.' The report continues that, on 16 February 2005, a prominent soccer star was charged with raping an underage girl. The married celebrity denied the charge, but much of the media attention was on his celebrity status, rather than the allegations themselves. Likewise, a study in the Rhodes Journalism Review found that 'South Africa's women journalists not only face a glass ceiling, but indeed one made of concrete.'
In light of South African women's mirepresentation in the media, the role of Amazwi, which mean 'voices' in Zulu, is political as much as social. Rural stories struggle to be told in South Africa, as journalists must give precedence to the stories that affect their readers' lives. As scores of men rush for the cities to find employment, many women are left behind, and life goes on unreported.
Yet here in the poor northern province of Limpopo, where news is usually bad, the women of Amazwi are blessed with an added responsibility. Rather than merely entertain the urban middle-classes with the oddities of the outback, they must bring everyday life to the breakfast table of the communities in which they live. It's a tough job, but there's no need to hurry. It's slow news that sometimes burns brightest."
Read more about Tom's experience here.
Share your volunteering experience or for more information on volunteering click here.
Labels: Africa, Sustainable and responsible tourism, Volunteer
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Posted Sunday, July 08, 2007, 11:28 PM by Lonely Planet
Here, where history is delicate and fresh, revolution is a dangerous word. Hundreds were exiled for imagining a post-Apartheid state, and millions suffered trying to outlive it. But in the sleepy tourist town of Hoedspruit, on the edge of Kruger National Park, fifteen young Shangaan and Sotho women are learning to tell their stories straight.
- Volunteers at the Amazwi School of Media Arts
At the Amazwi School of Media Arts, South Africa, it's time for an editorial meeting. The first edition of the signature publication, The Amazwi Villager, is just three weeks away, and the students are restless to see their names on the page.
One-by-one topics are revealed; the threads are hope and life and struggle. But death, it seems, is everywhere. There's a profile of a prosperous coffin-maker, a tombstone carver, an investigation into Burial Societies, a day-in-the-line at a hospital, plus a staple diet of abortion, AIDS and TB.
"Aish, this journalism stuff is too hard!" moans Thandi, 22, for whom writing stories is in fact too easy. On her first assignment, Thandi spent an evening at a local shebeen (unlicensed bar), witnessed one stabbing and another near-death, and wrote it all up with poetry and poise.
Her teammate, Siphiwe, 27, is a bronze Sotho athlete with high cheekbones - the right side stamped with a ceremonial scar - and a broad, ready smile. She wants to be a sports broadcaster, but for now, it's an illegal immigrant from Mozambique who fills her days.
Meanwhile, Bongekile, the accomplished, unofficial matriarch of the group, is trying to sort through the mess of government housing.
The class-come-newsroom bristles with mess and noise. Copies of the Daily Sun change hands like winter gloves, and Gloria, this week's blogger, writes a celebration of feminine might.
- Tom Spurling is volunteering at the Amazwi School of Media Arts, South Africa, where he is helping students write for their new publication The Amazwi Villager
Share your volunteering experience or for more information on volunteering click here.
Labels: Africa, Sustainable and responsible tourism, Volunteer
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Posted Monday, April 30, 2007, 3:37 PM by Lonely Planet
It's a sad fact of life that along some stretches of the western Thai border, refugee camps are rather plentiful. I'd been curious about the camps' living conditions for some time, so it was a fortunate coincidence that only hours after arriving in the town of Mae Sot, I met Na Yean Kim, a Korean doctor studying tropical medicine in Bangkok. She was curious about the camps as well, so we made plans to visit the following day.
An hour-long songthaew ride passed before we finally reached the massive Mae La Camp, where more than 25,000 members of the Karen hill-tribe now live. The Karen have been battling the military-installed Myanmar government for autonomy since 1948 - the same year Burma gained independence from the British. The vast majority of Mae La's residents first fled their country in an attempt to escape the fighting, and now they're essentially citizens of a no-man's land, trapped and frightened at the same time. Camps have been torched without warning in the past, so everyone lives in constant fear of another torching - or something worse - happening again.
Interested in learning more? Check out the fascinating Karen Refugee LiveJournal blog, featuring entries by Mae La kids.
- Dan Eldridge
Labels: Asia and Pacific, Volunteer
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Posted Wednesday, November 22, 2006, 4:43 PM by Lonely Planet
It's a long way from Geelong to Kabul, but not far enough for international aid worker Ben Fraser who recently left the wilds of Afghanistan for the deserts of Darfur, Sudan. He reports from his new home in El Fasher.
"I think I'm getting by at 1.5 star living; we have a warm fridge, a rickety ceiling fan, occasional power and water delivered by donkey. The market down the road has the essentials, Benson and Hedges and chocolate, as well as some fine tinned goods including halal chicken sausages from Denmark and tinned fruit from Shepparton.
El Fasher city itself is rather small; a couple of government ministries, a football ground, a mandatory smattering of mosques, however there are a large number of internally displaced persons living in camps at the edge of town. We're providing health facilities (vaccinations, clinical care, and reproductive health) at the larger camp (approx. 70,000 people) and are getting a new camp ready. These people have been through the worst just getting here, surviving a government sponsored 'genocide', lack of water, income and security, but at least now some of their most basic needs are being met.
My role in all this is far less extraordinary. I'm looking after human resources, a little logistics, guesthouse and office maintenance and general gap-filler duties around the office. A regular day will involve calculating fraudulent overtime payments from guards, informing a lead-foot driver on the merits of safe motoring, meeting the representative from the Ministry of Labour (who bears a striking resemblance to Snoop Dog), asking the electrician to hotwire the generator and wiping two inches of accumulated dust from my laptop. With my limited grasp of Arabic and difficulty finding a good translator, even the simplest task becomes a drawn out process.
Socially, it's BYO entertainment apart from regular Thursday night parties among the expat community. With a curfew of 10:00pm and a reliance on limited stocks of locally brewed alcohol, these events are generally tame, but sure beats counting the bull ants in the sugar bowl."
CARE International, Christian Aid, Concern Worldwide, International Rescue Committee, Islamic Relief, Oxfam International and Tearfund are some of the aid agencies operating in Sudan in terribly trying conditions. As citizens of the world, reading and understanding their efforts and the cause for their necessity is vital.
Labels: Africa, Sustainable and responsible tourism, Volunteer
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