Megan reports that the language barrier was challenging, but the rewards were immense.

What did you enjoy most about your Quest in Japan?

The time spent with my host family and the time spent with the children at the school was what I enjoyed most about my Quest.

What was most challenging about your Quest experience?

The language barrier, if anything, was the most challenging.

Describe your volunteer work experience.

I helped at the local kindergarten at first with the small children and towards the end I worked with the 4, 5, and 6 year olds. I read to all the children in both English and Japanese, served lunch, and taught English songs. Everyday I played with the children.

Please provide a testimonial of your experience with as much detail as possible.

I could not have imagined a more perfect first visit to Japan, all thanks to United Planet. It was the most organized, fulfilling organization I have ever been apart of.

The experience surpassed my expectations: from the host family, to the volunteer work, the visits around Japan, to the everyday cultural involvement - the people of United Planet and Japan made me feel like I was a family.

I went to Japan to volunteer and in turn I learned more than I could have dreamed of in such a short quest time period. I will absolutely be using United Planet again and would recommend this amazing organization to anyone that asked with flying colors.

Our Grand Prize Winner is Andi Enns,who wrote a wonderful piece about her experience in Uganda and how it influenced her to raise money for a Ugandan village upon her return home. Here’s an excerpt from her piece…

“I went back to my room at the hotel we were staying at and stared at the blinking cursor on my computer screen, trying to figure out how I was going to tell the story. I felt dizzy as I thought of way after way that I could help the village myself. Maybe I could sell my jeans and my laptop, and that would help. My iPod? My luggage? I realized in that moment that I would give up everything – from my laptop to my coffee addiction to my mascara – if only that little boy and his family could have some clean water.

There’s a simple word in Uganda that means a lot, “kyambura,” meaning “I have searched, and I have prayed, and that is all that I can do.” I had my own kyambura moment that day – I had searched and prayed for answers, but that was all I could do.

So I pulled out my voice recorder and pulled every conversation I had had that day off of it. And I edited a radio story that contained my heart and soul. My voice was all I had.

When I came home, the piece played on the local NPR station. The community responded, and now my university is trying to raise enough money to give a Ugandan village a well.”

Justin Lebron is our winner for the Photography portion of the contest, who traveled to India with United Planet and captured a great photo as he was driving out of the village on his last day. Justin hopes to join the Peace Corps after college.

They will miss him!

Kathryn Murphy is our winner for Video, who captured her experience in Quito, where she taught for four weeks. Kathryn traveled to Peru with United Planet following her trip to Ecuador.

Kathryn’s video of children dancing to the beat in Ecuador!

These students love to dance!

Honorable Mention goes to Sarah Daniel, who traveled to Nepal and snapped a shot of a breathtaking view from the Himalayas, as a woman trekked with her woven basket.

What a view!

Congratulations to all! We are looking forward to next year’s contest!

“A lot of people didn’t seem like they were struggling,” said Daniel, of the Tibetan peoples’ morale. “They were used to the harsh conditions, and remarkably patient.”

With the presence of high spirits, in both Daniel and the Tibetans, growth in structure and mind was possible. After volunteering with United Planet for 10 months in Nepal as a teacher, Daniel used what she learned and applied it in Tibet: “Nepal was a lot more trial and error than Tibet, where I figured out how to run a lesson.”

Aside from teaching Tibetan children the alphabet, Daniel also became involved in the rebuilding efforts of the town. Due to the earthquake, many people lost their homes, causing families to live in tents of varying sizes for the past months. Daniel worked closely with her host family, who also lived in a series of tents, to set down stone foundations for new homes.

As she worked, Daniel became a part of the country’s lifestyle – performing dance rituals with the locals in their robes and appreciating the laid-back operations of the town. She valued the community’s tendency to place a high focus on family and dependence on one another.

And despite the fact that she did not understand the Tibetan dialect, especially when she visited the Nomadic peoples, Daniel made sure there was a form of understanding: “It was fun gesturing and trying to communicate… body language and hand gestures [made it] enjoyable.”

Daniel noted the similarities between the Tibetan culture and her own, while appreciating the new world in which she came to love- “It was a fascinating place to live and I could never forget any of the fantastic people and places I came across there.”

Here, he says some words about how and why and when he started the organization.

In August 2010 the University of Idaho informed United Planet of its decision to send a group of 13 students and two professors to build houses in Chile. The decision was a response to Chile’s devastating 8.8 earthquake in February 2010, the fifth strongest in recorded history, which had left thousands of Chileans homeless.

Idaho’s decision was not surprising. The university had been sending students on United Planet-organized group Quests around the world for the past five years, and enjoyed an excellent working relationship with the foundation.

Idaho’s Quest was divided into two separate volunteer experiences during their 18 days in Chile.  Their first worksite was a daycare center operated by United Planet’s partner organization near Viña del Mar, which provides all-day childcare to 63 children between six months and four years of age.

Lots of helping hands at the daycare center

The volunteers’ tasks included landscaping, pruning trees and painting outside gates.  The volunteers also participated in playgroup activities with the children and daycare center personnel.

On their second morning at the worksite, the volunteers discovered some wooden desks out back which had been thrown away.

On their own initiative and with the daycare director’s consent, they took apart the old desks and began constructing a slide, a long table, and refurbishing a swing set which was not being used. They went to a hardware store and bought sandpaper, screws and nails.  They dug holes and trenches to lower everything to the level of a four year old.

Constructing the swingset for the children

The last morning at the daycare, the director arrived at the site and could not believe her eyes.

Just two days before, she had welcomed the volunteers with the expectation that they would clean up the large outdoor area with its overgrown fruit trees and weeds, and make it look nicer. 

Now she was looking at a new outdoor play area for the children with a table, slide, and swings in a setting that might appear on the cover of a gardening magazine.

The volunteers’ only weekend at Viña del Mar was full of excursions and activities.  There were tours to Viña’s lush botanical gardens, a walking tour of Viña del Mar’s colourful boardwalk and arts and crafts shops, and a ride along the 44 steep hills surrounding Valparaiso included a visit to the home of the Nobel-prize poet, Pablo Neruda.

An unexpected added treat was witnessing a spectacular New Year’s Eve fireworks display at midnight from Playa Amarilla beach along with thousands of cheering and festive Chileans.

The volunteers’ second quest consisted of building houses at a rural worksite seven hours south of Santiago by bus. The agricultural, coastal town of Cobquecura had been at the epicenter of February’s 8.8 earthquake, and many of its adobe structures had collapsed.

Constructing houses in the coastal town of Cobquecura

United Planet’s local partner organization had recently received Chilean government funding to build four homes for displaced families that would use anti-seismic and energy-saving technology and hopefully serve as a prototype for future low-cost housing.

The local families who would receive the houses cooked meals for the volunteers. A few more Chilean university volunteers arrived the second week and joined the group staying at the school.

At the worksite, various tasks were done by groups of four or five volunteers. A lot of time was spent on constructing the walls of the houses which were a mix of straw and mud placed in wooden frames.

Frame of house during construction

The Idaho volunteers enjoyed the multiple challenges at the worksite, and had made significant progress by the time they had to leave.  On their last night they made a large bonfire on the beach and sang songs with their new Chilean university friends.

The group arrived back to Santiago one day before their return flight, tired but happy. They enjoyed a special tour of the Presidential Palace, La Moneda, and shopping at the Pueblito de Los Dominicos, an area of 150 arts and crafts shops.

What was obvious was that they had changed. Now they felt more independent and comfortable in the Chilean culture. For example, they returned to a restaurant they had eaten at on their first day in Chile, but this time they were able to give their orders to the waiter in Spanish without any help.

What they then realized was that an inevitable consequence of their quest and their effort to help others bring about change had been a change in themselves.

This year, we gathered the incoming crop of Long-term volunteers (they’ll head out in January 2011 for either 6 months or a year) for a weekend of training on a beautiful lake in New Hampshire. We had a great time getting to know them, and engaging in lots of fun activities.

A few highlights:

• Matthew, a seasoned international traveler and volunteer (and a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer), will be one of four UP volunteers heading to Australia for our first time there!
• Harold and Erin, in their mid-20s, are going as a couple to Ecuador.
• Teijna, who was raised by parents who speak Finnish (but doesn’t herself), is heading to Finland to explore the land of her ancestors.
• Dilpreet, a young man whose parents are originally from India, is heading to Uganda.
• For the first time, United Planet is sending Long-term volunteers to Australia, South Africa, and Indonesia; we can’t wait to hear how it goes!

Thanks to everyone who participated; we’re anxious to follow their stories.

United Planet shirts go out into the world

I guess this is what you'd call "team building."

However you spell it, it comes out "Volunteering is awesome."

See several photos of their travels on Flickr.

Here’s a sampling…

United Planet and iEARN training Mongolian students on using computers

United Planet Vice President is the princess of United Planet

Theresa with Sarantuya in front of a traditional ger (yurt)

How cute is this little Mongolian girl?

Theresa writes… The subject line is courtesy of the Board Chair of United Planet; I was telling him before I left for Mongolia that while I love to travel, I do prefer warm places.  His response: “Warm yurts, warm people.”  I chuckled at the time, but I can now say it is totally true!

I have learned a lot in just a few weeks. Mongolia was occupied by Russia for decades. Only 20 years ago, in response to demand from the people, did they begin a democracy – a very successful one at that.

The Communist days can be seen in the old Russian block buildings from the 1980s – ugly on the outside, but warm and lovely on the inside.  It’s interesting to see what it takes for an entire country to make such a shift from government-controlled everything to an open society for capitalism and democracy. It can be seen even in the schools – with brand new student councils, journalism programs and more.

Part of my job here is to visit the schools and families that will host or take part in activities with the Boston teachers and students we will send over for 3 weeks in June next year.  So far I have visited 2 schools in more rural areas and 3 schools in the city –Ulaan Bataar, or UB.

I would get a brief tour of the school, then meet with the  newsletter/newspaper team at the school – all of which are very new. (The focus of this project for which we got funding from the U.S. State Dept  is on journalism.)  I have really been touched by the students who have such light in their eyes – for learning and life.  I could tell they like school and their teachers.

One of my favorite moments was when a student explained to me that they decided to call their school paper “Aspire” because “every student has dreams.” This comes from a student in a ger (yurt)
district in UB – one of the poorer areas of the city.  The school has 3,000 students and they have to come in 3 shifts each day because they don’t have enough teachers or space for more than about 1,000 students at a time. These 8th and 9th graders asked me questions about student life in US schools as well as how Rights of the Child are being followed in the US.  Very astute questions!

All of the families were warm and welcoming.  A most memorable moment was visiting a family living in a ger – 8 people in one room! All gers have a coal stove for cooking and warmth in the middle with some furniture around the edges.  Carpets and tapestries are hung all around and they are bright, beautiful homes. I am still trying to figure out where/how the toilet/bathroom activities take place!

At every home we eat snacks, drink tea and look at the family’s photo album.  Family ties are strong and the students are happy and proud to show off their families!

At this one family, we had the obligatory tea and photo album viewing, then the father brought out his bottle of Chenggis Khan vodka, we had a toast and drank that down!  It was cold and pitch black outside with only fences, gers and cows wandering around.  But inside was bright, warm and loving!

Other things I have learned so far:

• Toilet paper is totally unnecessary.
• Coal smoke from thousands of gers can really cloud up a city that has had no precipitation in weeks.
• One cassette tape of traditional Mongolian music is just not enough for a bumpy 9 hour road trip.
• Greg Mortensen’s 3 Cups of Tea have got nothin’ on Theresa’s 9 cups of milky, salty traditional Mongolian tea (that was all yesterday!)

We also announced the winners of our 2 competitions held in this day’s honor, and I would like to take this opportunity to share the winners’ stories and the work they have done.

This was the inaugural year of our distinguished alumni award. This was awarded to two very deserving candidates: Amy McNair and Shannon De Atley-Johnson. After traveling to both Tanzania and Ghana on UP Quests, Amy held a fellowship with Tony Blair’s Faith Foundation and Interfaith You Core. She is currently living in Seattle working on developing leadership on college campuses. Shannon participated on a Quest to Tanzania, and since returning has created the MOOSE Foundation – More Opportunity and Outreach for Superior Education. MOOSE organizes cultural exchanges, and fundraises to provide a secondary education for Tanzanian children. Although Amy and Shannon are hugely deserving of their awards, they faced some tough competition from the large number of UP alumni who continue to do worthwhile and necessary work when they return from volunteering placements abroad.

We also announced the winners of our photo, writing and video competition. The Grand Prize went to Sourav Karmakar, of Calcutta, India, for his beautiful photograph ‘Give Me Red’.

The honorable mention in the photography and video category goes to Melissa Malfavon, of Wisconsin; and in the writing category went to Teijna Pickrell, of British Coumbia, for her piece ‘Breaking the Wall’.

Congratulations to all the winners, and thank you to everyone, all over the world, who helped make this year’s UP day so special.

When the sunrise over the snow-capped Andes welcomed me to Chile, I knew I was in for a truly humbling and life-changing experience.  I was not disappointed.

As it had rained the night before my arrival, the normally smog-filled skies of Santiago were crystal clear.  I was able to capture photographs showcasing the natural beauty of the sprawling metropolis.  With each picture that I took, I was reminded that I was far from the flat plains of Indiana.

In Santiago during the first week of my quest, I traveled to my English-teaching assignment with my host sister, Elizabeth.  Every morning she would guide me to the “colectivo” station (shared taxi) which we would take to her school.  At her school, I worked with two English teachers who were responsible for teaching English to pre-kindergarten students through seniors in high school.  As a teacher in the United States, I observed that these teachers have a heavy teaching workload.  In addition to preparing for several different classes, these teachers also moved from room to room, carrying their teaching materials with them.  This is very different than the middle/high schools in the United States where the students usually change rooms. Also, my assigned school had only female students, thus giving me a different perspective on classroom dynamics.

The children I worked with were wonderful.  Some were very hesitant to speak English to me while others wanted to practice as much as possible.  I was fortunate to help some high school students with an oral presentation about their future careers.  The drive and motivation of these girls really impressed me.

For the second week of my quest, I traveled to Valparaíso.  I gave CAP presentations to students at a technical college who were studying English.  As I spoke, many students smiled and nodded.  I could tell they were learning something, which as an educator made me feel like I was making a difference.

During my two weeks in Chile, I was fortunate to live with two remarkable families.  Both of my host families opened their homes, hearts, and cultures to me.  They were so patient, really trying to slow down their pace of spoken Spanish so I could understand them.  I will always be grateful to them for their kindness and compassion.

My host families introduced me to Chilean foods and customs.  I grew fond of having “almuerzo” (a large lunch) and then later in the evening having “once” (a small meal).  They introduced me to “completos” (hot dogs topped with avocados, tomatoes, and mayonnaise), “sopaipillas” (fried bread but different from the Mexican version), and eating avocados on toast for breakfast.   Being that it was late fall in Chile, I learned that in order stay warm, wearing layers of clothing, including several pairs of socks, worked the best, as most Chilean homes and schools do not have central heating.

Throughout my quest, the generosity of the Chileans and the pride they have for their country instilled a sense of awe in me.  Whenever I needed help, such as getting the right seat on a bus or finding my way back home, someone was always there to help me.  Whenever I was introduced to someone new, he or she always spoke lovingly about his or her city and welcomed me to it.  I was lucky to be in Chile as they prepared for the World Cup soccer competition.  From commercials on television to merchandise being sold on the street, it was evident that Chileans are proud of their “fútbolistas.”

In short, every day in Chile was an experience I will never forget.  I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to travel there.  I am honored to have learned so much from so many wonderful, loving people.  A sunrise welcomed me to Chile, and a magnificent purple sunset over the Andes bid me farewell as I entered the airport for my journey back to the United States. Even though my quest is over, part of my heart will always remain in Chile.

Is your interest piqued? Visit our website to start planning your Chile Volunteer Quest!