I got to Huanchaco late on Sunday night after a 9 hour journey on an incredibly comfortable bus. If you are one of those who worries about ground travel safety while in Peru, I would recommend Cruz del Sur (80 soles from Lima to Trujillo), one of the more reputable bus companies around. Sure you pay a little bit more compared to some other busses that can get you there for something like 20 soles but hey, you pay for what you get. Before that I spent 2 nights in Lima at Daniel's place where I met 2 other couch surfers from Argentina, Belen and Lucas. We had good fun walking the city practicing speaking English (Lucas) and Spanish (me), and we even got to dance the night away at a club called Dragon in Barranco. But more on Lima later.
In fact, more on everything else in between later. Now I am writing about the very reason I am here in the first place.
6 months ago when I left my ridiculously cushy job at one of the biggest urban radio stations in Malaysia, I got in touch with a few NGOs in South America with the intention of volunteering abroad as an English teacher. After some research and emails bouncing back and forth across the world, I decided to volunteer with Otra Cosa which is based here in Huanchaco. This is not a novel idea nor is it particularly noble so please don't give me credit. A lot of people choose to volunteer as they travel extensively, and this is something I hope I can start up as well when I go home to KL.
Before I got here, I had some reservations about signing a volunteer contract with Otra Cosa. These reservations heightened when I spoke to a former volunteer and some other locals. It didn't help either that I was asked to pay 400 soles as part of the volunteer contract. Why am I paying to volunteer? Where is the money going to? Will I get the placement that I want upon signing a contract?
Based on previous correspondence with the operations manager of Otra Cosa prior to arriving in Peru, it was agreed that I would be involved in the Corporation de Educacion Popular located in one of Trujillo's shanty towns and Un Lugar Ramp project which is a skate ramp built for the kids. Somehow though, from the little donuts of information that I got plus (sometimes trustable) gut feeling, I just felt that I needed to know exactly what I was getting myself into before deciding on anything. I know, seems a bit too late isn't it? After travelling half the world to come here. Well thankfully tonight I got a clearer picture when I met with some of the other volunteers.
Due to confidentiality of some information shared, I can't mention everything that was discussed tonight but here's the verdict: in most organizations, regardless of mission and purpose, there is bound to be some amount of disorganization going on. Hey that was quite ironic - disorganized organization; I feel so hipster all of a sudden. Moving along. If you want to drop everything to do volunteer work, my advice is to ask every question you can think of before deciding which organization is best for you. Remember, you are not obliged to sign any contract or pay any fee unless you are perfectly comfortable and sure that this is what you want. It is true that you can't put a price on charity but at the same time, it is also true that you can't be made to put a price on your own charity. That said, tomorrow I will take my own advice and speak to Najin, the operations manager.
You know I am always humbled by the fact that there are truly good people who go out of their way to try to put things in order as best as they can. I am glad to have met some of them tonight and hope to learn more during my stay here in Huanchaco.
P.S Thanks to the oh so wonderful Carmen Lorrente, I am now staying in a lovely house with a room that enters from a garden. Less words, more pictures in next post, promise.
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