Clare O'Gorman, a student from Galway, spent 6 weeks volunteering with Volunteer Abroad in Mexico working with the children of Barra de Potosi.
Clare O'Gorman, a student from Galway, spent 6 weeks volunteering with Volunteer Abroad in Mexico working with the children of Barra de Potosi. She's shared her thoughts on her time as a member of the community.
Deciding to volunteer with 'Los niños encantados' of Barra de Potosí was the best and most rewarding decision of my life. As soon as I arrived in the village, I was blown away by the warmth and generosity of the community there. I was amazed by the strong social ties the community had, it was unlike anything I had ever experienced. As Barra is so small, everyone knows each other and soon we were embraced as part of the family. Every effort was made to help us feel at home, whether it happened to be a few words of kindness or just a warm smile.
As the pace of life in Barra is so relaxed, I did find it difficult to get used to doing things 'Poco a poco' as the local say! But I think it is important to go with the frame of mind that it's not actually possible to do everything. Barra wasn't built in a day!!
The children there are so full of energy and life so bring your sense of fun and enthusiasm! Sometimes it was hard to actually get them into the classroom when all they wanted to do is play but I found that promising a game of football or a trip to the beach after lessons usually did that trick!! The days there were exhausting but every night I went to bed feeling utterly content.
Leaving such wonderful people was hard and I felt 4 weeks there really wasn't enough but it is a place I will definatly visit again, Hasta pronto Barra de Potosí!
Clare O'Gorman