Katie Mahon from Co Wexford volunteered in Chile for 10 weeks in a center caring for girls from a disadvantaged background in the town of Temuco
Katie Mahon from Co Wexford volunteered in Chile for 10 weeks in a center caring for girls from a disadvantaged background in the town of Temuco. She wrote on her experience just a few days after having left the center.
I've finished my volunteer placement and I was broken hearted leaving the Hogar in Temuco!!! Felt like the time went so so quickly, and it was so hard saying goodbye to all the girls and everyone working there knowing that I wouldn't see them the following day, or week or month........... it was like having another family!!! I can't believe how welcomed I was, how much everybody made an effort to make me feel a part of the whole group, and how much the Tias appreciated any bit of help they received.
3 words to describe my volunteer programme during my summer holidays??? - ABSOLUTELY AMAZING EXPERIENCE!!!
I thought I'd arrive in a depressed run down building where the kids were always super sad, or violent & that it'd all be really difficult to deal with. But even with few resources, the girls are leading perfectly balanced lives, they feel normal, abet having 19 other sisters is a bit odd!! They're all totally crazy and I love them all....!!! At times it was tough trying to help them because each one of them is craving attention, so when you spend 20 minutes doing homework with one girl another one might feel ignored or left out.... but if you don't spend enough time going through work with each girl they don't understand the explanation!! They girls are so loving and caring, dying to play and joke all the time, misbehaving half the time as well just like any child. So so full of life and energy!! So inspiring....
I definitely grew up a lot in terms of putting other people first, learning from the Tias and Tios, absolutely everything is for the girls. My patience has improved too!! I realised that the best way to deal with a girl who's being disobedient or misbehaving and won't listen to me is just to stay happy instead of getting frustrated.... I know it's obvious but I couldn't believe it actually works, give them a hug and just ask kindly will they wait a little bit for me & half the time they actually would!! If I got frustrated they would just laugh at me, so the best thing to do is laugh at yourself - most useful skill of the last 2 months was the ability to laugh at myself!! Between the language and everything, so many times I was in tears laughing about the misunderstandings, lost in translation..... like one morning, lashing rain, I arrived at the door and Tia Gladys in reception said to change my tights because they were soaked, but in espanol "Sacate las panties", but panties is calzones for an english speaking person, so I thought she was telling me "take off your underwear, now, take it off, its absolutely soaked wet, quick take off your underwear!!!!!"
The volunteer programme in Chile was definitely an amazing experience which gave me the opportunity to put my time and energy to good use and to learn a lot different things. I am now planning to organise some discussions in the schools in my area in order to share my experience and raise awareness.
Katie Mahon