EIL Intercultural Learning

Laura Spring is from Co Kerry and spend three months in 2005/2006 working with a day care centre in Quito. As well as volunteering Laura has also raised much needed funds for the centre. Laura is currently a student in development studies in Kimmage Manor, Dublin.

Having just graduated from UCC, I was ready for a new and very different experience, while also wanting to 'give a little back'. I was drawn by the culture and diversity of South America and I had a desire to learn Spanish, but choosing an individual country was a bit more difficult. Eventually, I decided on Ecuador, as it seemed a country of great beauty but also one with many problems, and somewhere that the small contribution I could make would be felt.

During my time there, I worked in a day-care centre for children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years, in what was a very poor and remote suburb of Quito. It was not the type of project that I had envisaged myself working in, having heard a lot about projects engaged in helping street kids, or adolescents involved in substance abuse or prostitution. Initially, I thought that these sounded like more ‘worthy' causes. I quickly learned that this was not the case.

The day-care centre catered for 82 children, and there were just 4 women to look after them. Because of its remote location, few volunteers were willing to make the journey there every day, a journey which required taking three different buses and could take up to two and a half hours each way. But when I visited the centre with the coordinator of EIL Ecuador I knew that I was really needed there, which was of huge importance to me.

The two months that I spent there were extremely rewarding, although not always easy. The children had little, if any, discipline, and disputes were resolved with fists. Teaching them to say ‘please' and ‘thank you' (in Spanish, of course!) instead of just grabbing toys was a small step but had a significant effect. And seeing the smile on a child's face when I encouraged him or her, held his or her hand, or gave a hug was a wonderful feeling. I also learned a lot from the other women there, from their enormous patience, their devotion to the children and their ability to carry on in the face of so much adversity. They accepted me as one of them, shared their lives with me, their laughter and their tears.

There was no money to pay for much needed extra staff, and there was definitely no money to pay for any physical improvements to the centre. So I decided that before leaving, I would try to make a more lasting contribution. I spoke to the director about what was needed most urgently, and her reply was a roof to prevent items such as mattresses, blankets and chairs from getting wet every time it rained. We asked a local tradesman for an estimate. As it was Christmastime, I asked family at home to give a ‘different' Christmas present by donating money for the roof. They were more than willing to oblige, and when the money was wired, the director and I spent an afternoon buying all the necessary materials. There was even some money leftover to buy some new toys for the children, to replace the centre's much-battered ones. Work was beginning on the roof as I left.

Another very important aspect of my time in Ecuador was the time I spent with an inspiring nun called Sr. Eileen. I had heard from an acquaintance at home that there was a Presentation Sister, also from Kerry, living in Quito, so I tracked her down. She showed me the kind of daily work that she was doing in one community, which ranged from providing vitamins to an elderly, convalescing man to helping in the foundation of a type of cooperative for the crafts produced by local women. She gave me another insight into the realities and issues involved with development work.

Volunteering really is the beginning of further action on development issues. For me, it played a big part in my decision to undertake a postgraduate course in Development Studies in Kimmage Manor, Dublin. One of the biggest lessons I learned from volunteering is that we can all make a difference. It doesn't matter on what scale. It may mean just providing love and attention to children who don't receive much of either, for various reasons; or lessening someone's burden of poverty and its consequences by ‘lending an ear'. Or it may mean helping the women of one community to turn their craft-making into a way of earning income. Even just sharing one's experience of volunteering with family and friends on return makes a difference by raising awareness. The challenges of development are many, but it is through the small steps made by each person that change happens.

Laura Spring