Why did you decide to volunteer abroad with New Hope Volunteers in Kenya?
I decided to volunteer, in general, for two reasons. Firstly, I was (and still am) looking for a job in international development cooperation, better known as aid. Unable to find one applying from home in Portugal, I felt that I lacked field experience in a developing country and therefore decided to get some by volunteering. The second reason, more broad, was that I was tired of living and travelling in developed countries only, and wanted to know what life was like in that very different world that lies between the tropics. I also wanted to challenge myself and leave my "comfort zone".
I chose Kenya because I'd been in the country before, because it's a country where aid agencies are very active (and where many have offices) and because I wanted to learn an important African language, in this case, Swahili. I selected New Hope because it offered the most affordable international volunteering programs in Kenya.
Describe your day to day activities as a volunteer.
Simple. I get to the school I'm volunteering at around 8 am and help the teacher in any way I can until lunch time. Sometimes it's teaching while she's marking, sometimes it's the other way round. Other things I've done included organizing the school library. Because it's volunteer work, you're free to help wherever and however. The afternoon is off to hang out with other volunteers, get to know the surroundings, etc.
How has this experience helped you grow personally and professionally?
On a personal level, as I said in the review, I think I walk out of this as more of an adult, so to speak. All this - living in a slum in a poor country, dealing with a very different culture, being deprived of many of the comforts and amenities of home, etc. - made me more patient, more accepting of others different from me, and more mature in general. If I compare to myself three months ago (when my program started), I definitely feel changed.
On a professional note, this experience reinforced my desire to pursue a career in international development, and to do a job that contributes to lift countries out of poverty. As to whether it has made more "employable", that remains to be seen.
