Alumni Spotlight: Eva Olaya

Women in Thailand

Why did you decide to volunteer with Rustic Pathways in Thailand?

Eva: I decided to volunteer because my friend had told me about this program that she had heard about. So I checked out the website and found it so interesting and fun. I don't have a specific reason why I chose Thailand but I had never been to Asia and the program I did worked on photography and community service so I thought I would like that a lot.

Describe your day to day activities as a volunteer.

Eva: On the both trips I went to, we would always have something to do. Only after lunch and dinner did we really have time for ourselves. There was so much to do. In the mornings we would eat and then immediately start working, usually building. We would continue working on the classroom we were building or something like that. And while we stayed in places like a school or a village, kids would come and we would hang out and get to know them. This was very interesting because when we stayed at Noh Bo academy, we got to know more about the kids who had escaped from Burma, and that was just so amazing.

Also we had some time to go walk around and get to know the village and learn new things. It was great because we weren't in this big city with a ton of people, we were in these little calm places where everyone was so welcome and excited to meet us. Also there were these markets that we would go to and they had some crazy stuff, and I loved seeing all these different foods cooking and all the different smells and colors, it was so interesting.

What made this experience unique and special?

Eva: These trips that I have taken to Thailand were the best summers of my life. The programs were so fun, yet challenging and I was really put into situations that I would never have experienced in my every day life. This is why I feel like they affected me so much. I feel like I have experienced a whole new world for me and it just made me realize that there are kids my age that are living a completely different life than I am. A whole other culture with different backgrounds, everything.

And I got the opportunity to meet these kids and really learn more about them and the situation in which they live in. I also got to know one of my group leaders quite well and he really inspired me to take pictures. I've always known that I have wanted to be a photographer but now I know that in order to do that, I have to travel, explore and live in other peoples' shoes, which is exactly what he did, and still does. I'm so lucky to have had an experience like this, and I only hope that everyone does something like this, sooner or later.