Volunteers are 100% immersed in the culture and traditions of the community they are placed with. Volunteers and Project Leaders live in, eat with and social with the community their project is based in. We eat the same food, bucket wash or bath in rivers, sleep on mattresses on floors under mosquito nets and play local games with the children.
We sometimes live in Homestays, or the community offers a secure house to sleep in. Volunteers are encouraged to live like their community members, instead of staying in plush hotels or hostels. By doing this, we can be sure that the money volunteers raise for their trip goes back into the community, by paying them accommodation and food costs, hiring locals for specialised jobs such as carpenters and masons, and sourcing building materials locally.
As a result, volunteers and their community members become family, friends and lifelong pen pals. Ultimately, the communities we work with appreciate our help, welcome us with open arms and we can create long-term positive partnerships.
The role of Junior and Senior Project Leaders is to be the 24/7 support for volunteers., so that when they land in-country they have nothing to worry about in terms of operations and logistics and can get stuck into their project from the first day. Project Leaders are there to personally meet and greet volunteers at the airport, they work with them on their projects, they accompany them on weekend trips away and they are there to answer any questions or concerns along the way.
For a lot of volunteers, it is their first time away and its Madventurer's number one priority to ensure volunteers feel safe, supported and that ultimately their time and impact is positive.
My number one piece of advice is to keep an open mind. By that I mean have no expectations, immerse yourself into the culture, learn their traditions, learn the language, try the local dishes and be respectful of the differences you may encounter as to the way of living.
The biggest adjustment for me, in all the countries I've been to, was the pace that people lived and worked. 'Fiji time' and 'Ghana time' are well-known phrases if you've ever heard of them? Where we are used to sticking to the clock in our Western worlds more often than not in developing countries they're up when the sun rises and they sleep when the sun goes down. Whatever happens in between is at their pace and that's something you will have to embrace. If you can't beat them, join them!
“In travelling a companion; in life, compassion” - Haruki Murakami.
Response from Madventurer
Hi Izzy,
Thank you for your feedback. I am really sorry that you were disappointed with your project. I was concerned when I read the review as while you were in Fiji our project leaders felt that you didn’t show any indication that you were having a bad experience and you seemed to jump right in with our Fresno group and it looked like you made some strong relationships with other volunteers. It was tough for our group to contribute to the building project on this phase as much of the work was very labor intensive or it involved dangerous working conditions (for example, constructing the roof).
The group was really good about being engaged with the village and they saw a lot of our volunteers participating in the different cultural activities throughout the village everyday. Our project leaders felt that you seemed to have been enjoying yourself whenever they were with you or when they checked in on how you were doing. The cultural immersion is a key part of the trip, and although the local skilled workers have to take over at different points in the build, the other activities that are part of the trip, such as the snorkeling boat trip, giving lessons at the local primary school, or even just sharing time making lemonade with the Fijian woman, you all seemed to enjoy. Hammock or porch time for rest and reflection is part of a College Service Learning itinerary. You did seem to have made really great connections with the group and become really good friends with some of the girls from Fresno State.
However I can also see where being the only independent participant in a group project may have been difficult and although we did try to promote your trip extensively we could not achieve individual sufficient sign-ups to run a separate project for you for your desired dates, and we did give it as long as possible to try and fill the other places. The alternative would have been to cancel your trip but this may have been even more disappointing for you. Rest assured that when you signed up we had all your emergency contact and personal health information included in the registration form.
In the project debrief with your project leaders we discussed your feedback we are all fully committed to make sure that the circumstances which led to your disappointment should not happen again. We will no longer offer or try to integrate independent travelers with our college groups.
We have also just changed the way independent travelers are looked after pre-trip and our Head of Operations to care for independent travelers pre-trip as they have the scale and capacity to respond more quickly, and although the arrival airport to book flights is included in the project overview we will ensure that she reemphasises to all independent travellers the arrival point.
Your feedback has highlighted important gaps in our pre-trip support that we had for individuals this summer so thank you for this - it is all very much appreciated.
Safe journeys,
John Lawler,
MAD Foundation Trustee