2 Months in Construction and Renovation -Bali
Ratings
Review
A perfect program for those seeking to immerse themselves in a foreign culture while being surrounded of diverse kind of activities and environments. Bali is probably the number 1 spot for travelers visiting South East Asia and more often than not the preferred one, and there's a reason for that; the island holds multiple scenarios ranging from volcanoes, jungle to beautiful beaches -and it is big enough to get escape the touristic culture whenever you feel like to. The program itself is located in the "highlands" of Bali, in Ubud -the cultural capital of the island; volunteers can expect a green environment, local culture and lots of temples! the center, while touristic, is one of the few places that remains touristic and it is not the place where the program is hold. Concentrating efforts in helping those that haven't really benefit from external capital, the local agency distributes volunteers to relatively near places to Ubud (normally within 45min) and transport is provided. In construction specifically, volunteers meet at the general office -refer to the booklet- and then head to work from 1-5pm; you can expect hard team work and some breaks during the journey (beverages are provided). If the team exceeds 15 people it is most likely for the agency to distribute volunteers in two different projects to increase productivity, be aware of this and try to help where they need you the most. Both our teams were lucky as we were able to contribute in the end-process of 2 kindergartens, providing small communities a space that they did not have before -this was really rewarding for us.
Housing? fear not! the community in which the program is held is known as "Penestanang" and is just 5min away from Ubud, it is more authentic and provided with all the services you will need. Volunteers are distributed in around 5 or more Houses that lay close to each other, normally two floors high and separating men from women -yeah you can still gather, it's cool! Houses are safe and the cleaning staff shows up every day during the morning, be polite to them as they often don't speak English very well. Here, your main preoccupation should be how to get the bed with the best lightning and the best breeze, if not, make sure to get yourself a fan -there are plenty at the house. Be organized and make sure not to loose your stuff; with so many people coming and going the house feels up with old memories and it becomes easy to loose things and think that someone "stole" it from you -remember Bali practices Hinduism and stealing is bad karma.
In terms of activities there's a clear routine that volunteers in Penestenang follow and it goes like this; Mondays, Wednesdays is movie night -starts at 8pm and ends at 10pm at Kopi Desa, a place run by Made a genuine Local and where people often meet whenever they have free time -try the Nasi Goreng Ayam, a local dish! For boys, these are the days and time where Football will most likely find place, talk to Jeffrey! he is one of the organizers and makes sure to rent the football place -located just 8min away from the Cafeteria. Tuesdays and Thursdays is both Cupid and CP Launge night, Cupid an open bar-restaurant was built upon a river and it's the starting point of the night -head there around 8.30 pm, most of the volunteers will do so; expect live music and a great service provided by the local-owner Leo, a great guy that often performs live as well. Later on, and as Cupid prepares to close, volunteers head to Ubud center, to CP Launge. As one of the few places that offer night scene in Ubud, CP Launge is the perfect place to grab some drinks, play pool and dance to world-wide rhythms -bare in mind that Thursdays is a bit more busy than Tuesdays and that volunteers may often go only during this days but other travelers, expats etc will be there. Organize your mornings or afternoons as there is a lot to do next to Ubud, feel free to visit one of the many infinity pools, UNESCO rice terraces or waterfalls; use your weekends to travel to more remote places, go to a volcano, visit the beach, spent the night in a world class club -you pick the program.
A. The project was based on a relatively small concrete construction -30 kids aprox.- and most of the time was spent on mixing cement, plastering and re-plastering. I would have suggest to either invest in a mixing-cement tool to save efforts or to choose another construction method, wood? prefab? options are available! again, the concept is to create a space that functions as a learning room for students and I genuinely think that the process-time could be reduced from months to weeks by doing so -not to mention the amount of material and water that the project could spare.
B. Volunteer work; volunteers come and go and normally volunteer no longer than 3 weeks -1 of which is spent as introduction week- with that said, volunteers tend to have difficulties in activities that require deep focus and technique -lets take plastering for instance; a wall, built upon concrete brick must then after be covered by a cement layer "the plastering" before being refined by other techniques. In such, the local constructor can plaster a wall with just 1 layer of cement and in one afternoon, the problem? volunteers need more time to learn the technique, which leads to 3-5 layers of plastering before it is done right; this process can take weeks, different volunteers and lots of material. What could be improved? in my opinion, work allocation -volunteers that are working for a short period of time should focus on tasks where they really can provide help rather than delaying the project, this is essential and fore-planning should be taking into account.
C. House donations; going back to the housing facilities, I was amazed by the amount of goods people leave while returning home, yeah it's common and we have all been there -too much luggage to carry, not willing to pay the extra kgs, the solution? through everything out and create a mess? no. I think there should be a donation box or facility, volunteers should be aware of this and it could be very profitable for the vicinity -items could then be split into medical products, clothing, electronics, books, and others to suit the desired purpose; I myself had to leave 10kg of goods probably valued in usd250 plus and I am not the only one -I would feel very fulfilled if someone in need could benefit from this.
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