As a 28 year old Irish nurse I volunteered with My Small Help for 4 weeks in June 2014 in Ollantaytambo. My first impression of Ollantaytambo situated in the heart of the sacred valley was how incredible beautiful it was and how could there be poverty' in such a tourist picturesque village.
On my first day I was meet my the 3 other wonderful volunteers in the house and was given a through induction of the program. On my first home visit later that evening I must admit I was truly overwhelmed on the conditions the families were living in. I had no doubt from that point that behind the doors of the beautiful village of Olllantaytambo a lot of help was needed.
As a volunteer I stayed in the volunteer house which was a great way to get to know the other volunteers. My role during my four weeks included the school bus run in the mornings an the evenings which helped children with disabilities attend the school in Urubamba. Another program which I was very involved in was the home visits where we visited an elderly lady in her home as well as children with cerebral palsy. The home visits allowed me to apply social, physical , play,sensory and varies of other therapies to the children in there home.I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the children a lot better and engaging with their families during this time.
As time went by the local friendly Ollantaytambo colours really shone and I got to meet and know a lot of the locals as well as volunteers from other organisations.
During my stay I was also involved in fundraising actives including a local party where as the volunteers we were able to create more awareness of the organisation amongst local people as well as raise money which is essential to keep this NGO running.
Looking back on my experience now I would strongly recommend anyone who is keep to volunteer and work with disabled children to get involved in this wonderful organisation. The organisation allows you to give a lot to the children regardless of what background you come from whether it is health, artist, business, travel
......word cant express how much you can give, but you must be willing and committed to doing so. But most importantly it is not what I have given that I took away from my experience it was what the organisation gave to me....the experience truly opened my eyes to the life's of other people and the wonderful work that organisations like my small help has on the lives who need it.
Love,
Bernadette
No comments:
Post a Comment