Samrong Hospital-Medical Volunteering In A Primitive Setting

"I went to was a small hospital - Sam Roang Hospital, at the rural area of Siem Riep. This hospital is nothing like what you will ever see in Melbourne or Malaysia and I was utterly shocked by the condition of the hospital. The very limited facilities and resources, running low on/out of medical supplies, fan-less maternity ward, supposedly sterile operating theatre with flies in it and only three out of five bulbs of the operating lamp are working. You can't possibly imagine what the condition is like until you see it for yourself. It is primitive."

Phey Yee is from Melbourne, Australia.  She wants to be a Doctor.  So quite naturally, Phey looked to the GeoVisions Medical program in Cambodia for a unique medical experience.  She found it!

Phey volunteered at the Samrong Hospital in the rural area of Siem Riep in Cambodia.  Phey wrote a Blog about her experiences and was kind enough to grant us permission to feature her Blog and her photos.  Some of her posts include:

A Typical Day in Sam Rong
Of Fund Raising and Fun Raising
Of Dust and Sweat and Cambodia

Phey Yee had such a great experience, she is now fund raising for the community and hospital.  Please click the links above to particular posts, or just click this link to see the entire Blog.  And be sure to look at all the photos.  They're so good.

If you have an interest in GeoVisions' Medical programs, there are 10 to choose from:

Cape Town Medical & Clinic Assistance

Children's Hospital in Costa Rica

Cusco Rehabilitation Center

Ecuador Children's Hospital

Ecuadorian Red Corss and Mobile Clinic

Galapagos Islands Hospital

Medical Center in Lima

Medical Help in Cambodia

Medical Project in Sri Lanka

Paramedic Service in Costa Rica

"We got to do a lot of clinical stuff. We attended the hospital handover meeting everyday at 7.30 a.m. and went to the ward rounds.  We have covered the maternity ward, pediatrics ward, general medicine ward, emergency medicine and surgical ward. Most of the doctors here are extremely friendly.  Not all of them know English but they sure tried their very best to teach us a much as they could. I heard my first heart murmur on Thursday! It was indeed a very special moment for me."

We would love to talk to you about any of the medical volunteer projects available and to put you in touch with former volunteers.

Have you volunteered at a rural medical project?  Where were you and how did it compare to Phey's experience?

If You Speak English, You Can Teach English With GeoVisions

I’m Kevin Morgan, GeoVisions CEO.  I’m travelling now through Asia ...  meeting with our English language tutors, future Work and Travel students, and leaders in education and exchange.  I’m also reading the region’s newspapers and websites.  There are so many stories I read, and conversations I have that stress the importance of people in Asia learning to speak better English … and there is a role for you.  

“If you speak English, you can teach English.”  Okay, maybe not the intricacies and nuances of dangling participles and conjugation of verbs.  You see, our tutors teach people how to speak better, by talking with them, making them more comfortable with day-to-day conversation.  We give you tools to help you coach others along, and as much support as you need, but, if you like to talk with people, and have a bit of self-confidence, you can help people learn to be better English speakers.

 

Why is this important in Asia?  Here are some things I learned in just the past week:

-       Reuter’s News Service reported that in Japan, some of the biggest retailers announced they would start testing employees for English proficiency.  Even Toyota and Nissan have announced moves to make English more common in the workplace.

-       In Beijing, where it was recently announced that English will be taught in China starting in kindergarten, the government announced plans to have every public employee to know more than 100 basic English sentences.  80% of police officers will be required to pass English tests starting in 2015.

-       In Bangkok, a survey of business people uncovered trends in English training that call for more practical and specialized language training in Thailand.  Language coaching and conversation specific to a person’s needs are becoming as important as the basics learned in formal classroom teaching.

-       In Singapore, there is a growing need for English teachers and Conversation assistants.  Why, you ask?  Don’t Singaporeans speak English already?  Yes, but thousands of mainland China students are flocking to Singapore to learn English and still be comfortable in this city/state with a rich Chinese heritage (and maybe some relatives with whom they can live!)

All the above reinforces the need for English speakers to come to Asia (or anywhere in the world for that matter).  On our Conversation Corps and Conversation Partner program you can come to exciting world capitals or provincial villages, spend 15-25 hours a week “talking (as a tutor/coach)” and travel and get to know people in your free time.  As Asia develops its global leadership skills, you can see what drives these economies and these people … and you’ll have a great time.

 

Do you speak English?  Think about becoming a conversation tutor!  GeoVisions offers Conversation Corps and Conversation Partner programs in over 15 countries, with more new countries like Korea, Japan and Singapore coming on board every week.

Just Out Of Diapers: Two New Medical Volunteer Abroad Projects

A couple of weeks ago we used our Blog to announce three new programs. Today we are announcing the arrival of two new projects. One in Ecuador in the Galapagos, on San Cristobal Island and another in Kandy, Sri Lanka.  Both of these new projects need medical volunteers.

Medical Clinic on San Cristobal Island, Galapagos
This medical project is very hands-on.  On this project you are going to have the opportunity to work one on one with doctors; prepare charts for patients; hand out medication; and assist in medical exams.  If you have medical experience, there may be even more you can do at the hospital.

GeoVisions includes your roundtrip flight from Quito as part of the program fee as well as orientation and a tour of Quito before flying to San Cristobal Island.

Of course, when you're not working at the hospital, you can be swimming, scuba diving, surfing, basking on the beach, learning about marine life, exotic birds, and even tortoises.

Hospital Project in Kandy, Sri Lanka
Not only will volunteers have the opportunity to assist Doctors, but this project has two unique components:

1. After you have been observed and cleared (depending on your abilities and medical background) there is an opportunity to assist with Pediatrics.
2. Because Ayurveda, one of the world's oldest medical systems, starting around 1500 BC.  Ayurveda was developed in and around India and Sri Lanka.  Volunteers at this project have the opportunity to learn more about Ayurveda directly from the area where it was developed.  If you are unfamiliar with Ayurveda, think "alternative medicine" if you are from the U.S. for example.

This project begins with a full week of orientation in Kandy where volunteers meet each other, learn more about Sri Lanka and its traditions, meet local people, taste the food, take some time for a little sightseeing and learn a lot more about the project.

So there you are.  Do you have program ideas we should consider?  Places we don't currently serve?  Please use the Comments section and let us know.  We are always interested in where you want to go and what you want to do when you get there.

GeoVisions Volunteering and Teaching Makes a Difference - I Saw It

It's always great to see positive results, especially when you're involved in projects that can really help people.  This weekend I returned to Asia and attended an event with some of our teachers and volunteers, and ... even better ... some of the students we work with from the "Children's Village" orphanage in Kanchanaburi, Thailand.  A vanload of children from this unique educational community, complete with their Thai traditional instruments, came to Bangkok and entertained us ... actually wowed us with their self-confidence, their charm, and their English skills.

 

 

These are children of poverty, children of neglect, and children of abuse.  They learn from volunteers on our programs.  It is great to have engaging conversations (in English) with 11-14 year olds that many people would have given little chance to develop skills to succeed ... but these students are making giant strides.

Moo Baan Dek ("Children's Village") is a very special place.  The children are active members of the community.  They participate in decision-making, rule-making, even discipline when necessary.  It's self-described as "experimental", and "alternative".  I describe it as "wonderful"!

You don't need to be a specialist, an educator, have teaching credentials to be a successful volunteer on a GeoVisions program like this.  You just need to care, and be ready to give of yourself.  One thing that was all our volunteers agreed on -- you get back a lot more than you give!

GeoVisions has many opportunities in Thailand for you to give of yourself.  You may want to work on one of our Volunteer Projects or teach conversational English to a family or a business or community group on our Conversation Corps and Conversation Partner Programs.

The photos on this page were taken by Phillip Chappell, who coordinates our programs in Thailand.  We thank him for his photos and the help he gives to all of our volunteers and teachers in Thailand.  More pictures can be found on the Moo Baan Dek Facebook group page.

Ever Heard Of Voluntourism? Stick A Thousand Needles In My Eye

Where can I go to volunteer abroad?
Who offers voluntourism programs?
What projects are available?
What will it cost?
Are there any pitfalls?

To: Travel Blog Writers, CNN reporters, Wall Street Journal reporters and anyone else covering all-things Voluntourism.

If anyone who types can go to their favorite search engine and type in "voluntourism" and get 182,000 results or "volunteer abroad" and instantly get 1,220,000 results, (read this slowly):

y o u
a r e
l a t e
t o
t h e
p a r t y.

Everyday an article comes out about volunteering abroad.  Last week The Wall Street Journal ran one.  You can read the whole thing here.

The sections in that article are:

Where To Go
Paying For It
Plan for the Worst
And then the usual suspects in a box called "Helping Hands."  A sample of service travel organizations.

CNN.com ran an entire series of articles on Humanitarian Travel.  Just click on that link and you can see everything they posted on the subject.  The theme of the series was posted like this:

"The idea of volunteering away from home seems like a win-win to many travelers: a way to experience and help another community at the same time. But without a solid, well-designed program and reasonable expectations, volunteer travel can do more harm than good."

CNN even ran a section for iReporters to submit tales about their experiences, photos and videos.  And some did.  Click on My Volunteer Vacation and you can go straight there and read about trips people took.

But no one seems to be focusing on what happens when the voluntourists return home, the topic of my rant today, if you hadn't figured that out by now.

Searching for a program on a search engine, like going on a program, is the easy bit.  We simply do not need another article or Blog post to tell us where we can go, with whom we can go, when we can go and what we can do once we get there.  That subject has been covered.  Nice job everyone!

Why isn't anyone out there writing about what voluntourists do when they come home?  After the experience?  I'm really interested in "what they do with what they did."

I'm drawing a line in the virtual sand with this post.  To any Travel Blogger out there, and to any reporter thinking about an article or series of articles (makes me ill to think about it) on voluntourism--please reconsider.  I think I'd rather stick a thousand needles in my eyes than read another "where you can go", "what you can do," "what you have to look out for" article.  And the usual suspects listed out, as if these golden nuggets were just discovered in a vast wasteland for the very first time.

Get a clue:  Voluntourism has been around for a long time.  If I can type in voluntourism and get over a million results on Google…you are not reporting the news or anything newsworthy.

What I don't see is people and writers focused on what happens when a volunteer comes home.

Can you PLEASE report on these burning questions?  When a voluntourist returns from his or her experience abroad:

1. Does he start up his own non-profit?
2. Does she start up a volunteer project locally?
3. Does the family join a community project and help out each week or each month?
4. Does the returnee tell others?
5. How involved in humanity is the experienced voluntourist, when she is now going about her normal everyday life, safely back at home?
6. Can you provide examples that will move me to volunteer abroad too?
7. Do you have a place these people can tell about what they are doing now?  (What a great iReport.)
8. How many had such a moving experience, they have gone again?  And again...

Isn't that the story?  No one wants to look at vacation travel slides.  No one needs to read your article about how to do it and who to do it with.  The real story, for me, is what a voluntourist does after that experience and I really would sit down and watch those slides and video.

How do I know?  Because GeoVisions has this amazing group of returnees and we follow them and realize the overseas experience was just the start of the real journey many can take.  We see everyday that the journey continues and becomes so much more exciting after the trip ends.

How about the rest of you?  Am I alone here?  Please use our Comments section and let me know.  And while you're at it, if you volunteered abroad and you're reading this post, please tell us what you've done since you've returned. What have you done with what you did?

Suck My What? Conversation Corps In Thailand

Suck My Nation!  The newest addition to the GeoVisions family of volunteer Blogs.  Read Don's Blog here.

Conversation Corps member, Don Deerie, is writing an amazing Blog with the most unique photos of life in Thailand I've seen.  Don is volunteering to live with a family in Thailand, and teach them English around 15 hours each week.  In return, he's getting free room and board with the family.  At GeoVisions, we call that Conversation Corps.

How many people get to actually live with a Thai family for a month?  It is a rare opportunity, and Don is making the most of it.  Here is an entry from June 15:

All smiles in the ราชอาณาจักรไทย
-2nd week in Thailand
-location: Trat
-3rd day as an English tutor to 2 students
-progress: hopeful.

I'm living with my host family for a month. I have my own room (a room larger than my parents'). The family owns a motorbike shop.

Don is a student at Bates College in Maine and speaks Spanish, Dutch and is learning Czech.  He brings to the Conversation Corps a great sense of humor and tons of excitement for Thailand, his host family and teaching them some conversational English.

If you have any interest in Thailand or what it's like to live with a family in that stunning country...or if you have questions about joining the Conversation Corps, you will enjoy reading Suck My Nation.

Do you worry about not being able to teach English?  Leave us your comments below!  The Conversation Corps is about teaching conversational English.  Anyone can do it.  What are your thoughts about Don's Blog or the Corps?  Please leave them below.

You Want Me To Pay To Do What? Paying To Volunteer Abroad

The 10th most popular page on our website is Why Do I Have To Pay?  This page is always in the top 10 page views.  Why? It's a valid question.  And on that page we attempt to be as transparent as possible with how we spend your hard-earned money.

That's why, when this week 2 Blog posts came out about this question, I was very pleased, to say the least.  I want to direct our readers to these two posts, because they each take a very different slant towards paying to volunteer, yet they both support it.  Again, supporting it for very different reasons.

One of the best articles on paying to volunteer comes from the Volunteer Before You Die Network.  Consistently, their posts and tweets are thought provoking and right on target.  Their recent post, "You Want Me To Pay To Do What? Thoughts On Paying Third Parties To Volunteer" was superb and explains how Nola Lee Kelsey (head of the Network) came from rejecting the idea, to understanding the reasons for paying to volunteer.  I encourage you to read the post and leave your comments.  I left some comments and I invite you to go to the post and read those as well.

By the way…Volunteer Before You Die has a new book coming out entitled 700 Places To Volunteer Before You Die and will be available July 1 this year.  If you have a twitter account, I recommend following @volunteerB4Udie and be a part of the conversation.

The next Blog post that came out was by Sarah Van Aucken who is the creative genius for Volunteer Global. She works tirelessly on all things "volunteering" and she is known as a bright spot in the field.

"What To Ask Before You Pay To Volunteer On Your Career Break" is a great post.  Sarah decided to skip over the "why do I have to pay" argument and go straight for the "why do some organizations charge $15 per week while others cost upwards of $7,000 per week?"  She does a fantastic job answering the question and then ends the post with 10 questions you should ask the agency.

If you have reconciled that you are going to pay to volunteer…read Sarah's post and start asking organizations these 10 questions.  Sarah has done you a favor and if you'll take the time to ask sending organizations these 10 questions, you will choose the right organization and project.  Also, follow Sarah on Twitter for great insights on volunteering abroad.

I've been doing this work for 35 years.  I always enjoy telling people that the three Founders of GeoVisions have a combined 105 years doing this work.  Oh do we have stories to tell!  More importantly, we appreciate the work of Volunteer Before You Die and Volunteer Global and others who dedicate their time and money to moving this work forward, and expecting senders and receivers of volunteers to be responsible and innovative.  Through their work, even after we are gone, they are creating a legacy of volunteering, volunteering abroad and voluntourism.  We owe them a debt of gratitude.

Do you have comments about the posts we've mentioned or volunteering abroad?  We would love to read your thoughts.

Chickens Are Mine Became The Cold Baby-This Is Conversation Corps

The video embedded in this Blog post is by the great Italian actor, Adriano Celentano.  Also a song writer and singer, Celentano wrote this song entirely in gibberish to show English speakers what English sounds like to non-English speakers.

As a member of the Conversation Corps, you are called upon to speak "conversational" English and we thought you would enjoy hearing what that sounds like to your "students."

GeoVisions does provide our own text, "A Tutor's Guide: Teaching English To Families And Children."  We also provide an online source to provide English flash cards and worksheets.  And let's not forget a 24/7 email hot line for personalized assistance and ideas.

Originally, this video did not contain the subtitles, but after searching around we found the official subtitles for you and we think they help make the point even further.  So enjoy the video and remember, "My eyes smile senseless and we got some growing diesel, alright?"

 

Safety First When You Volunteer Abroad

For those of us involved in sending people abroad for many years, it is impossible to escape the dreaded call about an accident involving one or more of your volunteers or teachers.  In my 35 years of doing this work, I've been on the receiving end of such calls three times.  When I mention these calls in meetings, someone always suggests that one every ten years isn't so bad.  And if you've been the one picking up the telephone in the middle of the night to hear the news that someone is injured, or worse, even one in your lifetime is one too many.

At GeoVisions, we try hard to provide safety tools for all of our participants and traveling staff.  We provide safety information in advance of our volunteers and teachers traveling abroad.  We include the most amazing travel, accident and health insurance you can get when you go abroad with 24/7 telephone support...answered always by a person, not a machine.

Sara's Wish Foundation is an organization dedicated to keeping people safe when they travel abroad.  Primarily interested in students who study abroad, Sara's Wish Foundation put out a video, Know Before You Go.  The video, which we include here, is really for anyone who is traveling abroad.  It is very powerful.

Please watch this short video.  You can also use this link to get to the Sara's Wish Foundation website where you will find so many useful safety tips and helpful information.

Have the time of your life.  Have fun.  Experience life in another culture, incredible food, make new life-long friends.  And put safety first.

 

 

If you can take away something useful from this post, please consider leaving a comment (below) or subscribing to the feed (above) to have future posts delivered to your feed reader. You can also subscribe via email (in the upper right corner).  Over on the right we have made it easy for you to become a Fan of GeoVisions on Facebook and to Follow Us on Twitter.

Help Our Volunteers By Removing Airline Fees

There are quite a few companies out there offering low-cost airfare.  Here are a few we recommend to people who plan to volunteer or teach abroad:

Smarter Travel

Student Universe

The Airfare Guru

STA Travel

Fly For Good

But my point in this post is that anyone out there who provides airfare for students, teachers, and volunteers...thank you.  And while you're finding lower fares, where you could also be of great help is to negotiate reduced airline fees or negotiate that the airlines get rid of them totally for teachers, students and volunteers.

To illustrate my point, take a look at this chart I downloaded from Smarter Travel.  It is very current...updated on April 6.  It lists 14 airlines and 12 different fees the airline charge passengers.  Just click on the link above and take a look at the chart.

I just returned from meetings in and around London and I flew on United.  Because I fly constantly, I don't have to pay all these fees.  But had I been going over to volunteer abroad or teach abroad, here is what I might have had to pay in fees on United, in addition to my airfare and taxes:

$25 for my bag.

$45 for my 2nd bag (Int'l charge)

$25 booking fee

$9 for extra leg room on the International flight

$9 for a meal plus $6 if I want wine or beer

And that totals up to $119.

On Student Universe, I can fly over June 1 from New York to London and return on July 31 for $280 and then add $389 in taxes and security fees and then add my $119 in airline fees (above).  The airline fees are almost 50% of the airfare and the taxes and security fees are even more than my airfare.

So I'm asking all of you out there who brag about how low your airfares are (and they really aren't all that low if you don't fit a very small demographic like student or maybe a teacher), you could help our volunteers by asking the airlines to get rid of those extra fees. We will give the airlines proof that our volunteers are who they say they are and they are going abroad to volunteer their time.  This is how you can be helpful to everyone.  I understand you can't get rid of security fees and taxes, but the rest of those fees?  You can negotiate that for us.

So if I'm a senior citizen (and I almost qualify) and I can't access the student airfare, I'm going to have to pay full freight to buy my ticket through you.  But if I go ahead and buy my airfare from you anyway and prove I'm going to volunteer, why can't you help me by getting the airlines to get rid of all those extra fees?  That helps everyone and it would certainly sell a lot more tickets on your site.

Please? Anyone else have ways to help?