Quick Trips and Long Stays

There are two different types of volunteer experiences I have seen in Uganda; the people that come to be part of the community and those that come to do a quick project and leave. There is a saying in Uganda, “Not all visitors are good and not all who travel to aid others are welcome.”

Many people travel to countries like Uganda and think they have all the knowledge and they will be helping a community. Those people are sorely misinformed and will quickly realize that they will be helped as much as they help others. Helping another community requires understanding the community and their needs which requires living in that community and building connections for a minimum of 4 months. Helping is more about friendship and solidarity than “helping the unfortunates.” The longer you stay in a community the better you will realize this and have a greater chance of a life changing experience.

The other type of volunteer comes with a plan to help the community and works long hours, rushing everyone along to meet their own goals and deadlines. Due to time restraints of volunteering for a week to a month, they do not get involved in the community or make many relationships. Usually just by the time they get over their culture shock and would start to engage with the community or adjust to community standards of living they return to their countries. I have found in my experience that these people usually remain unchanged and go back to their countries thinking the same things and having the same values as when they came

To illustrate my point lets think about water use: I have met people that have walked over 20km to collect clean drinking water. I collect water with a jerry can from a tap for my laundry and bathing needs. Water, to me, now is a precious resource and a privilege. I will never again in my life waste water with a long shower. You can get just as clean with a one minute shower as you can with a 40 minute one. A team of volunteers have recently joined us for the past 3 weeks and when asked about water they commented that they would go home and have the longest shower of their life and enjoy every minute of it because they had lots of water in their country. So what life lesson have they learned?  They may come to do an incredible project like water sanitation or health care but if they treat the local community members as a disadvantaged people and not equals they will not be welcome back.