ceive some meals from the farmer host, repaying him by weeding, preparing soil, planting and even building fences. It’s a way to integrate into a com-
munity, says Lucas Weiss of Brooklyn, who has taken weekend trips to the Meadowstone Farm of Tim Wennrich, in Bethlehem, New Hampshire. Stay- ing in a farmer’s house and eating with the family gave him a taste of life he wouldn’t have experienced if he had stayed in a motel or bed and breakfast.“We got to see first-hand how much work can get done when you have four extra hands,” says Weiss. “You really get to see the inner workings of the [agricultural] community.” No gardening experience is re- quired, but come prepared to work up to six hours a day, for several days. You may need to bring your own tent or sleeping bag.
Voluntourism
wrought in New Orleans in 2005, she decided to do something. Bailey sched- uled her yoga training sessions around days spent participating in the demoli- tion, cleaning, painting and renewal work the city so desperately needed. It was her first volunteer sojourn, but it hasn’t been her last. Bailey reports that the effort was
life-changing for everyone involved: “I really learned about giving just to give and not expecting anything in return. I realized that even if they aren’t literally my community, even if they’re halfway around the world, they’re still humanity.” Find intriguing opportunities at
CharityGuide.org, CrossCulturalSolutions. org,
Earthwatch.org, GlobalVolunteers. org,
TransitionsAbroad.com, Travelocity. com/TravelForGood, VolunteerAdven
tures.comand
Voluntourism.org.
Philanthrotourism
Brooke Bailey was new to both yoga and volunteer work in 2006, but after seeing the devastation Hurricane Katrina
Jill Gordon had been volunteering in inner-city Chicago schools teaching lit- eracy for years when a friend invited her to a talk about a girls’ school in Afghani- stan. That’s when she knew she wanted to take her volunteer work global. First, Gordon joined the Chicago Women’s Initiative of CARE (
care.org), a nonprofit organization fighting global poverty, to help organize talks and fundraisers for education programs; she saw some of that money at work later, when she visited remote areas of Peru.
A few years ago, she visited rural India, where CARE funds schools and nutri- tion programs, and she was allowed to feed infants their first bites of solid food in a Hindu Annaprashan (first rice-eat- ing) ceremony.
“I don’t know if I would have gone to India, otherwise,” remarks Gordon. “I just loved meeting the real people in India, the kids and the mothers groups. We got to see what India’s really like.” Many nonprofits offer these kinds of travel, from Christian groups to United Way, which has an Alternative Spring Break service program for teens (
LiveUnited.org/asb). To find a program that suits your interests, ask groups that you support if they offer such trips and how they’re funded, so more of your time, treasure and talent goes to the people who need it.
Heather Boerner, a freelancer based in San Francisco, CA, is a contributing writer for
Gaiam.com. Contact her at
HeatherBoerner.com.
natural awakenings
July 2010
41
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64