Field report

YOUTH DEVELOPMENT COLOMBIA: ALICIA'S HEART FOR CHILDREN

I would describe Latin America with the following words: colorful, rhythmic, warm. I can recommend a stay in Latin America, as the vibrant culture simply spreads a good mood every day.

November 2022
Participant Alicia with girls from the project

During her month-long volunteer work on the island of Tierra Bomba, she got to know the country, the culture, the children and the way of life in Colombia. She particularly enjoyed the workshops with the girls on the project and was also able to learn a lot about environmental protection on the island.

ALICIA'S PROGRAM:

My preparation time

I wanted to go to Latin America because I was interested in the culture there and I could already speak a little Spanish. I booked the trip six months in advance. I spent most of my time thinking about the work in the project: what are my tasks? What are the other volunteers like? WanderWorld Travel put together a preparation package and held a seminar where all my questions were answered.

The first days

I was immediately welcomed into the project and attended the workshops so that I could get to know the children. Settling in was super quick, I got into the rhythm within the first week.

The main tasks in the project were to prepare and organize the workshops for the children. I particularly liked the workshops that were offered especially for girls. I think I was able to have a positive influence on the workshops for the girls in particular. We did yoga and dancing, which enabled me to build a stronger bond with the girls.

During the project, I learned a lot about the conscious use of our resources, such as drinking water, as access is not a given everywhere. The cooperation with the staff was good and I felt well looked after.

My free time in Colombia

I spent my free time with the other volunteers. Excursion destinations included the towns of Santa Marta and Minca and the Islas del Rosario, a group of islands in the Caribbean off Cartagena. The Islas del Rosario were particularly great and worth seeing. My best moment there was when I could see the plankton glow through the bioluminescence. I felt very connected to nature at that moment.

My experience with culture

I would describe Latin America with the following words: colorful, rhythmic, warm. I can recommend a stay in Latin America because the lively culture simply spreads a good mood every day. The culture is very cheerful and no matter where you were, there was always music playing. I learned from the people there to live more in the moment and think less about tomorrow. As a special experience, I can say that I was fascinated by how much the children learned from the project and showed a conscious approach to their environment in everyday life.

How the trip changed me

I was able to broaden my horizons, as the trip made me realize even more how unimportant things are and how important moments in life are. Above all, I was able to develop a new perspective on how we treat the environment. This was often a topic in the project, as the people on the island were supposed to learn how to better protect the nature around them. In this respect, I was particularly influenced by the situations in which we were shown how we can live in harmony with nature, plants and animals.

I was able to learn even more about how much nicer it is to give than to receive and that if you go out into the world with love, you get just as much love back.

My tips for future participants

Tierra Bomba is different from my home in every respect. As volunteers, we looked after ourselves there and learned to manage resources as well as possible. We looked at what needed to be done every day and didn't plan much in advance. This made life there feel very pure. So my tip is that you should try to leave your habits and ways of thinking at home and get involved in something new. You should enjoy working in a team and be able to adapt to new habits in everyday life. You should have patience (for yourself and others) and want to do things for others without expectations.

Would you like to find out more about our programs?

THEN COME TO OUR WANDERWORLD CONSULTATION!
Line

TALK TO ...

Sophia

Founder of Wanderworld Travel

Marina

Advice and travel preparation

Amanda

On-site advice and support

... ABOUT YOUR ADVENTURE !

Here we can plan your trip together and talk about your ideas.

Sign up now for our WanderWorld consultation. We look forward seeing you!

All without obligation and free of charge.