I’ve wanted to write a post to summarise my thoughts, since I finished the volunteering. Every time I think to do it I get slightly overwhelmed by the number of memories that come rushing into my head.
When I left the island by ferry on my own; as it pulled away from the dock and got further out to sea, I suddenly felt that the experience was over and a wave of emotion washed over me.
I didn’t expect that but then again I didn’t expect the 3 week volunteering stint to be so rewarding on a number of different levels either.
To go back to January 31st, I was sitting in the airport in Manila waiting for my connecting flight to Bohol when I wrote down some thoughts about what was in front of me. My concerns seemed to revolve around getting enough to eat and whether the tent would leak.
Well I got enough food and the tent didn’t leak.
That wasn’t in the highlights though!
As ever with truly memorable experiences in life, it’s always about the people. Humans are social animals and as such we get greatest satisfaction from others rather than personal achievement.
My head is full of anecdotes from the three week period, so much happened and there is a lot of retrospective pleasure. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it at the time but I was clearly tired when I wrote the last post.
The first week everything was new and exciting, wanting to fit in and pull my weight whilst not pulling a muscle or two…
The second week, the routine and the tasks were familiar but my body had grown weary. I remember deliberately trying to get on a couple of jobs that wouldn’t be so physically strenuous so that I could try and recover somewhat. I wasn’t drinking at all as there is no way I could get up and do it day in, day out with the added anchor of a hangover.
Age catches up with all of us and being 37 I can’t do what I could at 27. Maybe there was a tinge of jealously at the twentysomethings who could drink each night and then get up and work harder the next day than I was able to!
The last week was incredibly satisfying, I had grown stronger, got to know others well and could look back at a long list of people/schools that we had helped. I guess that is why people find volunteering so rewarding because you get back as much as you put in. It’s not a selfless endeavour. It’s definitely a two way street.
I’ll take people saying “thank you for helping us” over money every time. I’d always reply, “that’s my pleasure” because it was and is.
I’ve just noticed that my last working day on site was a month ago today and sitting here writing this post, I can picture all those new friends from all over the world that I had the pleasure of working with. It’s such a cliché but it was like one big family. During my three weeks there were people from 18 to over 60 and people from every continent on the planet. All different personalities, habits, mannerisms, differing approaches to personal safety….but no one judging you on how much you contributed, showing up is enough to make you one of us. So I’m proud to be a member of the All Hands family and I’ll definitely be an active member again in the future.
I’ll finish up by repeating what I said at the end of my goodbye speech (everyone gets to do it) as they are words to live by as well.
Keep safe, have fun and remember why you are here.
