A volunteers thoughts (part)

One chapter ends, another begins

G´day folks! I´m writing this on another beautiful, crisp morning at the mission. The birds are chirping, the eagles are soaring, the mountains are looming and the darn dogs are barking (a 24 hour occurrence). What a lovely place this is, and how lucky I am to have experienced it. Truly, I think the only negatives here in my opinion are the Bolivian drivers (exemplified by the man I saw yesterday riding his motorbike while talking on his mobile phone), the Bolivian anti-service mentality (queuing for hours is considered normal, even when there are heaps of staff that could help you if they wanted) and the dreaded Bolivian belly, a weekly reminder for me that I´m in a third world country.







This is weekend is my last weekend here at Bolivian Children´s Mission. Sort of. I´m heading off to Peru on Monday morning because my legal maximum stay of 90 days at a time expires on Tuesday. But as keen followers of this blog will know, I´ll be back here in a few weeks when Mum arrives from Australia, and then again in September when my friend Russell comes for our motorbike safari around Bolivia. So it´s certainly not the time for teary goodbyes, but I feel like it´s a good time to reflect on what´s been a true life-changing experience for me.


So what have I learnt? Lot´s of things! I´ve learnt that not everyone is out there to make money, buy a house, build a stellar career, make shrewd investments, start a family and go on exciting holidays. Not to say that these things are not important or worthwhile pursuing, but I definitely felt dissatisfaction with my direction in life before coming here, as some of you probably know. Here, I discovered a family that has spent 14 years serving and loving others. It´s not a love where you expect to receive something in return, but a love focused on people who truly need help. Without Peter and Delia, and the numerous other people running children´s homes here in Cochabamba, I shudder to think what these kids´ lives would be like. Seeing their example and the incredible effects it´s had on the lives of these kids, has encouraged me to look for ways to emulate them, even if it´s only on a small scale.


What else? I´ve learnt that work can be fun! Now this is something that the wiser heads among you probably already knew, but as a relative newbie in the field of work, I really only knew what I had experienced up until now. Which, I´m sad to say, was a place where work was at times stressful, competitive, confrontational, personally challenging (sometimes overly so), associated with long days and early starts, seemingly interminable repetition punctuated by events to look forward to (like conferences or holidays). Here on the other hand, my work has been marked by joy. What´s more, service can be fun too. I don´t know why, but whenever I read the numerous instructions in the bible that to love others, to serve others, to be the least (not the greatest) is the ultimate goal of the Christian, I always felt a little queasy. Here, while I certainly haven´t been working 24/7, I definitely have done my bit helping out, and rather than being a drag I have enjoyed almost every minute of it.


Finally, I feel that I am not so worried about my future and direction after spending this wonderful time here. Before, I was always planning ahead and if I didn´t know what was in store for me, I tended to worry or get depressed! Now, thanks to the example of Peter and Delia, who rely on donations to survive here but never seem to worry one ounce, I feel less concerned about what´s ahead of me, particularly once this year is up. I´m pretty confident that God will work everything out for me. It´s quite a liberating feeling.


And what have I experienced? This is what I actually was anticipating and expecting to get out of this stay. And I certainly wasn´t disappointed. I´ve already listed some of the amazing things I´ve been able to do here on previous posts.