As time goes on, I feel more and more removed from my volunteer experience with WorldTeach in Ecuador. Months have passed now, and besides working a full time job in Argentina, I’ve just been starting my new life and experiences here. I don’t want to say that I’ve forgotten my roots in Ecuador, but it’s definitely in the back burner sometimes. For anyone who’s ever experienced long term volunteering and truly been touched by it, you know that once you’re home, or wherever else, it can be hard to keep in touch with that life you once had. There are things you can do, however, to maintain those links you once had.
- Stay in touch with old friends. Whether it was your school director, host family, or fellow volunteers, maintain the contact. You can all vent together, reminisce, or find other ways of continuing volunteer opportunities, or even going back some day.
- Write it all down. However you’re feeling. Whatever is in your head. Just put it out there. Even if you never show it to anyone, just processing the thoughts you’re having will help you deal with things and sort out the reverse-culture shock or the anxiety or depression of going home. If you did keep a journal while you were volunteering, go back though it and read it. Add some new entries from a post-volunteer mindset. If you save it for years to come, it could really help you see how you evolved and changed once you were home.
- Get out there. Instead of staying at home feeling sad for yourself or frustrated in finding a job, just go to the local shelter, school, or community center and put in some time. Even if you’ve never done it before, at the very least it will help you in transitioning from a volunteer to just a regular person, no matter what you did as a volunteer. Look into programs like Big Brothers Big Sisters or the United Way. You’re experienced as a volunteer and they’d be more than happy to have you.
Continue chugging alone, and it will get easier. But don’t lose track of the things that made your experience so worthwhile in the first place. No one will make it easier for you, so you have to be the one who is proactive in remembering what you did.
Latest posts by jgbrandt8
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- Day in the Life: G to the R to the E in Bs to the As - December 18th, 2009
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- New Doors Open, Finally - November 25th, 2009
- Putting Volunteering on Hold - November 3rd, 2009
- Romanticizing Ecuador, But Aware of It - October 27th, 2009
- Use Your Time Wisely - October 20th, 2009
- Going Abroad Alone or With a Group? - October 7th, 2009
- I Sold Out, Dude. Went All Corporate. - September 22nd, 2009
Great words. Thank you