La Vida Idealist

Today’s post is from journalist and researcher Andrew Wainer. Andrew felt a magnetism toward all things international from his early teenage years. There’s really no explanation for it. He was lucky enough to be able to visit the Soviet Union with his father while only a teen and studied Spanish in Spain during high school. His encounter with Spanish culture set-off a life-long interest in Latin America that included studying abroad in Costa Rica, earning a master’s degree in Latin American Studies, working as a journalist in Mexico City, and traveling to just about every country in the region. Andrew has worked as a social researcher and journalist in Latino and immigrant communities in the United States, mostly in the Los Angeles area. Currently (maybe not for long) he is based in Los Angeles and works as a freelance journalist and researcher covering Latin America. Feel free to reach Andrew with questions or comments at awainer35@gmail.com.

It’s not always easy to help.

As a reporter and researcher covering international development in Latin America, it’s encouraging to meet and speak with many people looking to get involved in helping. But pre-existing avenues for people’s good intentions are limited. Finding paid development jobs can seem like getting into Harvard. It can appear that only the extremely skilled, connected, or lucky get job offers. Even those with specific training in development related issues can send out hundreds of resumes and get one or two job offers.

I’ve heard more than one story about people having trouble finding volunteer work!

As this article on development careers in Latin America shows, volunteering can be a path to a development career. Given the paucity of development jobs in Latin America volunteering is almost a prerequisite. In fact, volunteering – in addition to the personal rewards it can bestow – is a time-honored path to a development career. In the course of my reporting I’ve met country representatives and development organization vice presidents that started as interns and volunteers in the field.

One trait that many of these development professionals have is an almost obsessive need to practice their profession. Development work can obviously be exciting and rewarding. But it often doesn’t pay great and the frustrations of working between different cultures and social and political systems is always present, even if it is not much expressed to reporters.

Some of these aid workers do it because they don’t have another choice. Their drive is strong enough that they are willing to work in jobs they may initially be overqualified for, in parts of the world they are not interested in and that are often uncomfortable or violent.

I remember hearing once (I forget where!) that writers become writers because they don’t have a choice. In spite of the laborious, frustrating work it takes to produce great prose, and the steep odds against ever getting published, somehow they feel compelled to keep doing it.

I see a similar sort of drive in development workers. And many of them developed that first spark of passion as field volunteers in Latin America.

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