My Spanish teacher, who is equally perplexed on how I “forget” to pronounce all vowels in each word, asked our group of beginning Spanish speakers why we traveled from Sweden, USA and Ireland to volunteer in Cordoba, Argentina. Maybe, she questioned, you would go to Peru or Haiti where there are immediate needs?  Or in your own countries (where we all have need for help)? So why travel and volunteer?

¡Buena pregunta! I said immediately. With more than 20 years working with and as a part of volunteer organizations, I know what motivates people to volunteer can look and sound the same, but it is the differences that are really interesting.

So I asked my fellow volunteers at Fundacion AFOS why they came. Not surprisingly, an interest to travel in the beautiful and diverse country of Argentina was high on the list.  So why volunteer?  Mike from Belgium said that it allows him to look at the city from the bottom up.  To him that means he can see, hear, and experience parts of the community that most travelers don’t. Elin from Sweden had many compelling reasons to come.  She talked of being tired of the same thinking and beliefs she sees in her city.  She wanted a change; to hear people with different ideas and different ways of thinking.

Fellow volunteers

There are several students at AFOS completing a required internship for their college programs.  This week, I was helping Marion from France write a cover letter in English to request a new work experience in Bali, Indonesia after completing her internship in Cordoba.  Not a bad plan, I thought!

But Jessamyn from the USA gave a response that I can relate to most: “I don’t know Mia. I am searching.”  Recently, she completed a semester of study in Buenos Aires with her university and wanted to explore something new, a place to put her newly developed language skills to work.

For me, it took a year to move from the first idea that I wanted to live in a new country to the decision to request a three-month leave of absence from my position at MiraCosta College to come to Argentina.   Then another nine months to receive permission and plan for a temporary departure.  It may seem like a long process but it gave me valuable time to consider my motivations – and deal with resistance to change in an established life and career.

I tell students at my school interested in international experiences that I don’t believe in good or bad reasons to go.  But I think the most satisfied travelers are the ones with the most explicit expectations.  Last week, fellow LaVida Idealist blogger Curtis Fox wrote a great post, “Making It Happen for Yourself,” on how to find a program to meet your needs in Latin America. As you search for opportunities, I encourage you to be as explicit as possible in your goals and expectations.  I also encourage you to share your ideas with others – write to me for instance : )  Your thoughts, dreams, and goals may just motivate others.

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