| Having just arrived home from project in Guyana, I have come to realise how much of a life changing and rewarding experience it is. The five months before project are hectic, due to fundraising and travel preparations, but once I arrived I realised it was well worth it. Guyana is one of those places in the world I instantly fell in love with, the people and the countryside are beautiful. Originally starting out as slightly sceptical as to how much we would get done in only seven weeks, I was pleasantly surprised though by how much the community and our group achieved by working side by side in such a short amount time. The community and our group organised swimming lessons, participated in activities with the school, ran first aid and management workshops with the community, held fun days for the kids and also organised environmental awareness projects such as clean up days. In the last two weeks we also helped the community build the foundations for a community guesthouse in a small Amerindian village called Maicobe. Much of the time the work is challenging, yet at the same time it is also rewarding. When you are teaching a kid to swim or read and they suddenly understand and learn something new, it makes the whole trip worth it. It is the most satisfying and rewarding feeling because you know that as an individual you have made and impact and a difference in these kid’s lives.  On project the conditions can be harsh and difficult, much different from living back in Australia. Such as that we ate pretty close to the same food everyday, such as rice and noodles and also you lack luxuries we take for granted such as a flushing toilet or warm shower. But when you do go home you start to appreciate the little things in life. Yet, living in these remote isolated conditions can be extremely rewarding, because our group started to feel as if we were part of the community and it was also nice to get to escape the hustle and bustle of Western society for a while. It also made it easier to adapt to this new and exciting lifestyle with a great bunch of fellow challengers, who were friendly and contributed to the group in their own exciting way. There were so many things in Guyana I would of never seen or done before if I had not gone on project, such as rowing upstream with the group and some locals to go fishing at the bottom of a raging waterfall. Or Craig and myself helping a local collect planks from in the middle of the jungle and carrying them a few kilometres (easily one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.) Even just chilling out with community members after a hard days work, such as swimming in the creek, playing cricket or just playing cards was an awesome experience in it’s own way. I would recommend volunteering to go on project to anyone because it such an awesome cultural experience and a massive eye opener to the going ons within the world. It is awesome to be able to exchange experiences and knowledge with these wonderful people and to be able to give them a helping hand wherever possible. The bond that grows between the community, the group and myself is a lifelong lasting friendship. In the last two months I have been away I have felt that as a person I have grown and the only downside is that I wished I could have stayed for longer. Hopefully one day I will have the opportunity to go back. |
