Wednesday 18 April 2007

Sneak Preview: Inside Our Heads

It is a rather different experience living as a first time, full-time volunteer in a first world country where everyone seems to move so fast, eat fast, talk fast, and walk fast. It has been a welcome adjustment and challenge to survive in a developed country with high standards of living with a minimum allowance. As I wake up everyday greeted by the cool breeze of spring, where buses have a strict schedule and people follow a mental queue of who's first and who's next on the Internet at the local library, I find myself thinking of my impact to this community. Thus, my mission begins.

-Raina


Living in a developed country like the UK, where you basically have everything, makes you appreciate the things back home that you usually take for granted. It makes you see the beauty of your country. Most importantly, being a GX volunteer enables you to see that even if the UK is on the opposite side of the world, the problems that we face in our own country are somehow similar with what they are experiencing. Seeing and experiencing all these makes you realize that you can actually do something to help address these problems and make a difference.

–Miel

Being a GXP volunteer has been a tremendous experience so far. It offers an international venue to take an active role in community development through our assigned volunteer placements; to take charge in running and organizing sessions on global issues through various informal learning settings; to live in a new environment with other people different from myself; and aids in personal growth. It has given me the opportunity to try new things, take initiative and a leading role in situations I would not normally find myself in. More than anything, I can notice so far the changes in my persona and I feel privileged and satisfied to be a volunteer of the Global Xchange Programme.

– Philip

Being a GXP volunteer allows me to really interact with a new community in a team so diverse and enthusiastic that every time you talk to them you discover something new. This, along with our team building days, allows me to really interact with others and discover a new culture from the eyes of those living in it. My volunteer placement is challenging, and requires a huge amount of initiative, but pays off huge rewards if I push myself. My beliefs and values are constantly being challenged and adjusted after every GCD!

-Steffan

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Hello GXP Team 58!

Thank you for the nice updates about your GXperiences there in Southampton. =) I am pleased to know that each of you have their own mini-realisations about your day-to-day experiences. Being introspective is great but sharing your thoughts and feelings to others is even better because through this, it is not only you who will learn but you also extend what you learn to other people.

I wish everyone good luck on your journey individually and most importantly, as a team. I've been there, done that, got the t-shirt, and is now very happy that 18 other individuals are discovering what real volunteerism spirit is.

Looking forward to more insights, and of course, photos,
Beia Basis
GXP Team 52

Don Sucalit said...

Hi GXP Team 58!

I am very confident that all of you will do well and that each of you will have a positive lifechanging experience coming out of it...

All the best!

Don Sucalit
VSO Canada (formerly VSO Bahaginan)

Chris said...

Hello GXP Team 58,

Guys..Hope you are all okay in there..and in behalf of the Youth Council Federation of Nueva Ecija, Philippines, we are hoping that what will you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others...

"The most noteworthy thing about gardeners is that they are always optimistic, always enterprising, and never satisfied. They always look forward to doing something better than they have ever done before".

God Bless You and Goodluck!

Chrizald Bautista Balucanag
President,Federations of YOuth Councils
Nueva Ecija Chapter, Philippines