I’ve reached a decision point in the volunteer position search and I’m torn. I’ve got two options that have been pitched to me by two solid organizations. One takes me to the Pokhara area and costs me nothing. It involves teaching at a local school for the Pahar Trust, but it may take as much as a week to get started because of logistics issues. The other is an Educational Consultancy that I can get more details on as soon as I pay my membership fee to WWOOF Nepal, which can start pretty much right away. My friend has worked with WWOOF Independents in Thailand which is loosely affiliated and for which I have already paid my membership (30 USD, as I recall) covering several dozen countries, but not Nepal. To work for WWOOF Nepal I have to cough up another fifty precious dollars. Both Pahar Trust and WWOOF, thankfully, cover food and housing.
Surprisingly, a lot of volunteer organizations want you to pay quite a bit, some up to 500 USD per month. At first I was inclined toward indignation, “I’m working for you, but you want me to pay? Um, you’re joking right?” But gradually, as a friend and I discussed it, we realized that these organizations, usually building schools or helping at orphanages, really aren’t desperate for another set of hands to stack bricks, hands which they can purchase on the local market for less than the daily cost of an iced latte. They have a greater need for money to buy those bricks, along with everything else that’s needed to make people’s lives a little better. The volunteers, in turn, are rewarded with the experience of living and serving the community among local people with the comfort of an English speaking staff that tells them where to go and what to do. I have no problem with this approach. It expands people’s world-view and encourages cultural exchange, but personally, if I’m going to try to help, I’d rather do something that I can do (or try to do) uniquely well, even if it’s only by virtue of being a native English speaker… and more importantly, I can’t afford those places. I’ll still probably end up being a “set of hands” on a WWOOF farm when The $8k Roadshow heads to Southeast Asia, but for now teaching (or consulting?) feels right.
As you may have noticed, patient reader, there has been an increase in The Balance since the last report. My Grandmother, lovely woman that she is, gave me a generous gift for Christmas and, in addition, I had a little money sitting in an account in the US that, no longer being used for miscellaneous stateside expenses, has become available. Both helped immensely in offsetting the visa extension fees and greedy customs officials, so maybe I shouldn’t bitch so much about forking over 50 USD. But I can’t help it. This is the way I’ve become. I’m incredulous now about being asked to pay 3 USD for a pint of beer. I roll my eyes like a smug prick when a friend tells me he is paying 5 USD per night for his hotel room. I planned this transition so I shouldn’t be surprised, but it’s a strange feeling being so removed from my world in Dubai, where caution was casually tossed aside on a daily basis and my weekend bar tab could approach 200 USD without any particular effort. I’m thinking I’ll go looking for the bank today, the one at which I’ve been told to pay my dues to WWOOF Nepal. I may still choose a different path, but my gut tells me to check this out and count the money as a donation to a worthy cause if it doesn’t work.
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