Unearth the World

Volunteering Abroad with Unearth the World

For it is in giving that we receive”. – Francis of Assisi

Volunteering abroad can be an immensely rewarding, transformative experience. My first international volunteer trip was in 2009 to Costa Rica. I spent a week volunteering at a nursing home and it was a wonderful experience that taught me so much and filled me with that missing piece of traveling: Connecting and giving back to the local community. Three more international volunteer trips followed: Rabat, Morocco in 2010, Xela, Guatemala in 2011 and La Ceiba, Honduras in 2012.

It was during that fateful volunteer trip to Honduras that I began to think hard about the ethics and standards of international volunteer organizations. I had volunteered abroad with three different organizations and each one was remarkably different. Some charged exorbitant prices to volunteer abroad selling the experience as a “volunteer vacation”  where you really only volunteered for a few hours each day and truthfully did not make much of an impact. Other organizations charged less for the opportunity, yet clearly they had no idea about the volunteer experiences they were selling. This was the case with my volunteer work in Honduras. I worked at a daycare center that was not the best and ended up reporting them to the US-based volunteer organization.

The silver lining is that my unfortunate experience in Honduras was a wake up call. I realized that not all international volunteer organizations have the most ethical practices or intentions in mind. The good news is that ethical volunteering does exist and when done right can have an enormous impact on both the local community and the volunteer. These experiences can be life-changing at any age either as a young college age student, a mid-career professional or even as a retiree.

It is my goal over the course of the next few months to introduce you to some amazing international volunteer organizations. The first one is Unearth the World.

Unearth the World

One of Unearth the World’s volunteer projects: Working on the farm in Nicaragua

In 2013, Kathryn Pisco and her husband Mike left their corporate jobs and decided to take a trip of a lifetime in an attempt to unearth and discover the world. Over the next 250 days, the pair traveled to over 20 countries and volunteered at 5 different volunteer projects.

It was during their volunteer experiences that they learned the ins and outs of volunteering abroad. Although their time volunteering was meaningful, they were surprised to see how broken the system was. A lot of projects charged tons of money for volunteers, were not exactly beneficial to the host community and were not sustainable. The couple returned home and realized that they had to share their knowledge and experience of what they learned.

In 2014, they launched their social enterprise Unearth the World, an international volunteer organization that strives to improve the international volunteering industry by promoting cross-cultural learning, fostering reciprocal partnerships and elevating social consciousness through responsible international programs.

Today they work with 6 non-profit partners in Peru, Nicaragua, Mexico, Guatemala and Zambia which they have personally visited to ensure that each volunteer experience benefits the local community and provides sustainable change. Since they founded Unearth the World, 200 people have already dedicated 3,500+ hours of service over the past two years in collaboration with their six international nonprofit partners. 

Unearth the World

Harvesting coffee in Guatemala is another project that Unearth the World works with.

I first met Kathryn at the Women in Travel Summit in April and instantly connected. She is a mom like me and has a passion for sustainable travel and a zest for life. I knew I wanted to feature Unearth the World on my blog so I set up a phone interview to learn more. Here is a transcript of our conversation.

TRAVEL RESOURCES
Boy at Mosebo village

Why it is time to stop Orphanage Volunteering

Last July, when I was in Arusha, Tanzania I stayed at a Tanzanian-run hotel that is a popular launching off point for safaris and Kilimanjaro climbs. The hotel is owned and run by a Tanzanian woman who also does a fair amount of charity work within the community. One such project she worked on was supporting a local orphanage. As a social good blogger, I was very interested in visiting the orphanage to meet the children and spend a little time playing with them. I agreed to join a huge group of American volunteers who were heading over to the orphanage for the day to check it out. Little did I know, my visit is something that many international organizations that work to protect children are trying to stop.

A month ago, I was contacted by Anna McKeon, Co-Coordinator for Better Volunteering, Better Care, a global initiative facilitated by The Better Care Network and Save the Children UK aimed at discouraging orphanage volunteering and promoting ethical volunteering alternatives. Anna wanted to see if I would be interested in joining the upcoming blogging blitz to lobby the volunteer travel industry to stop orphanage trips, and to raise awareness about the issue.

Since the onset of the campaign in early May, I learned a lot about the negative consequences of volunteering and visiting orphanages. Although it often seems as a great way to give back and make a difference, orphan trips can be harmful for vulnerable children, and is also contributing to a growing orphanage industry and the separation of children from their families. Child protection specialists have expressed concern about this growing phenomenon in over 20 countries worldwide. Anna herself had once volunteered at a few international orphanages (See article:  I Volunteered at an Orphanage and Now I Campaign Against It”) and it was through her experiences that she became committed to end it.

Moshi Tanzania

These girls live right outside the orphanage and are school age. When girls in Tanzania go to school, it is customary to shave their heads.

So what have I learned since the beginning of this campaign? Quite a few things that I honestly was completely unaware of and even took me by surprise.

SOCIAL GOOD TRAVEL RESOURCES

Love and Heartbreak in a Honduran daycare

Author’s note: This post is part of my series on my recent trip to Honduras. To read past posts on Honduras, click here.

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The main reason why I went to Honduras was to volunteer and give back. A month before leaving I found out my volunteer placement would be at a Honduran daycare center for poor single mothers to send their children to the day while they tried to earn a living. As a mother myself who adores children and an advocate for fighting poverty, I couldn’t think of a better placement. I could hardly wait.

Global Issues Honduras SOCIAL GOOD Volunteering Abroad

Clinica Esperanza: A place of hope

Clinica-Esperanza-Logo-300x75It must have been a sign of fate that I happened to be paging through the resort brochure the last night of my stay at the lovely Barefoot Cay and saw the two-page spread on Clinica Esperanza. Instantly I was taken by the story and by a stroke of luck the next morning, thirty minutes before my departure to the United States I found myself interviewing the very doctor who has dedicated the last several years of his life to helping build the clinic.

Global Health Global Issues Global Non-Profit Organizations and Social Good Enterprises Honduras SOCIAL GOOD TRAVEL BY REGION Volunteering Abroad