Rustic Pathways- About The Volunteer Projects

The Certificate

(If you need a copy of the certificate, send me an e-mail and I’ll gladly send you a copy of the original)

To enlarge the 'certificate' double click on the photograph

Two of the Service Projects indicated by Rustic Pathways above, were switched. This is because I chose to focus on two other projects which I found were most necessary in this community. Therefore, instead of,  “Construction of new walls and cement floors” I repaired roads to ease trade and transportation, also, instead of “Administration of blood sugar, blood pressure and eye exams” I participated in the Veterinary assistance project because, there were too many dogs to care for, and not enough volunteers to give vaccinations.

Repairing Roads

Journal Entry for 26 of June 2010

                “Today, we rented three ‘tractor-trucks’ for 400 baht each and traveled to a nearby river with nothing but six shovels, breakfast, borrowed flip flops (for mine broke yesterday), and the secret plans of a water fight. We filled each ‘tractor-truck’ with rocks from the river bed, scooping them with shovels and bare hands. When the ‘tractor-truck’ was full, we’d drive it towards the village looking for the most difficult road to drive on, and working on it until perfection (three back-breaking hours of scooping and shoving rocks into place).”

Summary

1.                   Tractor picks us up from the base

2.                   We ride to the nearest river

3.                   We park the tractor in the river

4.                   We all get out and shove rocks from the river bed onto the tractor

5.                   We drive to a pothole/mud puddle

6.                   Shove rocks into pot hole covering it up until its full

7.                   Press rocks into mud

8.                   Repeat

How it helped the Community

The path leading to the little village just outside of Na Som is one of the longest and most dangerous roads I’ve been on. The only people who manage to maneuver vehicles between giant potholes, lakes of mud, and across rivers could only be a native Rustic Pathways Rusceteer (is that a word?).

By rebuilding roads and paths between villages and the city, we eased trade and transportation, boosting the village’s economy.



Hands in The Dirt- Planting Rice

Summary

THE ART OF RICE PLANTING

1. grab 4 stems of rice
2. protect the rice seeds with your thumb as you carefully drive it into the mud
3. use your thumb as a pad to press the rice seeds gently into the mud
4. loosen grip, if the rice stems stand upright, then you did it correctly
5. if the rice shoots back up to the surface of the water… you did it wrong
6. if so, collect floating rice, do it again, and again, and again until you get it right.
7. Repeat until you finish your first section
8. Take a break (look for your socks)
9. Help thy neighbor finish his patch
10. Start a mud fight
11. Realize that the mud… isn’t really mud…
12. Finish another section in the rice paddy
13. Jump into the Mekong river
14. Replace shoes

The trick is to never stand up straight, keep hunched over, it saves time.

How it helped the Community

This was fun! However, I’m afraid that the first half hour of planting wasn’t very successful, until I learned how to “properly” plant rice. Anyways, this made me realize how I take for granted how much time and manual labor is spent to put food on the table, I’ll never look at a bowl of rice in the same way after this experience. Also I learned about sustainable farming in South East Asia and its importance in rural society. By planting in rice paddies, my volunteer group worked together to assist farmers, which in turn strengthened our global ties and friendships with the local villagers.

Meals on Flip Flops- Cooking and Distributing food

Summary

1.       In our kitchen, we gathered all the ingredients

2.       Prepared south-east Asian traditional dishes

3.       Bagged them and grouping food into packages to give out

4.       We placed the packages of food into buckets and walked around the village to select houses with elderly women and young children

5.       Handed out bags of food

How it helped the Community

This project was set out to improve local health by providing nutritious meals. We also learned how to cook local and South East Asian foods.



Teaching- English and Art

Summary

While in Lao, one of the most enjoyable service opportunities was teaching local children English and creating art with them. While teaching, I was able to use my Thai language skills to help communicate with the students and use Thai as bridge between Lao and our English speaking volunteers. To teach English, we used songs and games to help memorization and communication. While teaching, we gained as much as we gave; the teaching opportunity soon turned into a language exchange and brought the locals and volunteers closer.

How it helped the Community

Improved education, decreased language barrier and tightened bond between the local community and our company.