She managed to survive through it all and came back home a few months ago to a happy reunion with her sons. But a few weeks ago, Shirley was seriously considering re-applying as a vso volunteer abroad.
"Although it is very hard for me to be away from my own country and family for years, it is still worth it because I am able to share my skills with a lot of people. Besides, my children are already adults and have lives of their own now," she says, almost apologetically.
Shirley, 50, worked for the United Nations before she found out about Bahaginan, the Southern Volunteer Program of Voluntary Service Overseas (vso) in the Philippines. It offered a "unique opportunity for qualified and experienced Filipino volunteers" to work in developing countries in Asia, Africa, the Balkans, the Caribbean Pacific region and soon, India.
After rigid training and a thorough medical check-up, she was accepted as a volunteer and assigned to work in Ghana for 32 months. Shirley is one of thousands of vso workers worldwide, and the number is growing. Unlike other volunteer organizations, vso takes a different approach in tackling global poverty. It sends skilled professionals "from all walks of life" to live and work in some of the poorest communities in the world. It does not donate money, food or clothes.
vso admits that not many know about them and the few that actually do usually comment that there is more than enough work for these volunteers to do in our backyard–"so why bother to assist others abroad when millions of disadvantaged Filipinos need all the help they can get?"
According to Bahaginan staff Abby Mercado-Malto, it is a give and take process. "We now send Filipino volunteers abroad, and foreign volunteers come over here. It’s sort of like an exchange of skills between nations. And we do it through people. That way, when the volunteers’ tenures are over and they are sent back to their respective home nations, they take back with them stock knowledge about the country they worked in," Abby explains.
But perhaps the best reply for such a question comes from a Filipino development worker: "If every society waited to get everything together before reaching out, the world would truly be a mess. The thing about vso work is that it breaks down the borders in the collective consciousness. No more ‘us’ and ‘them’. We’re all in it together."
Together" is a word almost forgotten by Norie Garcia, 30. She was alone for two years working in the rural development center in Guizhou in southwest China, said to be the nation’s poorest province. The capital city of Beijing took three days to reach by train.
"I was so gloomy and had nobody to talk to when I first got there. I took the train to Guizhou and I had to share a very small cabin with three Chinese men. I was so scared because they chain-smoked and were usually drunk. We could not understand each other and I had to look up every word they said in the dictionary because they could have been talking about doing something terrible to me. I couldn’t be too careful then," Norie recalls. "But we ended up being friends at the end of the long trip and I gave them a ten-peso bill as a souvenir. They thanked me graciously but I almost laughed when their eyebrows narrowed with worry–they realized they did not have anything to give me in return. The men hurriedly searched their bags for something and they presented me with three large tomatoes. It was a hoot!
"When we parted ways at the train station, I felt okay and realized very quickly that I would be able to handle any situation that may arise during my stay there. If I could live for three days inside a coach with three drunken soldiers and wind up being pals with them, I felt I would survive–even with very little money."
Although the allowances of volunteers are very minimal, vso, which is managed and funded by the British government, offers a hefty sum of cash to the workers’ families in the event of serious injury or accidental death while in the line of duty overseas. Abby Malto estimates the medical insurance to be worth about five hundred thousand pounds.
"This is not to say that people who want to work for vso can see it as a money-making opportunity. You are given some cash to live with, and you can afford a few cheap trinkets here and there, but that’s all. There are almost no luxuries. This is why many volunteers, especially those who are used to the good life, often go nuts when they realize this," Abby reveals. "And that’s when they quit the vso."
Although many professionals express interest in becoming a volunteer, only a few are chosen and even fewer stay the allotted two year-deal in the country they are sent to. Many of them get depressed in the first few months in their new environments, and this is said to be the most difficult stage of the work.
"The first three months is usually the hardest for volunteers. They miss their families, hate the living conditions, they realize they aren’t making enough money, or they just feel that it isn’t their thing. But once they can get through that, it’s smooth sailing from there. And that’s when they start to enjoy themselves and appreciate the things they are doing for needy people. It’s a wonderful thing," Abby says.
Not surprisingly, there are awkward–albeit funny–moments when cultural differences come into play. Jovie Antiporda, who worked as a credit and survey advisor in Southeast Africa, was offered five condoms of different colors by a man she had had a casual chat with in a dance club. Norie Garcia says her proudest achievement is that she "didn’t become a chain smoker" after her stint in Guizhou, China. Shirley Habotina had to transfer houses after she turned down the proposal of a powerful chieftain. But they each got over the unexpected and unsual experience, and got on with the work that needed to be done.
Getting over it, and fast, is certainly one of the minimum requirements of a volunteer. Because many people need their expertise in various fields, vso workers cannot be too fussy. Each is given a specific task and they are expected to complete it, no questions asked. And even if the benefits are modest (small grants are released throughout a volunteer’s service overseas and an end-of-service grant to help them resettle to their respective countries), a lot of professionals are still interested in joining the organization.
"It’s really hard and trying, but when you see people’s faces there, they give you this look like you’re something else. They truly appreciate whatever it is you do for them. Not just because it’s for free, but also because you put your heart and soul into it. It’s a very humbling experience and that’s why I want to go back," Shirley imparts.
"We got a grasp of their society and traditions. We learned about their way of life and it’s very uplifting. After my two years in China, I began to value the simplest things. And I finally understood who I was. No amount of cash could compensate for that, I think," Norie says. "And perhaps the most ironic thing about working for vso is that it changes the lives of volunteers more than the people they help. I felt so sad when I left them."
Except for Shirley and a few others, most of the volunteers are single. Many entertain the prospect of marrying abroad, but only a few want to live there permanently.
"We love what we do and I would like to go back to Africa and share my skills with the people there again. But I would never want to live there the rest of my life. The Philippines is still my home sweet home," Jovie cheerfully says, as Norie and Shirley nod in approval.
vso has already sent 27,000 volunteers to work in many countries since 1958 and it is still expanding. The Philippines is the first Asian country in which vso is recruiting.
To know more about vso, call tel. 928-5302 or email: bahaginan@qinet.net