Features | NGS Movement

Oogachaga – Singapore

Singapore is easily the most modern city we have ever been to. But for all their high rises and government initiatives, it is still illegal to be gay. Technically.

The impressive Singapore skyline. There would not be a lack of things to do in this very modern city.

Meeting with Oogachaga, a counseling and resource center for the LGBT community in Singapore, shed a lot of light on the situation in the country. There is still a law in the books outlawing gay sex. But the government specifically does not enforce it.
The volunteers and staff at this small organization were all very fun and extremely welcoming. Though they are small, they offer a lot of services. They have a phone hot-line, support groups, and online, in person, and text message counseling. They not only offer help to those in need, they also have singles mixers and relationship support and counseling. They also provide HIV/AIDS resources and testing.

One of Oogachagas most essential services is its hotline, where the LGBT community members can receive advice and support, especially in emergency situations.

The volunteers all had memorable stories. Most joined in support groups and stayed on as volunteers, some becoming staff. They all shared the message that outreach and education is a big part of what needs to be done in Singapore. Terms like LGBT need to be explained. They work with school counselors to train them that LGBT kids are not sick, and how to conduct the right kind of counseling for them.

Oogachaga facilitates group discussions and support groups.

This is the kind of volunteer experience that is born out of passion. There is a different kind of volunteer here than what we’ve experienced in other places, because they rise predominately from the community itself. There are dozens of volunteers, contributing whatever time they have to event planning, outreach, or counseling. Oogachaga was a great reminder that volunteer opportunities exist in our home communities as well.

Volunteers get silly too! Thanks for letting us in on the Oogachaga dance- you can find it on our YouTube channel!

The Ooogachaga team is amazing. They are doing great work to help a marginalized part of the Singapore community. But our favorite memory is when the director explained how the foundation got its name. He referenced the show Ally Mcbeal, a personal favorite. In the show Ally likes to escape from reality and imagine a dancing baby dancing to semi-tribal music with the chant “oogachaga oogachaga.” The founder of the organization believes that inside everyone is a untouched baby dancing freely to their own beat. Oogachaga hopes to help people live lives in which they can be themselves and dance freely.
Check out our Oogachaga dance at: http://youtu.be/j8qpUSklGpw

Bumi Sehat Youth Center – Bali, Indonesia

Ubud during the Galungan Festival

The main difference between the town of Ubud and the rest of developed Bali is the sense of calm. It’s noticeable as soon as you enter the city. There’s still noise, the ever present sound of motor bikes and preemptive honking that are ubiquitous to Bali, but it seems quieter, softened.

The Wena homestay where the youth center volunteers stay is located on the smaller street Gootama. We were lucky enough to be able to find a spot there, neighboring the volunteers. The entrance is a small doorway that leads to a path winding around the family temple and past the various apartments of the different family units. It opens up to the guest rooms that surround a courtyard where a serene elephant statue watches over a fountain spilling into a leafy koi pond. Each room has a patio area where breakfast is served every morning.

The Wena Homestay for Volunteers

On Friday we caught a ride in the van with the volunteers to visit the youth center for the last day of classes for the week. We zoomed through town and out to a small surrounding village. The center is located at a pre-school, but the classrooms are free for English and computer classes after the younger children go home in the afternoon. The school is very picturesque: green fields stretch out around it, a few cows meander about, and one of the classrooms has an honest to god thatched roof. It belongs on a postcard.

The staff of the youth center are all from the Ubud area. There are Western volunteers, but no Westerner gets paid. At any time there are around 6 volunteer English teachers from around the world. In Bali the main job market by far is in the tourist industry. The children of the area need to learn English if they have any chance of finding a good job. Here the youth center comes in, offering free after school English classes to local children and young adults.

By sitting in on a higher level English class, we got to learn a lot about the local people themselves.

The staff and students were all very sweet and welcoming, perfectly fulfilling the stereotype of the Balinese being the nicest people in the world. We shadowed their classes, filming and joining in for English games.

The following day we had the amazing opportunity to go to the Bumi Sehat natural birthing clinic to meet CNN hero of 2011 and founder of both the clinic and the youth center, Robin Lim (called Ibu, or mother, Robin). Ibu Robin is a midwife. She came to Bali years ago because it had one of the highest rates of infant mortality. She opened her first clinic free of charge to locals, as it and her other clinics remain to this day. Westerners are allowed to use the services too but are asked to make a donation. Mothers stay at the clinic for a few days to make sure they are healthy and can breast feed and then are sent home with cell phones, as most of them don’t have any phones, so they can stay in contact through the first weeks of the babies life. They also provide free confidential HIV/AIDS testing and treatment.

We got the amazing opportunity to meet with the founder of Bumi Sehat, Ibu Robin Lim.

The warmth and good energy emanating from Ibu Robin as she spoke touched us all. She told us about how she saw all these wonderful babies being born but then severely lacking in opportunities for their futures. So she set about to open the youth center, a place where the children she had delivered and others would be able to learn English and better their job possibilities. She has to work every year to raise enough money to keep the clinic open. The youth center is now self-sufficient, funding itself with volunteer fees, 100% of which go to the center itself.

Work in the Garden

We said our final goodbyes at the clinic and walked a few hundred feet to the new site of the second youth center. This one is still under construction but is being built with a few classrooms and an organic garden so children can learn skills to produce and market produce and how to recycle. All of us are eager to come back and see how it turns out.

As we left Ubud back to the sun and beaches of southern Bali after our few amazing days with Bumi Sehat we were all surprised by how close we had grown to the kids and volunteers at the center and how much we would miss it after leaving. I think we all have a secret wish to come back and volunteer with the center.

Check out our Gapper Video Profile on one of the volunteers at the center, Meredith!

in Asia / Features / Give Your Gap / Travel Team / Updates From the Field by NGS Movement 29 Mar 2012 1 comments

Sylvia Ng, Ecoteers

It’s a turtle! ‘Penyu’ in Malay.

Name: Sylvia Ng
Type of Work: Environment/Conservation
Region: Asia
Length of stay: Less than one month

Tell us about the organization you work for and what you do for them.
The organization I worked with is called Ecoteers. I volunteered for their Perhentian Turtle Volunteer Project in the Perhentian Islands in Malaysia for 2 consecutive years. I had a blasting time there. It was sun, sea, turtles, snorkeling, sand, stars, frisbee time, pontoon and jetty diving, village kids, mango ice blend almost everyday( with a dose of occasional thunder and monsoon rain!) And of all, the friends I made and the memories we forged together were unforgettable. Not forgetting the countless of close encounters I had with the beloved Mother Nature- being up close and monitoring female turtles and their hatchlings and monitor lizards!

Share a favorite memory.
Patrolling on a beach full of turtle tracks with 3 turtles making their pit at the same time but-there were only 2 of us! And did I mention, there were thunder and lighting?

South China Sea

What have you learned from your experience? How has it affected your long-term goals?
I decided to volunteer for this project because I wanted to reaffirm my passion. And I did.I always love the ocean and dream of doing my part in conserving marine animals. Turtles was definitely part of it. Throughout my weeks in this project, I’ve gained so many knowledge of turtles, corals, sharks and many general global oceanic problems. I met so many like minded people out there with a common goal as I do, people who inspires me, people whom I hope to work with one day. I know for sure after everything, that saving up for studying marine studies is definitely what I want in life- because I simply derive so much joy from it.

Do you have any advice for prospective gappers?
Follow your heart. Nothing beats a holiday for a good cause. Your money will definitely be worth it!

in Asia / Environment/Conservation / Featured Gappers / Features / Give Your Gap / Less than one month by NGS Movement 01 Mar 2012 0 comments

Caryn Oppenheim, EduCARE India

Wearing the sari I bought in India

Name: Caryn Oppenheim
School: Bowdoin College
Type of Work: Medical/Public Health, Environment/Conservation, Education, Community Development, Arts, Language, Human Rights
Region: North America, South America, Middle East, Asia
Length of stay: 3-6 months

Tell us about the organization you work for and what you do for them.
I interned for a grassroots NGO, EduCARE India, in rural Punjab, India for three months. EduCARE India’s vision is to promote pathways to intellectual freedom, social justice, community welfare, economic liberty, and sustainable development for individuals, families and social groups working to achieve their rationalized life dreams.

Share a favorite memory.
Hannah Wolkwitz, coordinator of health day, spent weeks organizing transportation, supervision, and free check-ups with local hospitals for the Trash Pickers community in Adampur. The health day was realized several days before her departure from EduCARE. The Trash Pickers community suffer from constant health problems due to poor sanitation, water, and other conditions in which they live. The goal for the health day was to complete a general physical for the majority of the community, numbering around thirty people. An English student and friend of EduCARE’s, Sukhjinder Singh, extended a helping hand, as usual, by transporting, in multiple shifts, the community to both locations. After initial disorganization and delay at the Lion’s Club during the first shift, interns developed a system to oversee that each person would be attended to. At the Civil Hospital the children bravely beared finger pricks. I sat with several of the adorable little ones in my lap, while they got their fingers pricked. The community’s dog, Tiger, accompanied them for moral support, at times over-extending that support by lounging in the lobby. Although my main responsibilities as an intern did not involve work with the Trash Picker and Snake Charmer migrant communities, I enjoyed visiting their camps and assisting with education and sanitation lessons. After a long exhausting day witnessing the joy of the children, the personalities of the buffalos, kittens, puppies, goats, and chickens, and the resilience and modesty of the adults rejuvenated my spirit. Even without language sharing we could communicate in smiles, play, and hand gestures. I will always remember Krishan, a young bright boy from the community, journeying to our office before I left and sitting in my chair with me. He had drawn a mustache on his face—a face I will not forget.

hree young Indian boys on their way to school, male affection is common.

What have you learned from your experience? How has it affected your long-term goals?
The opportunity of interning for EduCARE allowed me to gain more practical grassroots experience related to many different overlapping social projects. The independence and responsibility I enjoyed in several social fields made me realize I should broaden my future career scope and consider social work. My job role as the Communications Manager has renewed my interest in Communications and encouraged me to look for a more creative approach to a career. I have improved my team work skills and gained knowledge of what makes an organization successful. In addition, I developed adaptation skills due to living and working in a culturally and physically challenging environment. I have always valued clear communication and witnessed the importance of it firsthand this summer in my internship.

What is the most challenging part of your job?
Living and working in a climate, culture, and NGO management system different than one’s own country required adjustments. In rural Punjab transportation is an adventure in and of itself. Many see foreigners and money as synonymous and see foreign women as candy. It took time to get used to existing uncomfortably in terms of the heat, bugs, and water supply. Cultural concepts on bill paying and communication are treated differently in India as well. Despite these experiences, I consider my time in India one of my most worthwhile adventures. When I think of India I think of vibrant colors, decorative fabrics, resilient and playful people, breathtaking vistas, and life changing wildlife. My fellow interns, who inspire me with their travels, interests, and dedication, remain one of my most valued keepsakes.

Shama from the Snake Charmer community making a calendar.

Do you have any advice for prospective gappers?
Travel the road less traveled and do so with an open mind, flexibility, and as few expectations as possible. It is to your advantage to work abroad with a feeling that you may offer something to the program, but more likely your experience will change you. Learn as much as you can and document your time through pictures, blogs, writing, and other forums. If you are fortunate enough to be able to do some type of gap experience take full advantage of all the people and places you connect with— time moves quickly. Future employers may value the skill sets and knowledge that you developed.

in 3-6 Months / Arts / Asia / Community Development / Education / Environment/Conservation / Featured Gappers / Features / Human Rights / Language / Medical by NGS Movement 23 Feb 2012 0 comments

Philippine Medical Society of Northern California Video Feature

GiveYourGap presents its first organization to be featured from our travels- the Philippine Medical Society of Northern California and their Medical/Surgical Mission to Occidental Mindoro in January 2012. We really got to volunteer as a part of the mission and it was an incredible experience. Check out the video we produced for them to get a glimpse of the work we were doing.

in Asia / Features / Give Your Gap / Medical / Travel Team / Updates From the Field by NGS Movement 12 Feb 2012 2 comments

Lydia Ochieng, Art Outreach Programme

Presenting a play in a children’s home.

Name: Lydia Ochieng
Type of Work: Environment/Conservation, Education, Community Development, Arts, Childcare
Region: Africa
Length of stay: 1 Year+

Tell us about the organization you work for and what you do for them.
I work for Art Outreach Programme. I work in Volunteer Placement department.

Share a favorite memory.
My favorite memory at AOP is the work camp. A work camp is a place where people of all races, ideologies, and nationalities live and work together for two to four weeks on a project organized by Art Outreach Programme. Most work camps occur during the summer months and have between 10 and 20 international participants. They volunteer, they socialize, and they work with the local people. They are a multicultural, voluntary workforce. That is a work camp – and it works! We usually go far away for the camp and assist the community in various project, as well as teaching in schools and going for excursions every weekend with the group… WORK CAMP IS SO MUCH FUN.

Clearing The field for an Eco-Lodge.

What have you learned from your experience? How has it affected your long-term goals?
I’ve learned that if one wants to go fast, they can go alone; but if one wants to go FAR then one should go with people. A lot can be achieved if there is team work.

What is the most challenging part of your job?
Lack of people and resources.

Do you have any advice for prospective gappers?
Just be open minded!

in 1 Year + / Africa / Arts / Childcare / Community Development / Education / Environment/Conservation / Featured Gappers / Features / Give Your Gap by NGS Movement 02 Feb 2012 0 comments

Tegan Phillips, Volunteer Maldives

With students.

Name: Tegan Phillips
School: Rhodes University, South Africa
Type of Work: Education
Region: Asia
Length of stay: 6 months – 1 year

Tell us about the organization you work for and what you do for them.
Contrary to the popular belief, the group of small, spectacular tropical islands that is the Maldives is comprised not entirely of expensive holiday resorts but also of many poorer local islands, which are in desperate need of native English speaking teachers. I volunteered there with an organization called Volunteer Maldives as a primary school English teacher for six wonderful months. My timetable and responsibilities varied from week to week, but usually I’d spend the days preparing and teaching three to five lessons as well as doing private tutoring and planning extracurricular environmental activities for the kids. The schools and island officials were very flexible with the other volunteers and myself about how much and what type of work we wanted to do, and on such small islands it’s hard not to get involved in every aspect of the community despite specialties and preferences, including Girl Guides and soccer tournaments and even government work. The organization and the local friends I made also ensured together that during school holidays and on weekends I got to travel around the country by boat and experience every part of it’s unique culture.

Share a favorite memory.
I will never forget the way my grade two and three students would rush through their worksheets and various other exercise as quickly and diligently as possible just for a chance to play Simon Says at the end of the lesson for a few minutes, and also the way they were so affectionate and appreciative of all the volunteers. Also we had so much fun cleaning up the beaches, it was amazing being able to watch the children play games for the first time on litter-free sand; they were so happy when they could see the results of their hard work and realized what they’d achieved.

Making posters to put around the island.

What have you learned from your experience? How has it affected your long-term goals?
I’ve learned about living in a culture entirely different to my own (the Maldives is a strictly Islamic country and everything is different, from appropriate dress to regular diet – and school is from Sunday to Thursday!) and embracing every part of that. Traveling and staying alone after coming straight out of school taught me so much about the significance of being independent, and definitely enlightened me to the vastness and diversity of our world. Of course, by far the most important thing was learning how to help others in a way that they want to be helped, and how important and effective this kind of service is in a global context. After my six months I came to the decision that I never want to stop teaching, even if only part time, and have now applied at my university to join a program teaching English to children in a nearby Xhosa community.

What is the most challenging part of your job?
There were many challenging aspects, particularly as a young Western female alone in a typically male-dominated country. I often had to be fully covered in unimaginable heat, at certain times of day I had to deal with swarms of mosquitoes (some with diseases) and sometimes there was conflict within the school or island due to miscommunication and such, and dealing with the results of the conflict could mean anything from moving house to moving island. But there wouldn’t really be opportunity for growth if everything was easy!

Do you have any advice for prospective gappers?
Consider every unplanned event to be an exciting turn in your adventure. Treat the beliefs, values and ideas of others with interest and respect, no matter how much they differ from your own. Don’t complain about basic living standards; if the majority of the world can do it, so can you. Actively learn as much as you can about the culture by which you’re surrounded; the traditions and festivals and the languages – it’s a good way to grow close to the community and enrich your experience. Don’t stress, don’t have too many expectations of anything and don’t be to hard on yourself, just enjoy it.

Fun in the classroom.

in 6 Months - 1 Year / Asia / Education / Featured Gappers / Features / Give Your Gap by NGS Movement 28 Jan 2012 1 comments

Laura Summers, Peace Corps

Traditional Ifugao dance performed by Peace Coprs volunteers and students from Ifugao State University.

Name: Laura Summers
School: University of California, San Diego
Type of Work: Education
Region: Asia
Length of stay:1 Year+

Tell us about the organization you work for and what you do for them.
I am a Peace Corps Education Volunteer in the Philippines. I co-teach first and second year high schoolers (ages 12-15ish) four hours a day. In my free hours at school I am working on a secondary project: creating a Learning Resource Center for students to visit to read, play games, and do their homework. I live with a host family, which has been really helpful in integrating into my community.

Share a favorite memory.
In November we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Peace Corps in the Philippines. I joined a group of Filipino college students and other Peace Corps volunteers to perform a traditional Ifugao dance wearing traditional costumes. I love learning traditional dances and look forward to showing the video to all my friends and family back home so they can learn a little about Filipino culture.

What have you learned from your experience? How has it affected your long-term goals?
As of now I am thinking about getting my teaching credential when I return to the U.S. Before joining the Peace Corps I did not want to become a teacher.

What is the most challenging part of your job?
The most challenging part of being a Peace Corps volunteer is learning how to cope with failure. While you are learning to navigate a new culture, and as in my case, a new profession, you are bound to have embarrassing moments and miscommunications that interrupt your plans. Being a Peace Corps volunteer requires an extraordinary amount of flexibility and patience. But what you learn in two years is priceless.

Do you have any advice for prospective gappers?
Just do it! Travelling and volunteering abroad will give you such a wonderful new perspective on life and your place in it. If you can’t afford to volunteer a whole year, do as long as you can. You won’t regret it.

in 1 Year + / Asia / Education / Featured Gappers / Features / Give Your Gap by NGS Movement 19 Jan 2012 0 comments

Michaela Brown, ProWorld

Me and two of the Aboom students

Name: Michaela Brown
School: University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Type of Work: Medical/Public Health, Environment/Conservation, Education, Community Development
Region: Africa
Length of stay: 1 Year+

Tell us about the organization you work for and what you do for them.
I worked as the Project Coordinator for ProWorld Ghana for 14 months and as the Site Developer (on temporary contract) for ProWorld South Africa. It is an international NGO that has sites in 10 different countries and has been around for over 13 years. My job was to create a diverse portfolio of sustainable service projects for international volunteers, establish and maintain relationships with project partners, serve as the liaison between international volunteers and local project partners, approve all budget proposals for sustainable donations made by volunteers, plan project work for the custom faculty-led group programs and manage the site’s social media, among other tasks.

Share a favorite memory.
Hearing the volunteers repeat phrases I used during our biweekly cultural exchange courses or during my conversations with them, about preserving the sustainability of his or her project. It showed that they were adapting, that they were open to learning.

What have you learned from your experience? How has it affected your long-term goals?
Working in this industry restores my faith in humanity. My experience working abroad has motivated me to continue serving this field in some capacity and at every possible chance to encourage youth to get out of their comfort zones and do something that guides them to put their lives and the lives of others into perspective.

Wayne State University pre-medical students addressed 300+ junior high students about HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention/

What is the most challenging part of your job?
The most challenging part of my job was making the local staff feel equally as appreciated as the foreign staff, and developing and maintaining trust amongst each other. Whenever sporadic outbursts occurred within our small team, I was often caught in the middle, mediating between our local and foreign staff. If I am given a similar job in the future, I would strive to create an open atmosphere amongst the staff, where communication is open and free. Another key challenge was achieving volunteer satisfaction while also bursting some participants’ bubbles about their ambition to “save the world.” Sometimes, international volunteers will get so wrapped up in their own goals for their project that they lose sight of what is much more important – working together with the project partner to find the plan of action conducive with the culture and the organization’s needs. This is a beautiful opportunity for a learning moment.

Do you have any advice for prospective gappers?
Go into your gap with an open mind. Pick your battles. Do not waste time asking or wondering “what’s next” or “where next” – let things unfold. Ask “why” and “how” instead. Listen to the locals, try to understand their perspective and how their minds work. Spend time developing friendships with locals – you will learn the most from these people. Stay in touch with the people who had the greatest impact on your gap – a phone call, a letter, an email, anything – a simple gesture will go a long way.

in 1 Year + / Africa / Community Development / Education / Environment/Conservation / Featured Gappers / Features / Give Your Gap / Medical by NGS Movement 19 Jan 2012 0 comments

Jacob Blanc, English Opens Doors

Name: Jacob Blanc
School: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Type of Work: Education
Region: South America
Length of stay: 3-6 months

Tell us about the organization you work for and what you do for them.
I taught English in a public school in Chile through a Chilean Ministry of Education-sponsored program called English Opens Doors. I worked about 30 hours a week in my own classroom in a small public school with students grade 7-12. A lot of my job responsibilities and tasks were figured out on the run, meaning that there was either a lot of flexibility or disorganization in the program, depending on which perspective you want to take. Being in such a small school made me immediately feel a part of a close community, and my students and their families warmed up to me very quickly. The program facilitated all of the regional placement and travel, set me up with a home stay, provided health insurance and even provided a small monthly stipend. So unlike a lot of work abroad programs that charge you to teach, EOD actually gives you a bit of pocket cash and all you have to do is pay for your airfare.

Share a favorite memory.
We put on an “English week” toward the end of the year, and the highlight for me was dressing up in drag with the 12th grade students to sing and perform Barbie Girl by Aqua. The whole school was at the performance and we all had a blast learning the song, making up a dance and putting on a silly show for the community.

What have you learned from your experience? How has it affected your long-term goals?
The patience of teaching a foreign language, and doing so in a way that respected my students cultures and world-views. Living in South America was a fantastic way to gain an intimate perspective in the region’s culture and history, all of which has been a huge help now than I am in graduate school for Latin American history. Working with EOD really reinforced my desires to be a teacher and connected my abstract research interests to specific trends in my daily experience working abroad.

What is the most challenging part of your job?
Finding ways to connect learning a language with the students’ individual interests and backgrounds.

Do you have any advice for prospective gappers?
Be as easy going as possible, since working as part of a government program in South America means unavoidable problems in bureaucracy and processing. There will be many challenges and unforeseen obstacles, but just know that they will get resolved eventually and that those moments of frustration are perhaps the best opportunities for truly understanding new cultures and daily lived experiences.

in 3-6 Months / Education / Featured Gappers / Features / Give Your Gap / South America by NGS Movement 12 Jan 2012 1 comments

« Previous

Latest Tweets