How long will you guys be on site working in the village?
In the village, as little as 5 days! But they are a powerful 5 days. If it was up to me, I’d love to stay longer, but after my
experience in Malawi I see how it aligns with buildOn’s approach and methodology. We’re immersed from the moment we
arrive. Every morning we check in with why we are there, take the time to talk about our intentions, and then head out
into the field and bust our asses throughout the day. In the later half of the day, we have the option to take part in cultural
exercises and interact with the community beyond hauling bricks and carving into the soil with shovels. When I started my
research, I came across the term ‘Voluntourism’. It’s a deadly term man – especially as you just learned, I can get selfconscious. It killed my mood for a whole 5 minutes. The headline briefly stopped my heart. For those who don’t know
what it is, it’s a small amount of time for people spend in a foreign country, spend a good amount of money, briefly get
their hands dirty, and return with a butt-ton of selfies to boast about at home. I didn’t want to be leading these people into
the wrong direction so I lost my sense of why I experienced already and let an article mess with my head. Good intentions
are wonderful, but even with them you could be doing more damage than good. If it isn’t rooted in immersing yourself
fully into the community your working with, if you don’t in some way make the point to get to know the community, what
their needs are, who they are as a people, you could actually cause more harm than good. It’s important to show you
respect them. To me, there’s no point in coming in, doing some work, and leaving. I want our community we’re building in
to know we genuinely want to be there and want to know everything about them. They matter to us. When I finished the
article, I was relieved and empowered to know buildOn doesn’t fit into that ugly generalization based on my experience in
Malawi. Phew. It isn’t a charity or cultural tour of poverty or necessary labor for school construction. I wouldn’t even say
it’s volunteering. As buildOn says, it’s an act of solidarity to live, work, and learn together in our international community.
As I’ve learned through buildOn, it’s a ‘Learning Service’.
I know that was a painfully long answer to your question but its very important to understand it’s not the amount of days
we spend in country that is important, its how we spend our time that will leave the biggest impact. It’s important to
know the physical labor is only a portion of our responsibility. We will arrive, help build the foundation of the school, but
the village is just as much a part of the building as we are. The entire experience is about the ‘WE’ and not “US and
THEM’. When we travel, its important to not leave any garbage behind and that includes any judgments that as
Americans, we show up, give some things away, and then peace out. We’re all accountable and we’re all in this together.
That’s why I wanted to build with them – it’s a collaborative effort.
Bhote Koshi
Photo by Moralist
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THE CONE - ISSUE #8 - WINTER 2016