Network
Margaret Andrews
Location:
Vancouver, Canada
Regions of interest: Asia
Skills: work with children, teaching
Volunteer Activity:
Rainbow Academy
SECMOL
Parijat Academy October 16, 2009 - November 06, 2009
I am a Canadian, a retired university professor, and am now back in Vancouver, British Columbia. I found the Omprakash website listing of volunteer placements simply by Googling "volunteer India" and have volunteered with three of its Indian partner organizations—Rainbow Academy, SECMOL, and Parijat Academy—in 2008 and 2009… Volunteering is personally very rewarding, but I am often asked, "Can you really make a difference when you are only there for a few weeks?" Clearly, people do not become fluent in English in a few weeks, but they can become sufficiently confident to try to speak. That is an important first step. Perhaps more significantly, those who meet me learn that there are those in the western world who care about them and their welfare. The colonial legacy of fear and subservience is dying in any case; I hope I am helping its demise.