Life-Changing Volunteer Travel
This piece was written by Mikey Santiago, VP Information Technology at Cytiva, who is the Leader of Cytiva’s Diversity and Inclusion Council. Mikey believes that an inclusive environment is of the utmost importance within and outside of the workplace. He learnt how navigating cultural differences resulted in a beautiful and collaborative dynamic during his time in Volunteer for Peace.
A trip to Hawaii? Sign me up! A chance to work at a food bank? I’m there. Two of my favorite things to do are to travel the world and to give back to the community. I’m always looking for novel ways to travel and to do some community service work when I do. It’s that much more rewarding when I can combine the two instead of just lying on the beach and indulging in my favorite beverage. Devoting a short period of time to a specific cause brings to life unforgettable moments that come from meaningful volunteer work, cultural exchange and continuous learning.
One of my favorite examples of this, which also turned out to be a life-defining time in my life, happened when I was between jobs. Early in my career I switched jobs fairly frequently searching for a breadth of experience and the right environment to start my career. In this particular case, instead of looking for another job right away and jumping back into the rat race, I decided to take some time off to see the world. I spent a bunch of time researching different places to visit and various modes of travel. Some of the thoughts that crossed my mind were quasi-unusual and others fairly normal. They included biking across Canada, backpacking in Latin America, visiting all the national parks in the US, or doing a trip around the world. In addition to figuring out where I wanted to go and how I wanted to travel, I also looked for opportunities to do some community service.
During my research, I discovered an organization called Volunteers for Peace. They’re a lot like the Peace Corp in the US in that they run community service projects around the world, but the big difference is that they’re a global organization based out of Belgium. One of the coolest things about them is that the project teams are composed of people from anywhere and everywhere. There are never more than 2 people from any one country on any project team. As a result, the cultural stew and hodgepodge of characters on the project teams can be quite fascinating.
Their mission reads as follows:
− Volunteers For Peace (VFP) organizes, promotes and supports voluntary service opportunities in the USA and abroad as an effective means of intercultural education, service learning, and community development.
− VFP empowers host communities to work cooperatively for environmental sustainability, social justice, and peace.
− VFP provides opportunities for volunteers to develop leadership skills and global connections. We advocate for civic engagement and encourage volunteers to apply their new skills as citizen diplomats, community activists and global leaders.
Their mission totally resonated with me. This organization was right up my alley. Now that I had figured out the community service part, I just needed to figure out where to go. Since Volunteers for Peace operated pretty much everywhere, I decided to let the projects available from VFP determine where I would go.
My first landing spot was the Netherlands where we worked on a nature reserve in a town in the north of the country called Groningen. I must admit I never did as much manual labor as I did there. We built a bird sanctuary that involved lots of construction, painting, digging up marshes, and generally getting as dirty and muddy as you could on any given day. On rainy days, we couldn’t work on the bird sanctuary so we pivoted to other projects.
One of the coolest things I did then, and continues to be one of the coolest things I’ve ever done, is that I worked on the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child. We organized events around town promoting the Convention of the Rights of the Child to garner support for ratification culminating with a radio appearance on one of the major radio stations where we were able to present our pitch to thousands of listeners. It was one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve ever been a part of. It turned out to be the beginning of a lifelong devotion to helping the children of the world to ensure that they could have the best possible future. I’ve since worked with children on various levels including teaching skiing to children with the Special Olympics, working with mentally and socially challenged children, and working with the local children’s hospitals as a volunteer or as a board member.
Another unforgettable project I worked on was memorable not so much because of the work we did (although it was still pretty cool), but it was more about what was initially a culture clash that evolved ultimately into unexpected harmony among seemingly polarized groups. This project occurred in Veltrusy about 25 km north of Prague. We worked on renovating the Veltrusy Mansion which was originally built in the early 1700s for the royal Chotek family. During the project, we actually got to live in the castle while we were working on it. It really made us feel like royalty. At the same time, there was a group of Russian soldiers who were stationed on the property. They stayed in tents in an encampment on the grounds of the castle. It made for an awkward and unsettling feeling having them there in such close proximity. What made things even more difficult is that they only spoke Russian and we really couldn’t communicate with each other. After a few tense days full of sideways glances from both groups, we discovered that one of the soldiers spoke German. Through him we were able to break the ice by proposing that we have a friendly game of soccer and then share dinner together. Nothing like participating in a shared activity and breaking bread together in order to break the ice between such distinctly different groups of people. We became fast friends after that first soccer game and dinner. It led to a series of regular activities, shared meals, and unlikely but most welcome friendships. Who would have predicted that a group of community service volunteers and a group of Russian soldiers would end up being comrades in arms!
Another cool project I was lucky enough to work on was a restoration project of the Temple of Zeus at Euromus in Turkey. The temple dates back to 6th century BC and being there felt like you just emerged from a time machine. The work itself was rather grueling, but what made it that much more challenging was the heat of the summer in Turkey. We essentially had to work very early in the day and pretty late at night to avoid the unbearable conditions during the middle of the day. On top of that, there was an outbreak of cholera and a water shortage in the region and we had to monitor not only our food intake but also our water usage. We took showers every other day to preserve water and we were careful about eating any fresh vegetables or fruit. Because of the harsh conditions and the long days, we spent a lot of time getting to know all the project team members as well as the local villagers. We even got invited to a Turkish wedding with local traditions. It essentially was a week-long event with a big party at the end. Every day of the week, they would slaughter a goat in the middle of town. During the day, the women would prepare the goat in traditional ways that would become the main course of the meal that we would all indulge in at the end of the day. The people were so friendly and engaging. You would have been hard pressed to believe that most of them really never ever left their local village and probably hadn’t for generations back. Their sense of community and family was remarkable.
In fact, all these experiences were remarkable and life-changing for me. Not only were we able to accomplish significant work for the local communities and for society in general, but also for me personally. The human interactions, group dynamics, and eye-opening global awareness changed how I now view and perceive the world.
The corporate environment can often be a microcosm of the real world outside our office walls. The life lessons that I gleaned from these experiences have served me well as the Inclusion and Diversity Leader at Cytiva. In both the community service work and in the corporate world, it’s important to understand and appreciate the differences among different cultures. As a global company, we have to bring people from different backgrounds together to achieve a common goal and reach a common vision while allowing all involved to be authentic to who they truly are.
If you’re ever considering a different way to travel and influence the world around you with the opportunity to give something back, share your skills and meet some amazing people, then there’s no better way to travel than to do some community service and pay it forward.
