Voluntario - España
The best way to learn a language is said to be through immersion. During a semester studying abroad in Spain, I participated in a community outreach class that educated about the history Spanish volunteerism and the stigma still around giving back. This class also coordinated volunteer visits twice a week at different local charities to learn more about the culture, donate our time, and practice our Spanish.
Serving in Spain
Crossed legged and sitting in a circle with my American roommate and four other elementary school aged Spanish girls, we giggled while playing a game. Phrases in both languages had to be repeated, as everyone spoke faster while having fun. This week we were donating our time at a local orphanage. I felt slightly confused and intimidated by eight year olds, my own desire to be accepted.
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This was only one of my experiences with volunteering abroad. Other standout moments occurred after serving the hungry at a soup kitchen and conversing with a man who used to own his own tailoring shop, and during a community education class where English versus Spanish sentence structure was debated for an hour and a half. Debating, telling school yard secrets, and receiving wisdom from elders allowed me to feel connected to the community and culture of Spain.
I was humbled knowing that we all just want companionship and for someone to listen, which crosses cultural, language, and personal boundaries.
Over the semester, I served a total of 32 hours alongside community leaders who strive to better the people and outcomes around them. In Spain, high school students are not as highly encouraged to volunteer and having volunteer hours on a college resume is not needed. Many people believe that taking "hand outs" or help from others is embarrassing and is avoided. By learning about this history and the volunteerism changes in both Spain and America, I gained cultural awareness to better relate to people of different backgrounds than my own. The experiences gained in an out of the classroom in Spain pushed me to be a stronger, more open minded young adult, who is confident in her ability to relate and serve a multicultural population.