El voluntariado y la caridad Voluntary Work and Charity

La tutora pide a los estudiantes elegir un voluntariado para el trimestre. Priya elige un comedor social para personas sin hogar. Carlos prefiere ayudar en un refugio de animales.

One Monday morning, the school tutor announced a new project for the year: each student had to choose a form of volunteering and take part for a term. Priya, who was studying in Madrid that semester, got excited straight away. She thought of the soup kitchen near her flat, where neighbours prepared meals for homeless people every Saturday. She spoke to Carlos after class and said: I want to sign up at the soup kitchen. They need people to serve food and wash the dishes. Carlos replied: That seems like an excellent idea, I prefer something to do with animals, maybe the dog shelter in the neighbourhood.

Priya trabaja por primera vez en el comedor social. Sirve comida a muchas personas y escucha sus historias. Al final del dia esta cansada pero muy contenta.

The following Saturday, Priya arrived at the soup kitchen at eight in the morning, nervous but eager to help. The coordinator, a woman called Rosario, explained the tasks: chopping vegetables, serving hot meals and talking to the people waiting in the queue. Priya served soup to more than a hundred people that morning and heard stories she had never imagined: a man who had lost his job, a young mother with two small children, an elderly man who had lived alone for years. By the end of the shift, Priya was exhausted but also happier than she expected. She thought that until that day she had never really understood what the word community meant.

Carlos va los domingos a un refugio de animales. Pasea perros y limpia las jaulas. Escribe sobre un perro mayor que nadie ha adoptado todavia y que el trabajo le hace sentir util.

Meanwhile, Carlos began going on Sundays to an animal shelter on the outskirts of the city, home to dogs and cats waiting for a family to adopt them. His task was to walk the dogs, clean the cages and play with the shyest animals so they would learn to trust people. Carlos wrote in his volunteering diary: Today I walked a dog called Duque, who arrived at the shelter six months ago and still has not been adopted because he is older and missing a leg. Although the work is hard and sometimes sad, it makes me happy to think that thanks to our work these animals have a better life while they wait for a permanent home.

La tutora propone un viaje solidario a Guatemala para construir una escuela. Priya y Carlos deciden ir juntos. Recaudan dinero vendiendo pasteles y organizando un concierto.

At the end of the term, the tutor proposed something new: a two-week charity trip to Guatemala during the summer holidays, organised by an NGO that built schools in small villages. Priya and Carlos decided to sign up together. Before travelling, they had to complete several fundraising tasks: they sold homemade cakes at the village market, organised a charity concert at school and asked local businesses for donations. Together they managed to raise more than a thousand euros, an amount that would go towards building materials and books for the school. Priya thought this trip would be different from any holiday she had taken before, because they were not going to rest but to work for other people.

En Guatemala, Priya y Carlos trabajan cada dia construyendo la escuela con otros voluntarios y familias del pueblo. Juegan con los ninos por las tardes. El ultimo dia, cuando terminan el techo, todo el pueblo celebra.

In Guatemala, Priya and Carlos worked every day alongside a group of international volunteers and families from the village who also took part in the building work. They got up at six in the morning to avoid the worst of the heat and worked until midday mixing cement, painting walls and helping the local builders. In the afternoons they played with the village children, who came running every time they saw the foreign volunteers. Priya met a girl called Rosa, who wanted to be a teacher one day and asked many times when the new school would be finished. On the last day, when they put up the roof of the building, the whole village came out to celebrate with music and food, and Priya cried with emotion without being able to help it.

Priya y Carlos cuentan su experiencia a la clase. Priya dice que seguira haciendo voluntariado. Carlos quiere trabajar con animales en el futuro. Priya aconseja a otros que prueben el voluntariado.

Back home, Priya and Carlos presented their experience to the whole class with photos and videos from the trip. Priya said: Before this year, I had never thought of volunteering as something important for my life, but now I think I will keep doing it whenever I can. Carlos added that he would like to work in the future on something related to animal protection, perhaps as a vet in a shelter or even setting up his own organisation one day. The tutor asked them what advice they would give to other students who were unsure about volunteering. Priya replied without hesitating: I would tell them to try it, because you think you are going to help others but in the end it is you yourself who learns and changes the most.