Question: 1.) Why travel to a new country to volunteer?
Answer: I did something a little crazy and pretty unorthodox for me. I packed my bags, hopped on a plane, and headed out to a country I had never been to before to meet a group of people that I had never met or even spoken to.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the rush of adrenaline you get when you try something new but heading out to Nicaragua was a whole new ball game for me.
I don’t believe that volunteering abroad is for everyone. I think it takes a person with a special heart to be able to pack up and go serve in a new world. There must be a desire to make a difference and push the boundaries.
I chose to do this because I want to change and grow as a person. I want to push past the boundaries of what people say I can and cannot do, but more importantly I want to be able to say that I made a positive impact on someone’s life. I’m not looking for recognition for what I’ve done because I know for a fact that I have given this place and project everything that I’ve got. In the grand scheme we are just a small piece to the puzzle and there is much work to be done here in Nicaragua. But at the end of the day I can say that I, Alyssa, was part of the team that gave our all to have a positive influence on these children.
So why travel to a new country to volunteer? I would say there isn’t one simple answer but rather a million different ones that are right in their own unique, special way. But to those who have the opportunity to go and do amazing works, I would say go and do it. If there is one thing that I have learned from this experience thus far it would be to not ever say no when you have the chance to say yes. If you are willing and able to go and change someone’s life as well as your own, you had better do it because you won’t regret it.
