We all love these stories, don’t we? A long and difficult journey with a high-minded target. More and more people volunteer abroad as it seems to combine two activities we are fond of: traveling and helping to the poor. Our collective imagination has been taken by a romantic impulse of helping those in need. The contemporary charities are not as strictly connected with religious beliefs and Christian ethos of mercifulness as in the past, thus, undoubtedly, one should ask an important question of how he or she helps? I consider this new trend very interesting. Therefore, I thought I will contribute the global discussion on volunteering by sharing few thoughts on the theme. Tibetan Foothold You might be surprised, but I will not share any personal stories here. Although I believe that helping people wherever you are is one of the most difficult activities, and yet, one of the most important ones, I will share here a review of an old book. Dervla Murphy, one of my favorite authors, published a book titled: “Tibetan Foothold”, which I believe is an important voice in the debate whether we should volunteer abroad or not. The book is a result of a four months stay in Tibet, in the late 60s, when Dervla cycled crossed a continent and arrived in India by bike. Her epic journey was described in “Full Tilt” book, one of the most entertaining and interesting diarys ever written. So, here we are, with young Dervla who had completed her first epic journey. She was proud with a sense of accomplishment, that her plan had been realized. She had a personal introduction to the staff of an orphanage in Tibet who she joined without a second thought. The Important ‘how’ What is striking from the first page of this book is Dervla’s inexperience in how the western world system of help works in the most disadvantaged areas of the world. And as a result of this, the reader is rewarded by as authentic description of this system. Right there, in, you may say, extreme circumstances, Dervla is faced with a dilemma that all volunteers are faced with: HOW do I help. What helping means to me? What is the best use of my time and skills? Quite quickly, she discovers the  numerous failures of the system, burdensome bureaucracy and lack of proper communication between funding bodies and volunteers on site. It gets only worse: not enough resources has terrifying consequences resulting in the death of some orphans. Dreadful living conditions and extreme poverty was not something Dervla was prepared for, facing this hardship she could have easily decided there was  little she could do and she could have blamed the system for not helping to the fullest. Instead, she asked herself HOW did  she want to help by making the best use of who she was and what her skills were. This is a precious testimony that whoever you are and wherever you are, you can make a difference. Make a difference In volunteering, we all want to experience the rewarding feeling that our actions resulted in something good for others. Dervla, after realizing that she couldn’t  help everybody, focused on one issue: the hearing problems of the orphans. On every day of her stay with the kids, she made an effort to screen their hearing condition and obtain medicine for those in need. It was not numbers nor statistics that she was after, but through a patient, methodical and regular effort she made a real difference. Before she left the orphanage, the percentage of children with hearing problems dropped significantly, which she noted in her book with extreme satisfaction. I’m not going to spoil your own reading here. The book is full of fascinating stories, incredible adventures, terrifying events, conflicts, triumphs, and personal struggles. It reveals a few dirty little secrets of international helping in the late 60s, and many important issues we should consider before we either support financially or engage personally in volunteering abroad. But the leading message of this book is an optimistic conclusion that irrespectively of the institutional problems of all organizations, it is up to you HOW do you help. Charity begins at home It is crucial to think about it before you go. I strongly believe in local charities. It is my personal view that you can understand the needs of others best, when you live close to them, speak the language, know their culture. You can use your judgment to assess the efficiency of the support provided. If you decided to travel far and volunteer then you need to rely on somebody else’s judgment. And then it all comes down to trust. Don’t get me wrong. This article should not discourage you to devote your time and effort to others. Nor it should discourage to travel and volunteer abroad. On the contrary, I think it can be a very positive experience. All I’m trying to say here is you should think it through, engage in local charity first and make a thorough research on the organization that you want to engage with. At the end of the day, all that matters is your individual attitude, strong will and clarity of intention.    

The post Think Twice before Volunteering Abroad appeared first on Null & Full.

I’ve been reading travel books by Dervla Murphy for quite some time now. I started in  chronological order with “Full Tilt” followed by “Tibetan Foothold“. The books  were a sort of novelty to me. I have never read anything so sincere, straightforward and honest. I was fascinated by her style and stories so when I received Dervla Murphy’s biography from Eland I started reading it right away. Here is why you should read “Wheels within Wheels“, too. Ireland It always amazes me how well people remember their childhood and how deep the events and emotions are hidden in our memory. “Wheels within Wheels” is a memorable journey in time.  The author invites us to follow her footsteps in her early years, to explore the history of her family and to discover the nature of relationships with close relatives. It all started in Ireland, before the 2nd world war, when three of them – mother, father and little Dervla – move into a small village Lismore. A remote location in rural Ireland with a beautiful landscape in the background which shaped Dervla’s personality and habits more than anything else. Except, perhaps, her mother’s illness and both parents’ love for books. Personal There is also a particular detail in Dervla Murphy’s biography that I find very powerful. My Mum, just like her mum, is disabled and thus my childhood has been influenced by caring for her. Although my Mum has been more independent than Dervla’s mother  it still influenced me and who I am today. Caring for somebody else, thinking about somebody else’s need and just getting the focus away from myself was my daily routine. I had a beautiful childhood irrespectively of my Mum’s condition, but I see many similarities between myself and the author. Bicycle I found it particularly interesting that an Irish girl, with no formal education, possessed such a curiosity for  other places, cultures, and languages, such a vivid imagination and, at the same time, her actions were characterized to a great extent by common sense. Her childhood in rural Ireland honed her material needs to a minimum which allowed her to travel the world in a very particular way. I hadn’t realized earlier that she stayed with her mother until the very end and only after her death Dervla’s plans to travel the world were realized. Enough to say she was thirty by then. When she finally began her first journey into the unknown, she felt the need to know the world quite urgently. And it was possible because one day her parents gave her a bike. It was love at first sight and soon, even though restrained by the home duties, she ventured out on bike trips. Every time she went further and further until she realized that there was no reason why she shouldn’t cycle wherever she wanted – even to India. Books It is fascinating to learn about her childhood and the way she was learnt about the world through books. Her father was librarian and grandfather a scholar so although she didn’t finish  school due to the hardship within her family, these two men influenced her greatly. Reading every book she found was her way of keeping her mind open, exercising her imagination, and in some years marked by extreme difficulties reading books also kept her sane. Choices This biography is a wonderful testimony that family matters and it marks us to an extent we would never imagine. It shows the author’s ups and downs, fulfilling friendships and school failure, ethical and religious dilemmas, and the everyday struggle to keep her spirits high. Furthermore, the book helps to understand that for Dervla the journey was not only just travelling around, discovering new countries or even talking to the people she met and sharing their reality for a while. It was a deep human activity she undertook out of a need to realize her dream and to fully develop what she believed she was called for. Typically for Dervla her difficult road towards independence in her own words was summarized as follows: “The school was hard, but the knowledge was priceless.” No regrets, no bitterness, no fuss. In her life, everything that should have happened, did happen. And it all made her an amazing person she is today. Wisdom Dervla Murphy traveled the world on her bike. You might think that through her journeys she became knowledgeable and smart but I think, who she is today, is derived from her difficult childhood and obstacles she was confronted with. She was smart before she ever started traveling. And her way of travelling is a result of who she is. Not the other way around. There is one certain thing about Dervla Murphy and her biography: they are characterized by sincerity and integrity, so precious and so rare nowadays. Apparently, formal education is not everything. My biggest regret after reading this book is the missing part of the second half of Dervla’s life. I would be very interested in what happened after her success, how did this change her life, whether she likes meeting her audience and how the international recognition influenced her traveling. Dear Dervla, if you are reading it part two, please!  

The post Why You should read a Biography by Dervla Murphy appeared first on Null & Full.