Minga House Foundation

I helped during 2 weeks at the childcare center and I was very greatfull for this experience : I met amazing people, such as Staff and local people. I discovered a lot about local culture and I was very happy to help the « cuidadoras » in the center and to give a bit of joy to the children... The « Minga House Team » was very friendly and we had the opportunity of visit a lot of spots in the city and in the neighbourhood, thanks to the the staff who was very helpful. Amazing experience that I highly recommend!!!

Plan- Teach tennis to kids in Colombia. Outcome- I had 2 enjoyable weeks in Chinchina, interacting with different kids from different backgrounds on the tennis court and other flat surfaces. The local coach had invited me to help teach his kids in the afternoons. I was lucky enough to have a fellow volunteer translate as my Spanish is worse than rubbish. The kids were enthusiastic, energetic and overall well behaved ( waaaaaay better than UK kids!). Whilst the coach was kind and welcoming, I felt limited to what kind of impact I could make; I was expecting more than 2 hours teaching a day! Luckily Glen had introduced me to another project, ' Mundos Hermanos', looking after vulnerable girls. Here I was able to make an impact every morning teaching Mini Tennis to a group of well mannered, kind natured girls; amazing when you think about how difficult a start in life they have had. Overall I can say I acheived my goal so thankyou Minga ( a great, welcoming team from top to bottom)but I think my impact and number of kids taught could have been greater. Like with everything- there's always room for improvement.

How do you review a 5 months experience in a few words? 5 months of getting to know new people, a new culture and its customs. In such a long time a lot of things in that place just start to feel normal, you are getting used to them. And that's what happened to me. So many new things just started to become part of my everyday life, that this place started feeling like a second home. Let me begin by talking about the volunteering, so the work and the projects. For a long time here I was in a high school called Santa Teresita assisting an English teacher during his classes. I really enjoyed being there and a lot of the students were motivated to study. Most of the students were also very curious about getting to know more about me and my home. Although I am not even an native English speaker, all the teachers and the headmistress were so welcoming and grateful. Besides helping at the school, I also visited a place called "Proyecto Simón" a few times during the weekends. This place is a home where during the weekends the children from sex workers can stay. Spending some time there was really interesting, but most of all I just had fun playing with the kids in the backyard or carrying the babies. During a project about women empowerment, I had the opportunity to learn a little bit about another really interesting, but also challenging project called "Internado Guayabal". This is a place where displaced girls with difficult pasts stay, live and learn. Lastly, I had the opportunity to accompany the paramedics during their shifts and even ride with them in the ambulance during the emergencies, although I had no previous experience. I really enjoyed my time there because I had the possibility to learn so much and see so many new things, and, the people there are really great! So, all in all, you can say that I loved the projects I was working with and that in general one has the opportunity to get to know a lot of different places and people. Talking about Minga House and its people I can only say one thing. I loved it! The house itself is pretty cool and has a really good location directly in the center. The people working there are so awesome, young, motivated and helpful. Doesn't matter what problem I had or if I was just bored, they found a solution or just watched a movie with me. On the weekends I got to go out with them and learned at least the basic steps of some of the dances. Since they knew that I really liked music they also found projects at "La casa de la cultura" where I could participate and the people there were so nice. Which brings me to the next point I want to talk about: The community and the people. For me it was in general the first time out of Europe, therefor also the first time in Colombia. The people here are just so friendly and welcoming. If you get introduced to someone you can be sure that they will ask you a lot of things. And it did not just happen once that some kids on the street stopped to ask me where I am from and what I am doing here. Chinchiná in general is, according to the people here, a pretty small town with an urban population of about 25000 inhabitants. For me, coming from a way smaller village in Austria, this size was pretty great. You can get basically everywhere by foot and after a while the people, for example in a bakery, start recognizing you. And if you want to go to a bigger city, the bus station is at 5 minutes from Minga House, getting you safely and cheap to Manizales or Pereira. One of the best things for me about Chinchiná was that there is nature all around. You can either go for a hike or by bike passing through coffee plants or plantain trees everywhere. And if I just wanted to relax, I simply paid Glen a visit at the big house. However, you shouldn't forget that this is Colombia, so don't be surprised if you don't have water for a day or if the electricity is out for a short while. Also, as I was working at the school, it happend a few times that after arriving at the school in the morning I was told that I ca go home again because they have to do some projects with the students. Coming to an end, I can only say that I really enjoyed my time here and would always do it again. I got to meet great people I will for sure never forget and had the chance to learn a lot about a new culture. So I would definitely recommend it for everyone who is motivated, flexible and open- minded, I'm sure you would love it, like I did!