WAG I'm going to coach in Ecuador!!

[tasmin]

Hi guys! I am soon to depart on an amazing adventure: a volunteer trip to Ecuador. The project I'm on is for giving children from poor families or the streets the opportunity to discover and participate in the rarer sports, such as tennis and gym. Of course, I am on the gymnastics team. If you have any advice on gymnastics in South America please share.
Thanks !

 

[OzZee]

Wow good luck, what a great adventure! Hope you let us know how it goes and about the lives you touch.

 

[gymbeam]

so cool! i went on a medical/dental volunteer trip to ecuador once. i provided free dental cleanings to children while some of the surgeons who traveled with us did many surgeries to repair cleft lip & clip palate defects. it was a life-changing experience.

while i came home feeling grateful for all my blessings and heartbroken for all of the unmet needs there, i also came home remembering the smiles on the kids' faces. in conditions that we, as americans, could never imagine living in these people still had love and joy in their hearts. humans are amazing.

 

[LucyTRA]

Have fun! I've done quite a few volunteering trips, but the ones I felt made the most difference were when I went to Uganda and taught in a primary school for a total of 5 months. It was an amazing experience and now I'm starting a course to become a qualified teacher in a few weeks.

Drink in all the information you can and try not to make jugements about what you see; just see it and learn from it. Be prepared for things that seem completely off the wall or a bit scary and unknown - go with the flow where you can (and where is safe, obviously!!). Things will rarely go to plan but that's ok.

Something that is also important to know going into something like this (or I think so anyway!) is that you can't fix everything. The first time I went on a trip like this to Tanzania when I was 16 I cried for weeks when I got home because I felt like I hadn't done enough. My trip had come to an end and I hadn't been able to help everyone who needed it, but I'd gone home anyway. It took me a long time to figure out that while the number of people I had helped was tiny compared to the rest of the world, it was a million times better than if I hadn't gone at all.

Enjoy and let us know how it goes!! xx

 

[htimcj]

How exciting!

 

[bogwoppit]

I removed your gofundme link. As it is for your own personal trip and not for the charity itself. We do not allow those kinds of fundraisers here or we would be buried in them.

Sounds like an awesome trip.

 

[Redford]

I've been in quite a few South American gyms, although never in Ecuador. PM me if you have any questions.
Other than that, enjoy! You will understand that life is a wonderful gift.