Local Service Turned Global

Volunteering. Voluntourism. Civic Engagement. Humanitarian Outreach.

These terms are often lumped together as if their definitions are synonymous. Despite describing different experiences, each word represents opportunities University of Idaho students and staff have had on the Palouse and beyond.

A learning experience

Madison Bergeman had never traveled abroad without family or friends until her second year of college, when she traveled to the Philippines as part of an alternative service break (ASB) trip in December 2016.

Bergeman learned about ASB trips during her first year and made it a priority to go on one. She didn’t truly know then what these types of trips could do for a person, she said. Now a fourth-year UI student, Bergeman has been on three ASB trips throughout her college career — each teaching her something new.

While working with an elementary school in the Philippines, she quickly learned to think on her feet teaching English to young children. With help from a translator, Bergeman was able to bridge the language barrier.

She then traveled to Ecuador for her second ASB trip, a place where she described the work as some of the hardest she has ever done.

“I remember taking my boot off, and at the end of the day, dumping it out and just like sweat draining from my boots,” Bergeman.

This last winter, Bergeman helped lead an ASB trip to Uruguay — her third trip — where she was in charge of planning and working with community partners to make the experience as seamless as possible.

She also taught other students Spanish during pre-trip meetings. Although they may not have become fluent in the language, Bergeman said they learned what they could in order to better communicate with the people of Uruguay.

Becoming part of someone else’s life is what has made these overseas experiences so impactful, she said.

“You would never have guessed that you would be in a hostel in Uruguay, living with this family and they’ve just welcomed you into their home — the intertwining of our lives and their lives,” Bergeman said.

Looking abroad

Earning his degree from UI in 2017, Tristen Beaudoin spends his postgraduate life working as a volunteer for the Peace Corps in Rwanda, Africa.

Beaudoin has always wanted to work with humanitarian efforts or international development.

As a Peace Corps volunteer, Beaudoin said he teaches middle school-level English — his main service initiative.

“Volunteering, in general, can have a lot of different impacts. (But) I think it has to be responsible volunteering — it’s very possible to volunteer and to cause damage,” Beaudoin said.

He said the Peace Corps appealed to him specifically because of its high level of training and expert knowledge in sustainable development. While a majority of his time is spent teaching English, Beaudoin works on secondary projects, as well.

Beaudoin said he helped create an English club for students outside of class and a professional development group for the school’s teachers. He also worked on projects beyond his specific jurisdiction, creating a permaculture garden — a highly sustainable plot that adapts to the area climate. Peace Corps officials structure the projects so that Beaudoin works with community partners, generally someone who is local.

In his time at UI, Beaudoin planned to go on an ASB trip, but later decided against it after attending an orientation meeting.

He said the program’s practices didn’t align with his own service philosophy and felt as if there was too much focus on student learning and cultural awareness, with minimal discussion on community impact. Though many volunteer organizations don’t want to be branded as voluntourism groups— which has a more negative connotation — Beaudoin said he feels most are.

“I think that (voluntourism) can be great for some people, (but) I didn’t feel like it was a good use of the money,” Beaudoin said.

Instead of funding short trips abroad, Beaudoin said he feels monetary contributions should be put toward on-the-ground efforts or given to certain organizations directly.

“Going for a few hours to a week to teach a lesson or work with people at an orphanage isn’t going to make a serious impact,” Beaudoin said. “But a lot of resources went into that that could have actually made an impact.”

He said there isn’t a problem with voluntourism efforts as long as the main focus surrounds travel and learning about other cultures, or the “philanthropic mission is just deceiving.”

Exposure to foreign communities is important, Beaudoin said. Without it, people’s idea of developing countries can be incredibly misleading.

“In every nation, there’s a lot of disparity of wealth, that includes the United States,” Beaudoin said. “But when people travel aboard — specifically to impoverished areas — it can perpetuate a stereotype of the poor helpless African or Southeast Asian or wherever. They have a lot of potential on their own, and a lot of these countries are developing very fast and have their own resources.”

Life-long service

After graduating from college in 2000, Eric Anderson wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with his life. But once he learned his cousin was serving in the AmeriCorps, he decided to apply.

“The best two years of my life was in the AmeriCorps,” said Anderson, associate director of career development for UI Career Services.

His work with the AmeriCorps focused on environmental work in Charleston, South Carolina.

Volunteering is not the focus of AmeriCorps, Anderson said. Rather, it is a national service program, with people enlisting to serve their community — similar to someone enlisting in the military.

Because of certain politics, however, the AmeriCorps has not always been perceived that way, he said.

After his two years of service, Anderson later returned to Charleston, working as a staff member instead of a volunteer. It was there he developed an interest in teaching service learning and career development — an interest that eventually lead him to his job at UI.

While Anderson began volunteering at a young age, he only learned what it meant to be “civic minded” after joining the AmeriCorps.

Taking what he learned in his everyday life, the organization was able to transform the idea of volunteering into service learning.

Anderson is an active lifetime alumnus of AmeriCorps and chapter leader. Along with volunteering at two local nonprofits, he has also advised UI ASB trips, including one in Charleston.

The values one can learn from volunteering not only come from the actual service work, but also the different cultures and surroundings, Anderson said.

“Why should we spend money to go halfway around the world when we know there’s homeless people in Idaho? I totally get that argument, but also as the University of Idaho, we are trying to transform students and give them lifelong education, you know. Maybe that means that sometimes we have to go outside of Idaho, too,” Anderson said.

Service work gave Anderson a much broader “perspective on our country,” he said. It’s why Anderson stresses the importance getting involved — no matter one’s beliefs.

But being in the world and seeing how certain issues affected people changed that for him, Anderson said.

“If you want to go out and volunteer, that’s great. But if you really want it to have an impact, you’ve got to take it with you,” Anderson said. “You’ve got to tell other people — you can’t forget about it.”

*Editor’s note: Tristen Beaudoin’s story may not specifically represent the views of the Peace Corps as an organization.

Story by Alex Brizee

Design and graphics by Cadence Moffitt