VICS:
Volunteer International Christian Service
by Lucy Klein-Gebbnick
We come as teachers, nurses, doctors, mechanics, carpenters, computer programmers - to name some of our qualifications. Some of us are retired couples. We hear about VICS in different ways - by word of mouth, through an advertisement, in our parish.
What motivates us? The desire to be of service to others, to share our skills, to broaden our knowledge of the world by living in a culture totally unlike the Canadian one; the challenge and adventure of risking another way of life. For many of us, there is an indefinable feeling that this is something we have to do.
Learning
We all know there will be physical adjustments, but these are probably the least of our difficulties. Contrary to our imaginings, the accommodation is usually good, the food adequate. As for bugs, insects and continuous heat - we soon learn to live with them.
We have to come to terms with the fact that malnutrition, poor housing and injustice are not going to disappear because of the work we do as volunteers. If we are to be agents of change, we must learn to be flexible, to let go of our own agendas, and respond to the real needs of the people we serve. We have to be willing to embrace the fact that we are temporary, and that doing a wonderful job does not make us indispensable. We go to learn what the people need. We teach them how to achieve it, but don't do it for them.
A final hurdle for us volunteers is to accept that we will never be one of the poor themselves. No matter how much we empathize, identify with and understand, we will always be somewhat apart from them. By the mere fact of being foreigners, we are of the privileged class.
Changing
But we do change over the two years. We may start out thinking we
have the answers; we soon learn that there are only new questions.
Can we learn to respect what is "traditional"? Can we
accept that technology, effective as it is, may not be the key to
solving every problem? Can we walk in partnership, or do we always
want to stride ahead?
If we can, the rewards are great. We learn to use our own resources and come to rely on our sense of humour. We develop a tremendous inner strength to survive and we make the most of very little. We get a glimpse of what it is to be poor.
VICS is small. It emphasizes the person rather than the project. Perhaps that is why it has come to play such an important part in our lives. We stay in touch and share what we have received. The bridges we build are bridges of hope - linking us to each other and to those with whom we were privileged to spend at least two years of our lives.
