Today I’d like to share with you a report by Muriel Kopelianskis, a colleague of mine from HP France, who volunteered for an NGO in Ecuador during her summer vacation.

Happy reading,
Jeannette

I’ve been working for HP France for 2 years, at the corporate marketing department. More precisely, I’m now in charge of the philanthropy programme, which means I’m looking after projects related to education to organize donations, and also to communicate internally and externally about those projects.

This year, I decided to volunteer during my summer holidays. I had wanted to do this for a long time and thought it would be now or never. So I contacted an association (Passworld) who put me in touch with an Italian NGO (ASA: Association Solidarity and Action) working in Ecuador (South America). I would like to share my experiences with you today.

ASA is doing lots of different things in Ecuador such as building houses for poor families, helping children after schools etc. I had decided to work in child development centres, a place where children aged 6 month to 4 years go while their parents are working. In Ecuador, school is only for children aged 5, and before, you have to pay a private school or leave your children (alone) at the house or with family. Besides, the centre gives meals to the children (breakfast, lunch and also fruits & milk). It's a way to ensure they eat well (as it is not always the case within the family).
 
Thus, from Monday to Friday, I took care of a group of 20 children aged 2 and 3 (I decided to keep working with those children all my stay but I could also have chosen to change and work with other groups too). There were two women in charge of them and I was there to help them, to play and to give affection to the children.
 
I also worked in a vacation centre for one week. This time, kids were 6 to 12 years old. I suggested teaching them some French as they seemed really interested.
Consequently, everyday, I had a new class and I tried to find new games to make them learn some French words (numbers, colours ...).
 
I lived in a house with other volunteers and also an Ecuadorian woman working for the NGO.
Each week end, I travelled around (with the others or alone) and I had also taken one more week to travel a bit more. Ecuador is a really amazing country as there is at the same times mountains, volcano, the Amazonian forest and beaches.

This experiment will remain engraved in my memory: the children’s smiles, their good mood, debates with the educators, cooking with other volunteers, discovery of a new culture, of another way of living. This experiment is a first step towards new missions, a commitment towards new projects. We realize how lucky and complicated we are in France. It helps putting our lives in perspective and taking fully advantage of the luxurious conditions we live in. I was there to give attention, affection, laughter, help, it makes sense and it’s very rewarding to work with these children.

Muriel Kopélianskis
Responsable du mécénat pour HP France