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Reply to "New VintageUSA"

That it was, Bob - a life-changing event.  

I went along to set up and run their communication system both in-country and between Honduras/el Salvador/Guatemala and Houston but ended up doing a lot of regular medicine and community outreach work, too.  Most of our volunteers were in places without phones (me, too - closest telephone was in the post office in a town about 90 minutes away) so we had regular truck routes we ran to keep everything moving and I ran a route with Bill (the guy standing on top of the truck above).  Staff members (I was staff) stayed for the entire Summer.  The volunteers would be in country for 2 or 3 weeks and ranged in ages from 16 years old and up.  Lots of high school kids from all over America and Toronto/Ottawa as well as a number of med school students and recent grads.

Living in the outback of a third-world country taught me that:

1.  Everyone, everywhere thinks that their government should just leave them alone.
2.  Everyone, everywhere just wants to have a good job to provide for their family.
3.  Everyone, everywhere is suspicious of Americans.
4.  It is really easy to blend in with the locals - Just make friends with them and hang out with them and speak their language.  Lots of the world doesn't speak English.  They are always patient with you trying to speak their language and always appreciate the effort - Wouldn't you?
6.  The people we were helping had nothing or less than nothing but they had happiness in their lives and shared that with us.  All volunteers were living with host families in-country, sometimes in dirt-floored houses, sharing meals and so forth.  You don't need wealth to be happy.  Sometimes Polymagma helped us Americans, though.

 

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