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VOLUNTEER BLOG

A Forester in Liberia

Posted on December 27, 2012 by Kevyn Wightman, volunteer in Liberia with the Liberia Smallholder Oil Palm Support (SHOPS) program, funded by USAID

Before

In preparing for my third Winrock International trip (in 2007 I traveled to Banda Ache, Indonesia and Kyrgyzstan), I read other volunteers’ blogs from around the world, watched YouTube videos about the perpetrators of Liberia’s recent civil war atrocities and the 2012 conviction proceedings of former president Charles Taylor for aiding and abetting war crimes and crimes against humanity. I read from various news sites about the current president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s 2011 shared Nobel Peace Prize, the BBC radio coverage on the hardships of extreme poverty as well as economic and political summaries from UNDP, and Transparency International and Liberian diaspora NGOs.

Armed with this information and pretty vivid media images, I was eager to meet the field staff and contribute some of my own experiences from working in 6 tropical countries and 3 temperate ones during the past 25 years. As expected, this visit once again reminded me that you cannot believe everything you read and what you see or experience also only reveals part of whole story.

Volunteer Kevyn Wightman greeted by village farmers

Volunteer Kevyn Wightman greeted by village farmers

During

Liberians have experienced both the worst and best of “human nature.” During my short visit, they shared with me their songs, jokes and big plans for the future—like those at the Nimba County Community College. Built only two years ago, and under the direction of a team of Liberians many of whom received advanced degrees in education and business from US universities, their dedicated staff now train over 1,000 students in vocational skills from nursing to forestry to mining. Their library is the largest in size in the country and more books are arriving!

My assignment included meeting over 350 rural farmers (the majority were women, but workshop attendance was open to all) in their villages to discuss their farming systems and constraints. We explored ways that agroforestry practices such as cover crops, and combining sun crops (mostly annual food staples) with shade crops (mostly such as cacao and coffee) could be incorporated into their fields. They will be planting oil palm seedlings of the improved tenera variety during the 2013 rainy season.

Agronomist Sylvester Kpai, Sr. and Sam Zourpeawon, secretary for the Gbehlay Geh Rural Women’s structure, lead an “ice breaker” exercise with workshop participants

Agronomist Sylvester Kpai, Sr. and Sam Zourpeawon, secretary for the Gbehlay Geh Rural Women’s structure, lead an “ice breaker” exercise with workshop participants

The Zorgowee Village chief, John P. Quoto, prepares a map of his farm.

The Zorgowee Village chief, John P. Quoto, prepares a map of his farm.

And yes, we always discussed how and why to plant more trees for the ever-growing demand for construction & furniture wood. Adding multi-purpose trees and fruit trees to their agricultural land and villages can also make oil palm systems more productive. Luckily germplasm for Liberia’s diverse tree species is still available. Libera still harbors large tracks of closed canopy forest that have been logged, but not yet destroyed or converted to intensive agriculture. Now is the time to be collecting and planting its seeds for future use!

After

Traveling, meeting and working with new people, sharing ideas, finding common language and values can open new doors to finding creative and useful pathways towards “sustainable development,” a term found in any project jargon and encompassing economic, social and environmental aspects. I will continue my contact with the many wonderful people I met in Liberia and contribute to an understanding of this relatively small, but richly endowed nation via my own blog begun during this trip:

Trees

As Winrock staffperson Demetria Arvanitis points out in her blog published by the Huffington Post on Celebrating International Volunteer Day, when you give, you often receive even more in return.

Posted in Africa, Volunteer Feedback | Tagged forestry, international volunteer, knowledge transfer, Liberia, people-to-people exchange

True Cross-Culture Warmth

Posted on December 20, 2012 by Jen Snow

Ed Levi just returned from a trip to Ethiopia, where he completed his Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer assignment working with two different beekeeping organizations. The trainees are eager to start putting his recommendations into place and to see their beekeeping activities flourish as a result. Reflecting on his trip, Ed says:

I always gain from meeting new friends, learning more about other cultures and learning other ways of seeing beekeeping as an enterprise. We came out of these trainings with true cross-culture warmth. My greatest joy of doing these assignments is coming away feeling that my knowledge and experience can be adapted to local conditions and that the lives of individuals, families and communities can be enhanced. Whenever possible, I appreciate hearing about the improvements that have been actualized as well as the problems that have been encountered. This group truly showed excitement in learning new concepts. I would love to see these concepts turn into true gains.

Ed in action:ed-levi-field-explanation

Receiving a gift from his host:

ed-levi-gift-from-the-host-cultural-cloth

Posted in Africa, Ethiopia, Volunteer Feedback | Tagged Ethiopia, international volunteer, knowledge transfer, people-to-people exchange

Increased Passion to Make a Difference

Posted on December 13, 2012 by Jen Snow

“This assignment brought me to my first trip in Nigeria and my first trip to the African continent. The impact is huge personally and professionally. My hosts were very nice and friendly people. They have shown sincere appreciation of my technical assistance as a significant contribution to the improvement of their feed production business. I learned new cultures, made new friends, and expanded my professional network in Nigeria. This unique experience has increased my passion to make a difference in the lives of other people and to continue giving to underprivileged areas of the world.” –Leonard Obaldo, Nigeria Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer

[What great sentiments, particularly relevant for this Season of Giving!]

Posted in Africa, Nigeria, Volunteer Feedback | Tagged giving back, international travel, Nigeria, people-to-people exchange

Celebrating International Volunteer Day

Posted on December 5, 2012 by Jen Snow

It’s International Volunteer Day! Today we send extra thanks and appreciation to the nearly 2,500 Winrock volunteers who have given their time and expertise over the years.

Demetria Arvanitis, Winrock’s Managing Director of Volunteer Technical Assistance, published a blog last week in the Huffington Post, highlighting how volunteers can change lives (including their own)! Check out the article via the link below:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/demetria-arvanitis/volunteers-change-lives_b_2189839.html?utm_hp_ref=giving-tuesday

What can you do today, in honor of International Volunteer Day? Here are three simple ideas:

  • Sign up to volunteer! (check out Winrock’s current volunteer openings at www.winrock.org/volunteer )
  • Share this Winrock Volunteers blog (www.winrockvolunteers.wordpress.com) or the Huffington Post blog entry (above) with your network, to inspire others to get out and volunteer!
  • Send us your thoughts/stories from your volunteer experience(s) –and we’ll include it in a future blog post. (email jsnow@winrock.org). Your stories help us continue to inspire new volunteers!

“A civilization flourishes when people plant trees under which they will never sit.” –Greek Proverb

Posted in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Volunteer Feedback | Tagged agriculture, giving back, international travel, international volunteer, people-to-people exchange, service |
ABOUT FARMER-TO-FARMER WINROCK VOLUNTEER ASSISTANCE

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