Posts Tagged ‘volunteering’

Volunteer photography trainer in the spotlight

Sunday, October 25th, 2015
Natalia helping Diana with a fairtrade condolence card picture

Natalia helping Diana with a fairtrade condolence card picture

So if the FairMail teenagers are the ones taking the pictures on the cards, how come their pictures look so professional and suitable for western customers? That’s thanks to the help of great volunteer photography teachers from all over the world who come and help out. To give you an impression of what they do we interviewed German volunteer Natalia (26 years old) just before she left after staying with us for 6 months. Read more about her experience here.

How did you hear about volunteering at FairMail Peru?

I heard about volunteering at FairMail from a former student of my university. She spent her practical semester at FairMail India several years ago.

What were your normal tasks and which special projects did you do?

Together with other volunteers I was teaching the teenagers photography, especially in creative skills, since most of them already know how to operate their cameras. To do so it was necessary to plan the lessons in cooperation with the co-managers of FairMail Peru. After the teenagers take the pictures, my colleagues and I were selecting the best ones and were talking about suggestions to improve the photos in future. Furthermore I planned and implemented my own project which was aimed at providing the teenage photographers with practical working experiences before they would leave FairMail and before deciding about their future profession.

The whole FairMail team showing their creative projects

The whole FairMail team showing their creative projects

What would you say your impact was on the teenagers with your volunteering? How did it help them?

I think my volunteering helped the teenagers in their motivation – not only in photography but also to search for possible professions for their future and job opportunities. As the teenagers told me, especially the individual conversations helped them to believe in themselves and their capabilities.

What did you like most about volunteering for FairMail?

The most I liked is the feeling of being a family member of FairMail Peru. From the beginning on, the teenagers welcomed me warmly and did not seem to care about my basic language skills. Whenever I felt unmotivated, they gave me new energy and courage. I also enjoyed seeing that the more we talked and worked on the ideas of the kids, the better their photos became. It was a breathtaking feeling to see the first postcard of one of the new photographers: Angelica. It made me very proud of our work together.

What was the most difficult for you about volunteering for FairMail?

The most difficult moment about my volunteering at FairMail was seeing all the farewell letters from the teenagers and the co-workers which I received just before my departure.

How did you like living in Huanchaco and what kind of things did you do in your free time?

I enjoyed the life in Huanchaco very much. In my free time, I was meeting my local friends, enjoying the Peruvian food, dancing salsa, jogging, wave surfing, relaxing on the beach, learning Spanish and capturing my surroundings with the camera.

What would you say to others who are wondering if they would like to volunteer for FairMail?

To others who are wondering whether they should apply at FairMail or not, I would say that they should no longer hesitate! It is absolutely worth it not only because of having the pleasure to become a member of such a competent and cordial social enterprise but also to get a chance to improve your Spanish language skills and to experience life in Peru.

Natalia preparing the healthy break snack with FairMail Peru managers Yuli and Maria flor

Natalia preparing the healthy break snack with FairMail Peru managers Yuli and Maria flor

Do you perhaps have one example of a funny moment or experience you had?

There were lots of funny moments I had during my stay in Peru. One of them was during work, as Medalit and I were taking pictures for the card theme “Thank You” using tiny, colorful decorated stones on the beach. To do so it was necessary to find the right position for the text. After we finished drawing the words into the sand and turned around to use the stones, we found only empty space. The stones were gone!

Soon we noticed a man further down the beach who was cleaning garbage from the beach. We ran towards him to explain what we were looking for and he remembered having collected them. Once we had searched for the stones in his huge sack full of garbage, we could finally start building the words into the sand. Just as we finished shaping the words in the sand perfectly and Medalit switched on her camera, a huge wave reached our feet and washed away all the stones!

We could not hold ourselves from laughing and began to rescue the tiny stones again, which were now spread all over the beach. Future volunteers, beware of those tiny stones – they are in for adventures!

Interested in volunteering yourself?

Does volunteering for FairMail sound good to you or do you know someone who might be interested? You can read all about how things work by clicking here. And by the way: we don’t charge any volunteer fees.

“FairMail allows me to combine my passions of photography and traveling”

Friday, December 13th, 2013
The FairMail Peru team

The FairMail Peru team

One of the strengths of FairMail is that the free photography training for our teenagers is given by volunteer photography trainers from different countries. Each one of them with a passion to share their different experiences, skills and perspectives with our teenagers. Like Basile Longin, a French volunteer who just finished helping out in Peru for 2 months. We asked him to share his experiences as volunteer for FairMail Peru:

“My name is Basile Longin, I am 27 years old. I’ve just finished my studies in France. With my girlfriend, we wanted to travel across South America with some volunteering along the way. When she saw the FairMail volunteer position to teach photography to a group of teenagers, I directly applied. It was the perfect mission for me because I have been passionate about photography for many years.“

What are your activities as volunteer?

“Working with FairMail is not a full time volunteer job. But that is perfect for me because I can discover the region. There are two classes a week, one on Thursday for theory with half of the group in the morning and half in the afternoon. And the second class is on Saturday morning to take pictures with the entire group.”

“I manage the class as I want. I can tackle a lot of photography themes and present them the different aspects of photography. I also added facultative classes to take photo’s during the night and the kids loved it.”

“The job is not only giving classes, but I also have to prepare classes and I spend time to find good examples, in order to explain the different themes best. Another part of my work is to look at all the photos taken with each teenager, choose which ones are the best or to explain them how they can improve them.“

“Volunteer for FairMail takes me two days and half a week. That is very reasonable and gives me time to go surfing, visit the region, and to enjoy Peru!”

Photo shoot in the botanical garden

Photo shoot in the botanical garden

What do you like about volunteering for FairMail?

“I like FairMail because it’s was the unique possibility for me to combine two of my passions: photography and traveling.  The second very important aspect that I like is that you can see the effect of your work. I mean that the volunteering has an important impact on the life of each teenager who does not have much money to live. Last but not least the group is really nice and lovely. It will be hard for me to leave them at the end of the month.“

What is the most challenging for you?

“The most challenging part for me is the Spanish, I studied it 2 years in high school but I was so bad. I started again to study it 2 months before coming in South America so it was hard at the beginning but now it’s better, I still have some problems with the vocabulary.“

What kind of capabilities do you need if you want to have a good time volunteering at FairMail?

“In order to have a great time in FairMail, it is important to speak Spanish to understand and to be understood. The second most important thing is to like sharing your passion for photography. It is also important to have creativity and ideas, to give them ideas to make them taking pictures with a different point of view, to explain them what is wrong, what is good… “

What do the teenagers still need to learn from future volunteers?

“For the future volunteer who wants to join to the great FairMail adventure, it is important to share your best photos, to explain them how to make them and to try to do the same with them. It is would be good to teach them how to develop an opinion about a picture. And to come with plenty of ideas and creativity!”

“Don’t hesitate to contact me if you want more information about my experience with FairMail or about the life in Huanchaco. If you are interesting to see more photos that I make, you can join me on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/BasileLonginPhotographe or on my travelling blog http://rencontresudamericaine.fr/ (in French).“

For more information about volunteering for FairMail in Peru or India click here.

What do the FairMail teenagers think about their volunteer photography teachers?

Wednesday, November 28th, 2012
FairMail volunteer photography trainer

FairMail volunteer photography trainer

FairMail wouldn’t exist without the work of many international volunteer photography trainers who teach photography every week in Peru, India and Morocco. On average there are 2 volunteers per country at the same time who prepar 3 to 5 classes per week during the 2 months they work for FairMail. In an earlier blog we reported what this experience means from the volunteer perspective. But what to the FairMail teenagers think about their volunteer photography trainers? We asked the Indian teenagers:

  1. Why are volunteers important for you?

–          if the volunteers weren’t there, we could not learn about photography, so we would not be able to earn money

–          they are our guest, so we have to take care of them

–          because they give us ideas and projects to work on

–          because the volunteers teach us about their countries

–          they inspire us

 

  1. What do you think makes a good volunteer?

–          having ideas about what to teach us

–          the weak students should be encouraged by them

–          they should be good teachers

–          needs to be patient

–          it is good when they introduce new photographers

 

  1. Why do you think volunteers like to work for FairMail in Varanasi?

–          they will see India and the Indian culture, living circumstances,

–          help us to grow further

–          because the project is a good project where you can help people

–          because they can also travel around Varanasi (e.g. Ghats)

 

  1. What is sometimes difficult for the volunteers when they work with FairMail?

–          the weather, some volunteers get sick because of it

–          the trash/dirt outside

–          they can find the amount of people in India difficult/ crowd situation

–          language problem

–          people on the street might comment

 

  1. What would you like to say to people interested in becoming a volunteer in India?

–          they are most welcome, because through them we can learn. They can also tell us things from their own experience, not what they have learnt in books.

–          We want you to come to India to come and see our country, see the colours, festivals, etc.

–          We need help for taking better pictures.

To learn more about the opportunities about volunteering for FairMail in Peru, India or Morocco, click here.

A week out of the life of a volunteer photography trainer

Wednesday, March 21st, 2012

We had a busy week in the Fairmail India office last week! We were lucky enough to have Anna Grebel join us for a few days and then we went on a class trip to a waterfall to work on our photo’s… Busy Busy Busy!

Anil and Anna doing a role play in the office

Anil and Anna doing a role play in the office

Anna came to meet the teenagers and do some careers training with them. Back home Anna works with teenagers on all sorts of topics so we were all very happy she wanted to come work with us at Faimail India! Her workshop was fantastic, all of the teeangers learnt about interviews and Anna gave lots of great tips and advice and the students had chance to practise doing some role plays – Lots of fun and great English practise for them too! The teenagers profit funds from their photos finances their education and futures so its really important for them to start thinking about their dreams for the future!

Taking Christmas pictures at the waterfall

Taking Christmas pictures at the waterfall

Last Sunday we took our bag of props and a BIG picnic basket to the Waterfalls, about an hour outside of the city. The waterfall is beautiful and the trees and the water made great backgrounds for our christmas props. The students all worked really hard and afterwards we enjoyed an delicious picnic together and some of the teenagers went for a dip in the river! A lovely day for all of us and some great photos were taken for christmas themes – hopefully we’ll see some of them on cards next christmas!

Want to learn more about the opportunities for you to give photography training to the FairMail teenagers in Peru, India or Morocco? Click here for more information.

Elaine Cowen with the FairMail India team

Elaine Cowen with the FairMail India team