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Labours of love: finding ways to make a difference
ANN-MARIE CALILHANNA PHOTO
LGBT
travellers can offer their services as volunteers in a variety of ways,
whether it’s working as marshals at Sydney’s annual Gay and Lesbian
Mardi Gras, or planting trees in hurricane-devastated wetlands around
New Orleans. (Dec. 13, 2008)
travellers can offer their services as volunteers in a variety of ways,
whether it’s working as marshals at Sydney’s annual Gay and Lesbian
Mardi Gras, or planting trees in hurricane-devastated wetlands around
New Orleans. (Dec. 13, 2008)
Volunteer opportunities abound for LGBT travellers, but there are unique challenges
December 13, 2008
Julia Steinecke
Special to the Star
Volunteering abroad presents special challenges – and amazing opportunities for gays and lesbians.
Imagine building floats for Sydney's Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras,
working with transwomen in Thailand, or planting trees in
Katrina-devastated wetlands around New Orleans. There are many
opportunities for LGBT travellers to make a difference in the countries
we visit, but we still face some unique barriers.
Matthew Barton, a 26-year-old from Winnipeg, inherited his thirst
for adventure from his flight attendant mother, and took it to a whole
new level when he volunteered with Youth Challenge International.
(www.yci.org, 416-504-3370).
"It was an individual placement in Tanzania ... living with a family
and working at a university on the topic of HIV/AIDS. As an openly gay
man travelling to a country for four months where homosexuality is
illegal, I didn't know how open I should be.''
YCI commits to supporting and educating all volunteers so they'll
know how to be safe in the host country, according to Rebecca Lee,
volunteer program manager. Training includes a "Differences and
Discrimination'' session with information on legal issues and
suggestions about disclosure. That support made a big difference for
Barton.
"My group leaders in Tanzania and Vanuatu understood what I was
going through and helped me where they could," he says. "I felt safe
with them and they were role models I could be fully open to.''
Quinn Sidon did a two-week stint with Cross Cultural Solutions
(www.crossculturalsolutions.org, 905-487-7372). ) in Morocco, where he
worked in an orphanage and tutored university students. Physical
affection between straight men was very common, in the form of
embracing and hand-holding, but people were astonished to learn that he
was 37 years old and not married to a woman. Still, he felt accepted by
the Moroccans.
"There was such openness about them ... even though they don't
display that individualism they showed a lot of tolerance and
compassion around so many issues, including religion, sexuality and
culture.''
Dava Antoniotti and her same-sex partner volunteered in Lima, Peru,
for four weeks, also with Cross Cultural Solutions (for which she and
Sidon now work). She "absolutely loved'' her placement, working at a
centre for differently abled children, even though she wasn't out to
folks there. Because of the shortness of her stay and the language
barriers she found it difficult to engage in those kinds of
conversations.
Their country director, Enrique Bossio, is an out gay Peruvian man,
and a co-founder of the Movimiento Homosexual de Lima. Because of the
extensive local networks maintained by all country directors, they can
organize customized volunteer work opportunities with overseas LGBT
communities.
Cross Cultural Solutions has worked with at least one transgender volunteer, from the U.S.
"He really did an amazing job of educating the staff in the program
as well as the other volunteers,'' says Antoniotti. "We can probably
credit him with helping us to become more aware of issues facing trans
volunteers so that we can better accommodate them in the future.''
Not all organizations are enlightened, I learn as I contact various
companies and NGOs. All of them tell me they welcome gay and lesbian
volunteers but some tell me that the question of sexual orientation is
not relevant and rarely comes up (even though they work in countries
where sexual minorities are persecuted).
It's possible to bypass a placement organization and contact
overseas LGBT organizations directly to offer your services, but it can
take a long time to make contact and build trust and you won't get the
same orientation and support.
Gay and lesbian tour operators are starting to include voluntourism
components in their trips. A new lesbian travel company called Sweet
(www.discoversweet.com, 510-595-7746) offers tree planting around New
Orleans before the November 2009 Caribbean cruise. During the voyage,
there may be volunteer work opportunities in ports of call, doing
construction, education or wildlife habitat restoration. OUT Adventures
(www.out-adventures.com, 1-866-360-1152) is hoping to include volunteer
opportunities in 2010.
Around the world, gay celebrations, film festivals and Prides use
international volunteers, though many of these are shoestring
operations and hard to contact until the last minute. Volunteers work
as parade marshals or in clean-up crews or media relations. Sydney's
Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras (www.mardigras.org.au, 011-612-9568-8600)
uses volunteers, beginning every December, to create costumes, props
and floats.
"From giant Trojan horses to replicas of the wonders of the world,
this is the place where a lot of the Mardi Gras magic originates," says
marketing head Damien Eames.
Volunteering web resources
Idealist:
includes a searchable database with some LGBT-focused volunteer
opportunities, mostly in the United States, but also in places like
Ghana and Thailand.
Magnificent Hill:
In northeastern Ontario, this lesbian-owned farm welcomes all
volunteers in their work-stay program, where visitors can participate
in farm chores, gardening, trail development and construction projects
for a weekend or up to 30 days.
Cuba Aids project:
This organization sends delegations to visit and volunteer at Cuban HIV
treatment centres, which have come a long way since the quarantines of
the 1980s. The stringent requirements outlined in the website do not
apply to Canadian applicants. For more information, contact Costa
Mavraganis.
Sydney’s Mardi Gras also
uses international volunteers as parade marshals, medics, and
assistants at the party (work four hours and party eight hours). For
most roles, you’d need to arrive in Sydney by Feb. 20, 2009. Media
relations requires a longer commitment: email
marketing@mardigras.org.au. For information on volunteering in the
workshop contact justin.green@mardigras.org.au
Canadian Crossroads International provides information to help volunteers make informed choices on how
they want to negotiate their sexual orientation in the host country.
Population Services International in Laos can use volunteers to teach English to MSM (men who have sex
with men) and others. For more information, email bsihamano@laopdr.com
Ikando: This
U.K./Dutch/Ghanaian organization recruits volunteers to work with the
local LGBT population at the Human Rights and Education Centre in
Accra, Ghana. According to Ikando founder, Laura Daly, the government
has not targeted the Centre for its work on behalf of sexual minorities.
Canada World Youth actively seeks out young applicants from sexual and gender minorities
as well as other equity-seeking groups, to ensure diversity in their
volunteer teams.
Cetlalic: This gay-friendly Spanish school in Cuernavaca, Mexico, offers free lessons in exchange for volunteer work in their office. Click here for more information on Cetlalic.
Cape Town’s festival,
running from Feb. 20 to March 1, 2009, uses international volunteers
for marshalling, set-up, clean-up and ticket sales. Skilled positions
include personal assistant to the Director, media liaison, webmasters
and administrative assistants. Write to queer@24.com
Cultural Canvas offers
work in Chiang Mai, Thailand, with MSM (men who have sex with men) and
transwomen on sexual health issues. Activities include workshops,
English lessons, and Gay Pride Week.
