Marianne Murnin on Poverty, Prostitutes and Africa

 

The Brother who runs Lasallian Developing World Projects visited my school when I was entering my final year. He gave a talk to my year group about the projects and showed us a presentation and pictures of the kind of work the charity were involved in. I was immediately drawn to the projects and knew it was something that I would love to be a part of.

 

 

LDWP was created with the belief that education is the key to overcoming poverty.  LDWP provides under-privileged schools in deprived parts of Asia and Africa with money, building equipment and volunteers. This ultimately allows the schools to house and educate more children in far more comfortable conditions.

 

 

Since 2010, I have worked in Kenya, India and Sri Lanka and I returned to a different part of Kenya in July 2013.

 

 

Each project I have participated in has been unique, depending on the immediate needs of the school. What I have realised through working with LDWP is there is no all-encompassing definition of ‘poverty’. Poverty varies from country to country, and each country faces its own problems, not only through lack of economic means, but also due to corruption and cultural beliefs. Kenya, in particular, is renowned for a huge number of children living on the streets. As well as building classroom blocks for the school, we helped to build extra dormitories that allowed the school to directly lift more young children from the street and give them a roof over their head. In India, the main problem was the fact that women are treated as second class citizens. We helped to build extra dormotories in an all-girls school which allowed the school to provide the girls with the necessary skills they needed to enhance their future. In Sri Lanka, as well as helping to build extra classrooms, we also took part in the refurbishment of the school complex. The school was still visibly affected by the outcome of the 2006 Tsunami, and despite being 6 years later, they had clearly not yet had the means to refurb parts of the school which had been severely damaged. We also spent half our day teaching English to young pre-school children in local slums.

 

 

You think seeing poverty is something which you can get used to over time, yet it still shocks and saddens me. The amazing thing about LDWP is that you’re not simply viewing poverty through the eyes of an ignorant tourist; you are also living in it for the 5 weeks you are there. You stop viewing the people you are living and working with as ‘poor’, but instead they become your companions.

 

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There are many moments I’ve experienced through LDWP that I’ll never forget. Living across from a slum in Kenya provided many sights; prostitutes would walk the street in broad day light, street children would literally be sniffing glue on the street in front of me and I watched young children use the local river to fill their buckets up with dirty water to take home and use for that day. The level of poverty in India is on such a huge scale that it’s hard to comprehend. If you visit a city, literally everywhere you look there is a limbless beggar on the side of every street. One of my most difficult days in India was when I visited a nearby community that LDWP also works with. The community has been set up purely by one English brother. The organisation has set up an entire school and village dedicated to providing food, housing and education to those who most need it. I remember walking out of the school’s kitchen one day and literally seeing queues of people from the nearby villages waiting in the hope they would receive food. When I asked why these people had nowhere to go I found out that for some, it was simply because they were ‘too old’ for their families to look after anymore, or some were outcasts from their village for being lepers or disabled. One of the moments which I found most difficult was visiting a class of young children who were all HIV positive, they were some of the happiest kids I have ever truly seen. It broke my heart that their prospects in life had been limited from the moment they were born. Sri Lanka was equally as challenging because it is a country that is still recovering from a bloody civil war. The effects of the war are still visible through the people you meet – both from physical scars and stories. Many of the people we met were missing relatives from the war.

 

 

 

 

The main hardships are the culture shocks. Each country I’ve visited is like another world from home! India is the craziest place I have ever been – it could genuinely take me half an hour to get across a road; there’s no such thing as traffic lights. The building work we do can be physically hard, especially in India and Sri Lanka where the heat could be unbearable. Also, cooking for ourselves can be difficult when we don’t have the proper facilities like we would at home. The language barrier between the locals and us can also prove difficult. Quite a few Kenyans and Sri Lankans could speak some English, but the village we stayed in in India was so remote (it’s not even on the map) that the local people only spoke Tamil. It’s amazing how you can get around language barriers with a bit of perseverance. 

 

Yes, the locals become such a big part of the project for us. I am always wary that they will have misconceptions about us when we arrive. I think that nowadays there are so many ‘volunteer’ organisations that travel to third world countries with an unrealistic view that they are going to “change the world”.  The great thing about LDWP is that we live just as simply as the local people do. As well as giving us a real understanding of what their lives are like, they too can see that were different from the preconceived idea of westerners they may have.  The best thing to do is to be completely open to their views – even though some of their beliefs and ideas are completely bizarre and backwards to us.  For most of the people in the village in India I lived in, my group and I were the first real white people they had ever seen. They are so appreciative if you are completely open to their culture and trying new things. By the end of the project, we have always become best friends with many of the locals who we live with and it’s always so hard saying bye to them. For me, that sense of integration into the community you get with LDWP is the best thing about the projects.

 

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Like in any country you would visit, people’s reactions towards you can completely differ from person to person. As a whole, most of the locals we meet are always so friendly and appreciative of our presence. Particularly in India, as we were living in such a small village, the local families would constantly invite us into their homes for food. It’s amazing how they are so willing to offer the little they have! Some of the reactions we received in Kenya could at times be a little more hostile. I expected this, though, as it’s a country which has not long ago been freed from Great Britain’s colonialism. 

 

 

Yes, it can be difficult. Even though the majority of the people are so welcoming and always looking out for you, you can’t overestimate your safety. Walking around the local towns can always be daunting. The minute I left the complex in Kenya I would have street children begging me for money/jewellery/any belongings I had. You also have to be careful of what you wear; girls always have to be mostly covered up despite the heat.

 

 

The Brother who runs the projects has always made sure we live in very basic and simple accommodations. This is to keep the cost of the projects to a minimum, but also to allow us to relate to how the locals live. On each of my projects I’ve lived within the school were working in, mainly in empty classrooms. We even had to bring our own bed with us to India. Also, in India, we shared our toilet with the whole school – thousands of school children. Even at that, we didn’t have a toilet, just a whole in the ground! We also never had showers, and instead had to throw buckets of water (usually cold) over ourselves. That was a bit of a shock at first, but it’s unbelievable how quickly you accustom.

 

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Even though the projects can be tough, they are also the most amazing things I’ve ever done.  I’ve also done my own travelling outside of the projects which has been equally as amazing, but in a whole different sense. For example, this summer I spent a month travelling Thailand after my project in Sri Lanka. Thailand is a country that I know also has a high level of poverty. Yet, you are completely ignorant to that as a tourist. You may well drive past slums or shacks on the side of the street, yet you never really, truly see. I think that with LDWP you really get a grasp of the country you are living in. You are able to build relations with the locals, eat with them, and laugh with them. They see you as more than your everyday tourist, and are willing to let you into their lives. I can definitely say that in each of the countries I have worked in with LDWP, I have come home with a real understanding of its people and culture.

 

 

I am one of two group leaders on this trip, which will be a whole different experience. I will definitely have to be more sensible and organised than I’ve been on previous projects. However, I’m excited to take younger people away and experience their first project with them. The group leaders always have a huge role to play in the dynamics of the group, so I’m both excited and nervous to try and ensure the project runs as smoothly as possible!

 

 

Previous years, I have always held an annual fund raising dance, which my friends and family would pay money to come to. Seeing as this is my last project with LDWP, I wanted to do something challenging to show everyone who has supported me in the past how much I have appreciated their donations

 

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In the past it has been okay because I’ve always had friends who are likewise taking part in projects, so we have always done most of our fundraising together and helped each other. It definitely does get a bit more difficult each year though, as you begin to run out of ideas and feel guilty always asking the same people for money. It is always amazing and surprising how many people are willing to help out though!

 

 

Yes, I definitely feel that it is something that anyone could benefit from. A lot of people think that they wouldn’t be cut out for it, but I’ve never known anyone who hasn’t completely loved their experience with LDWP. As clichéd as it sounds, your experience on the project really gives you a better outlook on life and definitely makes you more aware of your blessings.

 

 

Yes, I think you get a bit of an addiction for travelling and helping people. I would love to be able to integrate it into my job somehow. That is the reason why I know LDWP has changed me as a person. Before I started the projects, my main aim in life was to finish university and get a successful job where I earn a lot of money. Now, money doesn’t motivate me. As long as I’m living comfortably, I don’t think I could ever be satisfied unless I knew I was somehow helping someone through my work. The memories of my projects will never leave me!