Think big from the heart not the ego

The person I chose for my interview was one of the best findings of my college career: Tomás. He is not only one of my housemates, but also an amazing human being and I admire the way he puts himself in the line of life.

In 2017, he found himself helping others while being involved in an outstanding volunteer project for the first time. It involved teaching Portuguese to children from the other side of the world: Macau, China. However, two years after that, his will of helping others did not change, but this time was quite different. Tomás went to a humanitarian mission in Mozambique, which consisted of the reconstruction of houses of families living in extreme poverty due to the cyclone Idai. These are the main projects I consider most striking and in which I decided to focus my interview.

Introductions being made here follows the interview.

Q: When did you first start doing volunteering?

A: Well, to be honest, I didn’t really start early. The first opportunity came when an email from the University showed up in my mailbox. It was announcing an International Volunteering Program in China, Macao. I really didn’t think much; it was pure instinct; I felt it was the perfect shot. Applied and got selected.

Q: What led you to look for this kind of experience?

A: During my whole life I was the kind of kid that helped the old ladies in the supermarket, enjoyed playing with disabled children and support people in difficulties, so when the first opportunity came in I thought to myself: “Why not get into a structured and official project, different from everything I’ve done in my life?”

Q: Can you explain what your last two volunteer experiences consisted of?

A: In Macao, we went as Portuguese Language teachers. During a month, we have been teaching Portuguese to Chinese students that signed up for the summer course. It was really challenging because the kids were naturally shy, and we had to force them to participate so we could have interactive classes, and the students were incredibly fast learners.
In Mozambique, it consisted of a purely humanitarian mission, mostly focused on a project to rebuild a neighborhood that was completely destroyed by Idaí cyclone. Apart from that, we spent the afternoons with the population of Beira that is exposed to extreme poverty to try to help in whatever was necessary, from teaching how to read to help to distribute basic resources in small villages.

Q: What impact do these experiences have on your professional and personal life?

A: Well, as they were in different places and different programs, I would say that Macao’s experience made me more patient and really more responsible since I was a teacher, and I was living by myself in China. It also increased my capacity to appreciate the difference in enjoying it.
In Mozambique, the experience was hard and psychologically rough because I was continuously exposed to see people starving and living in inhuman conditions it made me feel even luckier and blessed for everything I have in what comes to conditions and opportunities. And it definitely made me devalue some of our western society problems.

Q: Do you want to mention any specific event that marked you during any of these experiences?

A: There are many special memories, but I can tell you my experience with Luis, a Mozambican guy the same age as me. He lives in a 15 square meter apartment, with no electricity with his younger brother because his parents both died. He starts his job as a cook in the Institution I was doing volunteering at 6 am, and he goes from his house to the Institution walking for 10 kilometers. After that, he goes straight walking for another 10 kilometers to his University, the one he is paying himself, at the end of the day he helps his little brother in the school.
When I was there, I got along really well with Luis, and he asked me to teach him how to speak English during our lunchtime, and his will to learn despite his endless days was certainly one of the most remarkable experiences I’ve had. We currently exchange messages in English.

Q: What is the main characteristic that you think a humanitarian volunteer has to have?

A: It is probably a devotion to what he is doing. It is also indispensable that one does not look into superficial things such as the conditions and some uncomfortable things he will have to go through. In my opinion, one has to do things in themselves with no second intentions.

Q: Do you have any advice you would give to people who think of being humanitarian volunteers?

A: I am not a pro, but from my experience, I would advise people to feel whatever they are doing. And if one is not feeling, the best thing is not to do it at all.

Tomás is an example of what volunteering is about: giving others without thinking of receiving anything in return.