Name: Kristina Dunning
Location: Equador
Report Title: They Don't All Work Out
Report Date: 14/05/2010
I am writing to inform you of my decision to return home from Ecuador. As you may remember I originally had signed up to do two placements with Lattitude Global Volunteering. However, I decided to stay to complete the first placement and then return home in March when the next group of volunteers arrived to take over.
There are several reasons why I felt unable to stay for the second placement. I suffered with severe homesickness ever since arriving in Ecuador and it did not go away or ease up much during my six months there. I was constantly missing my family and so I did not want to force myself to stay and continue to feel miserable and homesick until July, which is when my second placement was due to finish. A major contributing factor to my homesickness was the troubles I had with the Ecuadorian "family" that Lattitude had placed me with. The "Mum" was very volatile and I got told off for the smallest of things, including being homesick! I did not feel at all welcome or wanted in the house and did not want to live with them for an extra six months. Thanks to the support of my family in England and a fellow volunteer-friend, I managed to stay to complete the first placement.
I have had many amazing experiences during my time in Ecuador. I really enjoyed working with the children at the school. It made me so proud to see them learning things that I was teaching them - one girl even got full marks on her English test! The times when the children decided they did not want to learn English were challenging, but they made up for their bad behaviour in the parties they threw for me when I left! The afternoons I spent working at the nursery were, when I first started, definitely not my favourite part of the volunteering work! But as I got to know the children, and vice versa, I fell in love with all of them and we would sing songs and play games, both in Spanish and English!
I am sorry to have to tell you about this and hope that you are not disappointed that I have come back after completing my first placement. I hope that you understand my reasons for coming home and I thank you for the support you have given me to allow me to experience six months volunteering in Ecuador.
