Deep emotions and transformations

My volunteering experience at Rincón de Luz, Cochabamba

Before traveling, I was filled with a mixture of enthusiasm, curiosity, and also certain insecurities. I felt a strong desire to engage in a volunteering experience that would not only help other people, but would also allow me to question my own privileges and ways of being in the world. My expectations were not simply to “help,” but to build relationships based on respect, care, and listening, recognizing differences without placing them in hierarchies.

When I arrived at my destination, I went through intense emotions: from the initial uncertainty to a growing feeling of being welcomed. It was the family who hosted me that received me with a warmth that dissolved many of my fears. Even so, doubts continued to arise about my place there and about how not to reproduce paternalistic or colonial dynamics. Little by little, those tensions turned into learning thanks to an open environment willing to foster exchange.

What struck me most was the cultural richness of the place and the forms of community that are built there. I was deeply moved by the collective capacity for care, as well as by the energy of the children who, even in difficult contexts, expressed an incredible vitality and transformative power. This led me to question many preconceived ideas about vulnerability and strength.

My integration into the organization was quite smooth. I was able to adapt without major difficulties, thanks to the families living around Rincón de Luz who support the foundation.

The easiest part was allowing myself to be touched by the collective experience; the hardest, on the other hand, was emotionally coping with certain realities without falling into helplessness, and learning how to position myself without imposing my own perspective.

I learned to look at the world from a more critical and empathetic perspective, recognizing structural inequalities as well as everyday forms of resistance. I changed in the way I relate to others, trying to build more horizontal relationships, attentive to diversity and to the many different ways of existing.

At the end of the experience, I felt deeply transformed. Not only had my expectations been fulfilled, but they had expanded. I left with a sense of gratitude, but also with a greater sense of responsibility regarding how I inhabit the world and relate to others.

For life, I take with me essential lessons: the importance of collective care, active listening, and the need to constantly question the power structures that shape our practices. Above all, I carry with me the certainty that being part of a community implies commitment, sensitivity, and action. Alice