The morality of going half way around the world is something I’ve toyed with a lot over the past year.
I truly believe that happiness comes from new experiences, from living life without limits, from feeling your feet in your sand and from tasting the spiciest dishes that you can handle. I want to meet people whose languages I don’t speak, I want to try to understand them, I want to see the rainforests that we all know we should be saving, but I wonder, is right to contribute to their decline with the air-miles needed to get to them?
The real answer is no. So we lie and tell ourselves, well it’s okay, I don’t eat meat and I recycle, so that makes up for me flying long haul.
And of course it’s not okay, but neither are the cars that we drive, the palm oil that we use every single day, the plastic that every single thing we buy comes in. But I suppose listing other evils doesn’t lessen this one.
So am I just another voluntarist, culturally appropriating to get the best instagram while taking jobs away from the local community and making no lasting impact? I’d like to claim not.
The centre I’m working at was founded in 2003 after a flood destroyed most of the local village. Initially the centre served the community’s medical needs, but over time this purpose became defunct and founders chose to turn it into a school rather than closing it down. This school is free for pupils to attend, we employ local staff, only taking in volunteers for the purpose of teaching English and helping with conservation projects. It’s a real grassroots organisation, with all money raised or donated by volunteers going back into the charity itself. The Trust has provided many jobs within the local community, as well as sponsoring both students and local teachers to go to university. It’s main goal is to use education as a route out of poverty, which in turn expands career options and thus, in theory, results in less deforestation.
I’m not claiming to be some saviour, nor indeed conforming to the cliche that simplicity of life abroad will help me to be more grateful for life in the UK. I am highly aware of my privilege and incredibly grateful to have grown up and lived where I have. Without this privilege I wouldn’t be able to explore the world and work for a cause that I believe in. But I hope that I can use this privilege to aid the development of free education with a conservational goal, so that others too can dream big.
In flying half way across the world I have made a selfish choice. But tell me, had you been given your dream job and the chance to explore a continent you’d never been to, at the age of 21, would you not have done the same?
If you’re interested in donating to the Trust, or learning more about what we do, head to https://www.bukitlawangtrust.org
Rosie Roams 