For the first time Heather Newgen led a trip to New Orleans where volunteers responsibly gave back to the city while exploring the local culture. Watch to see how it all unfolds.
By Kaylie Defilippis
Heather Newgen has been volunteering around the world, as well as in her own community, for 10 years, but has never invited anyone along on her adventures until now. The Los Angeles based reporter explains why she wasn’t ready until recently to lead a group of volunteers.
“People have been asking me for years to take them on a voluntourism trip and while it’s such a huge compliment, there was still a lot I needed to learn. I made mistakes on previous trips like not correctly identifying shady organizations and taking on projects I wasn’t qualified for. Once I realized how I was part of the problem with voluntourism I finally felt like I had insightful advice to share. I can now help others not fall into the same unethical pitfalls of the industry that I did, but it took experience, a willingness to learn and self-awareness to get there.”
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Heather Newgen and the volunteers worked with Camp Restore, which is an organization that partners with over 100 different nonprofits in New Orleans. So it’s easy as a volunteer to find a project suited for your skills since there’s so many volunteer tasks to choose from.
The group volunteered with Gloria’s Garden–a community garden where the produce is free to anyone in need, ARC of Greater New Orleans where they recycle Mardi Gras beads and give jobs to adults with developments disabilities and volunteers with experience helped rebuild a home that was destroyed in Hurricane Katrina.
Check out the vlog and see Heather Newgen and the team in action.