Daniel Wallen
For some mysterious reason, studying Business, Economics and Political Science in southern Germany 10 years ago left me not only with the love of my life, the appreciation for multicultural environments, nice climate, beautiful scenery, German kebabs, international friends such as Walther, Laszlo and Matthias (three eccentric dorm neighbours) and the notion that although poor, one can feel free and indeed very happy…but also with a number of friends and acquaintances – from Latin America.
These people were all privileged, but they had a lot to say about their less fortunate countrymen and women who didn´t have the chance to go to Europe to get an education. As a student, It´s OK and at times even an adventure, trying to get through the day on a pound or two. However, less so if you have a family to support, and/or don´t have a job.
Ever since these often quite dramatic stories and discussions, I have had a desire to help poor people on this continent, and elsewhere around the world. Together with an old friend, I care for a little boy in Nicaragua, and a little girl in Mozambique for many years.
Having worked with advertising sales at Informa for the past 5 ½ years, my colleague and I have come across quite a few people working for the large – and very rich – pharmaceutical industry. There have been plenty of stories of companies paying influential doctors to go to international conferences to speak well of their products, giving them 5-star hotels and restaurants, tickets to the best concerts, limousines etc in return. Hearing such things, and at the same time remembering the dramatic student discussions from southern Germany, or for that matter, opening a news paper of today, makes one quite aware of the discrepancies between the rich and the poor. In my book, it also makes it easy to take sides. Who should we be most eager to do something for; the already well off, or the not so well off?
I choose to go to Costa Rica to build houses for these people for this very reason, and I am glad that some of my colleagues are thinking, and doing the same. Most likely, some of us are also going for other – more egoistic – reasons such as experiencing an interesting country, learning about a new and very different culture than our own, as well as making new friends and see beautiful places on our spare time
End Goal
- Make a difference to the Costa Rican families
- Work well as an individual and as a team player in building these houses
- Understand why things went well or not so well and how to make them better
- Learn about a new culture and it´s people
- Learn about myself and about my colleagues and hopefully make some new friends
- Having a break from daily life in Stockholm
- Get a grip of the Spanish language again
What can I do to achieve this goal?
- Work hard and do my very best to stay fit and healthy
- Be open-minded, positive, humble and treat everybody with respect
- Listen, communicate