Volunteer Profile
Name: Wilder F.
Age: 28
Occupation: Journalist, Editor
Residence: New York City
Volunteer Country: Guatemala
Volunteer Program: Coffee Farming
Program Start Month: April 2016
Duration: 6 weeks
What made you want to volunteer?
I wanted a way to travel in a way that dug deep. I wanted to connect more with the people in the places I traveled, and thereby have a more rewarding experience.
Why did you eventually select the Maximo Nivel experience?
I was traveling in Mexico with some friends in November 2015; a two-week trip in the Yucatan/Quintana Roo area. I had just quit a job at a magazine in New York that was driving me crazy, and was at a place in my life where I was ready to try something different. Two things happened on that trip: I reignited an interest in learning Spanish that I’d had in my late teens but never really followed through on, and I met several backpackers who told me Guatemala was an amazing place to visit.
I returned to the United States and, through a Google search, found out about Maximo Nivel. I signed up for simultaneous Spanish language classes and volunteering; I would recommend both because they enhance each other. I would volunteer in the morning and take classes in the afternoon. I spent the next several months at my father’s home in Boston saving money through freelance work, and I left for Guatemala, and Maximo Nivel, in April 2016.
Tell us about your work with Maximo Nivel
I worked with coffee farmers in La Ciudad Vieja de La Antigua, Guatemala. I essentially helped farmers with their work at various stages of the coffee harvesting and production process. While I certainly put in hours helping them, I would say I probably got as much, or more, out of the exchange than they did. I saw this experience as a “cultural exchange” where I got to sit in on the lives of local people in a way that I never would have without Maximo Nivel. I had long conversations with them in which I told them about myself and my life, and they showed me and told me about theirs. This to me was where a lot of the value was.
What was most challenging?
There is the language barrier and, of course, Latin America is a lot less efficient and lacks a lot of the amenities that most of us enjoy in the United States. I was in a state of mind that was very energized, open, and patient during my stay there, so I didn’t really find any of these things to be a problem.
But I think that you really need to bring a lot of your best self to the table in these kinds of experiences (enthusiasm, patience, an open mind, etc.) if you’re going to reap the rewards, which can be transcendent. For me it wound up being, perhaps, the best experience of my life. Maybe a better way to put it was that it definitely launched my life in a new direction, and that is still playing out for me now. All of this, I can safely say, was triggered by my initial experience in Guatemala, which was facilitated by Maximo Nivel.
What would you like to tell others who are considering Maximo Nivel? Any advice or recommendations?
Do it! But don’t expect to get anything out of it if you’re feeling passive or want things handed to you. You’ll get out of it what you put into it. And I don’t mean to discourage people who aren’t ready for this sort of experience. I, too, have been at points in my life where I lacked the confidence or enthusiasm for something like this, so I guess I know what it feels like to not be ready. But if you feel ready to bring your best self to the table, then you’re going to have a wonderful experience.
Are you ready to bring your best self to the table? Explore the possibilities through Maximo Nivel. To learn more about volunteer opportunities in eco-agriculture in Costa Rica and Guatemala, click here.
