Volunteer Abroad-It's A Beginning

In last month’s letter, I mentioned Ernest Hemingway and his volunteer work on the front line as a volunteer ambulance driver with AFS.  Little did I know I would be standing in front on his home in Key West, FL during a visit there earlier this month.

This seems to be the way of life in general and a nuance of travel specifically.  Everything builds upon the other.  Everyone and everything is connected.  If you travel, and then venture out to meet the locals, you understand that quickly.

Our Search Engine Optimizer lives in Key West.  Being a resident of six years, walking around town with Terry is a treat.  Everyone knows him.  (Including the guides at Hemingway’s house.)  It is that feeling of “belonging” you get from being in one place long enough for the “locals” to trust you and seeing the smile on their face when you walk in their shop or meet them on the street.

I’m told we receive what we give.  It comes as no surprise then, when volunteering in a community or teaching in a local school, we receive the local’s trust, friendship, and admiration.  And if you’re rubbing elbows with the locals, you find out all kinds of things you’ll never know from the seat of a tour bus.

For example, The Turtle Hospital, near Key West, is a rescue/rehabilitation center started in 1986 by Richie Moretti who came to Florida to retire after owning one of the country’s largest Volkswagen repair garages. The once topless dance bar “Fanny’s” is now the only state certified veterinary hospital for sea turtles in the world. In the spotless stainless steel equipped rooms Loggerhead, Green, Hawksbill and Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles are x-rayed, receive flipper amputations due to fishing line or rope entanglements, are treated for intestinal impactions (plastic bags, e.g.) and laser operated for viral tumors or fibropapilloma. A rehabilitation center on the bayfront contains a 100,000 gallon salt water tidal pool and 19 individual tanks. Since their inception the hospital has released over 750 sea turtles. Once a food source in the Keys, the endangered animals are protected. And they would love a few volunteers!

I discovered that the end of US 1 is just the beginning.  70 miles west of Key West, out over the emerad waters of the Gulf of Mexico lies America’s most inaccessible National Park - The Dry Tortugas - Fort Jefferson on Garden Key.  Volunteers are welcome!

The Dry Tortugas National Park consists of seven tiny islands composed of coral reefs, white sandy beaches and the surrounding tropical waters. The area is known for its famous bird and marine life, and its legends of pirates and sunken gold, and sheer unspoiled beauty. Ft. Jefferson, the largest of the 19th century American coastal forts is a central feature. When Ponce De Leon originally discovered these islands (in 1513) he named them "Las Tortugas" (meaning "the turtles" in Spanish) because of the abundance of sea turtles that provisioned his ships with fresh meat, but there was no fresh water - the Tortugas were dry.

Had I flown to Key West and headed for a hotel, then learned what I could from a tour on the Conch Train, then “shopped ‘til I dropped” on Duvol Street, I would not have learned about some great places to volunteer and I would not have met the locals in such a way that I can go back and pick up a conversation.

My days at AFS introduced me to volunteer ambulance drivers.  That led me to discover Hemingway was a driver.  Watching a movie with my son last month led to my February letter metioning AFS and Hemingway.  This month I was having my photo taken in front of Hemingway’s house.  I’m not sure what April will hold, as this puzzle gets pieced together one by one, but whatever it is, it’s certain to be no coincidence!

Inspire the world, Inspire Yourself,

 

Randy LeGrant
Executive Director
GeoVisions