Summer Experience

Hello again all,
below is a reprint of an article we have submitted for publication regarding Chris' experiment in social-entrepreneurism with Agora...

Recently, a group of 11 American and British volunteers gripped sticks and cheese graters with a mix of anticipation and consternation as blackened loaves of sourdough potato bread emerged from a traditional wood fired oven. A couple of grandmothers handed a loaf to each volunteer and stood back smiling…

This somewhat surreal scene occurred on a late July day in a small village in Transylvania - though the idea was born nearly 9 months earlier in a slightly more mundane strategic planning meeting. At that meeting, Peace Corps Volunteers Chris Worman and Alecia Ball, and partner organization Agora, were discussing the future. Agora, like many Romanian NGOs was facing an uncertain funding future due to Romania’s admission into the European Union. (As a consequence of EU accession, many international funders - the bread a butter of Romanian NGOs - are closing shop.) For some time, Agora had been interested in starting an earned income, social entrepreneurism type project to help them transition away from grant based income. Their hope for such a project was two fold: first that it would help pay staff and rent costs, something most grants did not cover. Second that the earned income could be used to meet self-matching requirements involved in most existing granting schemes.

One option for earned income Agora had considered was opening a guest house. Agora had been training homeowners to become rural tourism providers for some time and felt they had the skills and resources to start such a business. This certainly could have brought income into the organization, but it would also have put Agora in direct competition with the villagers it was training. Instead, Chris and Alecia worked with Agora to develop the Agora Experience, a philanthropic tourism initiative. In November, Agora began marketing a volunteer working holiday. Individuals in the US and UK were invited to buy a holiday package in which they would work on Agora’s rural development projects while exploring rural Transylvania’s culture, cuisine and landscape. Agora’s online recruiting efforts were complimented by a partnership with BTCV, a British NGO specializing in working holidays around the world. A major component of the working holiday was the homestay. In the villages, volunteers stayed with the families Agora had trained, thus assuring income for the families and for Agora.

The 11 volunteers, ranging in age from 15 to 54, arrived in Transylvania in mid-July. Over the next two weeks, they worked with Agora, Peace Corps and local volunteers to build 2 traditional fruit driers (part of another Agora project promoting local product development) and a campground in a nearby natural area. The project brought nearly $5,000 in income into the village (not counting profit from nearly 150 ice cream bars volunteers consumed due to hot summer afternoons). This income represents a significant increase in an area where family incomes average $140 per month. A similar amount went to Agora which will allow the organization to hire an additional staff person.

Perhaps more important than the income or the projects, however, was the impact volunteers had on local mentality. The homestay and “farm day” (when volunteers spent the day helping locals with farm work) were wonderful opportunities for cultural exchange and building camaraderie. Having so many people come from abroad to work on Agora’s environmental and rural development projects also helped villagers to see their village in a new way. The presence of volunteers helped demonstrate the value of village life and the beautiful local environment. Volunteers also provided an example of how locals might work together on community projects. The concept of volunteering on holiday is still a bit odd for many villagers, but after a few days some of them joined in on projects and have asked how they might volunteer with Agora on their village’s projects in the future.

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