A joyful volunteer

Joy-Anne Headley on assignment in Thailand. (GP)

By Natasha Beckles | Sun, January 22, 2012 - 12:02 AM

FROM A YOUNG AGE, Joy-Anne Headley was taught the importance of making a difference in the lives of the people around her.

Now at the age of 23, she readily admits that her family’s values have played an integral role in her life, leading her to assist disadvantaged people in the United States, the Dominican Republic and throughout Asia, including Vietnam where she is currently based.

Joy-Anne has volunteered with children and women affected by prostitution in Thailand and India, served as a research assistant on gender equity issues in East Timor, and worked with children from resettled refugee families in Vermont, United States.

She has also interned with a domestic violence prevention programme in Massachusetts, also in the States.

Building on her Barbadian upbringing, Joy-Anne completed her undergraduate degree at Saint Michael’s College in Vermont where community engagement and volunteerism were emphasized.

“Throughout my four years there, I had several academic and volunteer opportunities that helped to solidify my interest in social work,” she said.

In addition, Joy-Anne’s travel experiences have reinforced her interest in the field.

“In my travels to these countries, each experience varies due to differences in their cultural, religious and political landscapes.

“I have seen how resilient people are to life’s challenges . . . even in extreme circumstances such as living in refugee camps.

“As a result, I am motivated to work with communities to mobilize their resources, recognize their strengths and use this to develop sustainable projects,” she said.

Joy-Anne is no stranger to culture shock.

“I have definitely experienced the different stages of culture shock: the initial stage of excitement and the mid-stage of conflicting feelings about the culture and social problems you observed.

“Then there is the reverse culture shock of re-entering Barbados or the USA when studying,” she related.

Always welcome

Still, the former St Michael School student noted that despite differences like language, religion, food, ethnicity and cultural norms, people are mostly ready and willing to engage her.

“I have felt so welcome in all of these countries. Collectively such encounters serve as a constant reminder to be grateful and as one of my professors always challenges us, to rise to ‘being an agent of social change’,” she said.

Having solidified her love for social work, Joy-Anne applied to Boston College’s Graduate School of Social Work where she is now enrolled in the Global Practice Concentration.

As a requirement of the programme, students are placed with a non-profit organization in a different country.

“For my placement, I am interning with Habitat For Humanity Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City [Saigon] as a project officer for a Women Build research project.

“The purpose of the research is to determine how Habitat Vietnam’s housing and adjoining programmes – such as water and sanitation programmes, has affected women in terms of land, property and women’s rights,” the young woman said.

Joy-Anne’s tasks will include going out to communities to conduct interviews with beneficiaries of the project, grant writing and management, and reporting to donors.

Although she has only been in Vietnam for about two weeks she has already interacted with people from Australia, Canada, United States, Singapore, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

“Many people in Ho Chi Minh City are here for work and to volunteer, so there are many nationalities represented.

“I have encountered a wide range in terms of people who have heard about Barbados and the Caribbean and those who have not.

“For those who haven’t heard, I try to describe it in terms of geographical location and answer any questions they may have about our culture and what life is like here,” she said.

One of Joy-Anne’s most memorable experiences was in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in 2008 when she volunteered with an organization called The Garden of Hope, devoted to empowering women and children affected by prostitution.

“The name truly reflects the agency, as it was a place of refuge for women and their children; a place where they are respected and people intend to help and not to harm.

“Here, I learnt in-depth about the proliferation of prostitution and how negative cultural attitudes towards women and ethnic minorities limit educational and economic opportunities.

“I saw first-hand how this forces and/or result in many of these women being sold into prostitution and the risks this creates to their children.

“My experience in Calcutta, India, also with children affected by prostitution, first exposed me to this reality,” she said.

Naturally, these experiences have taught Joy-Anne a number of lessons.

“Regardless of where my volunteer or academic opportunities have taken me and how different those cultures are from Barbados, I believe it is important to contribute in some way to the efforts to secure human rights for all people.

“However, in doing so, I believe that you must be willing to engage on a community level and not assume the needs of people.

“You must collaborate, recognizing they know their needs best and know, in the context of their culture, what is the best approach to addressing existing social problem,” she said.