Heather's arm, post dog bite
Follow freelance writer/producer Heather Newgen as she goes to Kenya to volunteer at an orphanage, where things go wrong, fast.
After I finally arrived at the volunteer house, I was still upset about not being picked up at the airport, but I decided to put it behind me and focus on the rest of my trip.
I was in Kenya to not only volunteer, but to shoot the pilot for a TV show idea I want to pitch to networks about traveling and volunteering. Unfortunately, there are several organizations that are corrupt and take advantage of people who spend a lot of money to volunteer and donate their time for free. It’s hard to believe a program would do such a horrible thing, but it happened to me and my goal now is to help others get involved with creditable companies while showing them cool and exciting things to do in their time off from working.
The name of the show is called The Voluntourist and it will be an ongoing documentary-style television series dedicated to chronicling the volunteer travel experience both abroad and at home, educating its audience as to how they can take an active hand in making a difference and also enjoy the distinctive pleasures of the region they’re visiting.
I was given full permission to document all of my experiences with Rustic Volunteer and Travel–or so I thought.
Things went so bad rather quickly and I knew I stumbled upon yet another shady volunteer program.
My first night in Nairobi I was attacked by the program coordinator’s dog. He was so malnourished and his ribs were showing. I felt terrible for him and tried to give him a granola bar–I know not the typical thing you feed an animal, but it was all I had.
He turned on me in an instant and latched onto my arm. Even through my puffy North Face jacket, I felt his teeth clinched into my right arm and there was nothing I could do but scream. I turned my face away from him and protected my neck with my left hand and he then went for my thigh.
After a couple of minutes, he stopped attacking me and I ran inside the house. I was rushed to the ER and given a series of shots. My arm bruised and swelled immediately, but I knew I was lucky. It could have been worse. The jacket literally saved my arm.
The owner of the program did not issue an apology or even acknowledge the incident. Instead, he sent a release form for me to sign, but he didn’t email it to me, he told the program manager to have me sign it asap and fax it over. The document stated that Rustic Volunteer and Travel was to have complete control over my footage and material. I was not allowed to post a picture or cut the pilot for the show without their approval and permission.
I was outraged because one, this was never discussed beforehand. You can’t wait until two days into shooting to tell me you want impose certain condition and terms on my project and two, I don’t know what journalist would give anyone the rights to their story. That’s not how it works. I truly believe the organization was getting nervous because they failed to pick me up at the airport and I was stranded there for hours and now I have been attacked at the volunteer house by the coordinator’s dog.
I refused to sign the release form and told the owner how unprofessional he was. He then in turn emailed me and said he was sorry, “I created this problem myself” and that his employee made it clear I would have to agree to the terms which was a lie. If I would have known they wanted control of my show, I would have joined a different organization.
As a result, I left the program and told him I’d continue my project without Rustic Volunteer and Travel.
I thought that would be the end of my problems, but got much worse…
To check out the video footage from parts of my trip go to www.iamthevoluntourist.com