Testimony from Andrew Ritchie, Everything Is Possible trainee, about his Leonardo Da Vinci Mobility project in Aruba.
“This is the life”, I tell myself while on a small, tropical, desert island clearing pooh from my hairy little ass!
My early morning commute by bicycle to volunteer at the Arikok National Park is comparable to cycling towards an over-sized hand-dryer, but I wouldn’t like to imagine how this windy little country would feel without that strong breeze.
I help the Park Rangers with their daily chores. Beach clear-ups, general upkeep of the surrounding area and as much as I do appreciate advice on poisonous plants I do, however feel that we could work a little on our timing with such issues now that my face resembles a ruptured scrotum. Everything my venom-smeared little fingers touched that day became a hideous mass of rash and swelling. After an ill timed toilet break I took on the appearance of a porn-star Popeye!
My afternoons are spent volunteering at the Donkey Sanctuary where I’m kept amused by 64 cheeky little fellows Hell-bent on making life difficult, getting in my way and commandeering the wheelbarrow. I am getting pretty good at giving the speech to tourists about our work here and exactly how a guy from Scotland wound up in Aruba with possibly the coolest job on Earth. You could say I can talk the hind-legs off a donkey -sorry-!
The apartment I’m living in for the next six months is owned by Deseree, the woman who runs the Sanctuary. It’s perfect! I have lived in a variety of conditions during my travels but I have to say that this is the best set up by far. It’s my own little house with everything I need and I do find my cooking/cleaning skills improving dramatically.
Overall I am a very happy man here even though the visa people are trying their best (by not trying at all) to make it difficult to extend my stay here. I’ve had painkillers work faster than these people and I honestly think if I took some of our donkeys, stuck a tie on them and put them in that office they would not do any worse than those employed right now. The words ‘get your ass in gear’ have never seemed more appropriate!
On one of my days off I strolled down to one of the many great beaches that surround this Caribbean island and got talking with an old local about island life and the donkeys of Aruba:
“These days its all cars,cars,cars. Cars bumping into each-other , people getting hurt..I remember not so long ago when it was all donkeys. Donkeys,donkeys, donkeys. Everywhere donkeys and what happens when a donkey bumps into another donkey? You get more damned donkeys”!
Andrew Ritchie, Leonardo Da Vinci Mobility trainee
Leonardo Da Vinci Mobility project
part of Empowered From Within
and supported by ECORYS UK
and the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Commission.
