• Gift Catalog
  • Donate
  • Contact Us
Call Us: 800-487-1074
Global Volunteers
  • Countries
    • International Partnerships:
      • China
      • Cook Islands
      • Cuba
      • Ecuador
      • Greece
      • Italy
      • Nepal
      • Peru
      • Poland
      • Portugal
      • St Lucia
      • Tanzania
      • Vietnam
    • USA Programs:
      • Appalachia – West Virginia
      • Blackfeet Reservation – Montana
      • Rosebud Reservation – South Dakota
      • Española – New Mexico
  • Projects
  • Give
    • Giving Options:
      • Donate Now
      • Gift Catalog
      • Ways to Give
      • Philanthropy
  • Impact
  • Blog
  • Search
  • Menu Menu
Family Volunteers, Volunteer Voices Ecuador

Mother & Daughter Share Unique Experience Together By Volunteering in Ecuador

Mother-daughter pair Ann Hite and Maddie Hite-Smaka volunteered in Ecuador over Maddie’s 26th birthday to be able to spend time together in a different setting, away from home. At the end of their week in service in Quito, Ann and Maddie reflect on their time together and how this experience differed from any other. Maddie describes how she was able to see her mother as Ann, and Ann describes how she delighted in seeing her daughter in a completely different setting as an independent, capable adult. Read on for their reflections about their time in service together.


By Ann Hite and Maddie Hite-Smaka

Maddie:

I think there was a part of us both that thought volunteering abroad would have been a really picturesque mother-daughter trip. We sort of hyped it up that way. In a deeper sense it was, because it helped us define each other outside of Mother and Daughter. But not how we thought it would…

My mom and I have taken one trip abroad together before, when I had just turned 21. It was a magical time, but I still very much needed my mommy. On this trip, not technically many years after but in lived experience about a lifetime later, I was turning 26, and Mommy was no longer in my vocabulary.

Ann:

Being a mom becomes muscle memory. It is impossible not to worry, even once children grow into independent and capable adults. At home, I allow myself to cater more to the mom role. Here, it would not have been appropriate. Maddie was asked to be a full member of the team and was able to do that. I found myself starting to make suggestions or answer questions for her, and it was almost funny how many times I had to bite my tongue.

“Wow…your Spanish is still really good.”

“Oh, you already have a map up…you know where we are…okay!”

“Sorry, I don’t need to speak for you!”

Maddie:

Our volunteer group was small, and there came a point where our Team Leader, Maggie, asked if we wanted to be in the same classroom. She was intentional about making sure that we had an opportunity to have the experience together. With a mutual shrug of the shoulders and an identical need to please everybody that we are in the room with (I am very much so my mother’s daughter), we established that we are happiest where we are needed most. We were there to be of service, not to have a Moving Experience Together. So we each went off into our own classrooms. And we had our own experiences. Which, at the core of her motherly teachings, is what she has been pushing me to do my whole life. Have my own authentic, trying, honest, often joyful but sometimes really really not, experience.

Ann (left) helped Teacher Cinthya (right) with this group of adorable two-year-olds.

Ann:

I asked Maddie about volunteering together, because it was important for me to be in the bigger world with my daughter and to create relationships together across difference. My own travel and life experience had led me to many opportunities to learn about myself by looking outside of myself. Choosing a Spanish immersion school for their education was the first way I offered that same experience to my daughters. Traveling together as adults in a way that really allowed us to connect with people was a natural extension of that value into our adult relationship.

“My own travel and life experience had led me to many opportunities to learn about myself by looking outside of myself. Traveling together as adults in a way that really allowed us to connect with people was a natural extension of that value into our adult relationship.”

– Ann Hite

Maddie:

I’ve personally chosen to travel in the last couple of years in an effort to honor both of my grandmothers and the fact that they never had an opportunity to travel abroad. I want to live my life as freely and intentionally as I can since they weren’t afforded that luxury. I never got to know my maternal grandmother. I never got to meet her, because she passed away when I was born. And then I never got to know or learn about her because most people in my life had a pretty limited knowledge of her. So eventually I figured I’d find it for myself by living a life I feel would make her proud.

My work in understanding ancestral patterns has led me to believe that a lot of our personal baggage and habits have trickled down to us from those before us. So by challenging myself on a trip like this with my mother, I truly did feel like we were honoring my grandmother. It feels like a constant for so many peoples’ lineage that their mothers and grandmothers and aunts and all female predecessors did not get to travel. They did not get to see the world.

Mother-daughter volunteering in Ecuador
Maddie (second from left) and Ann (second from right) helped teachers make gifts for the children.

Ann:

I have often struggled with the whole notion of travel! I do it, because it broadens my view of life and the world. I believe it is an important way to create real understanding between people of different cultures. However, I’m also very aware of the dangers and privileges associated with travel. It costs money and resources, which not everyone has. It’s possible to travel and never actually talk with people in a way that opens an opportunity for relationship. When that happens, people might return home with a negative and/or stereotypical narrative about what they saw. I know I will still be a tourist, in a sense, but I appreciate the option of serving and connecting as part of exploring the bigger world.

“It’s possible to travel and never actually talk with people in a way that opens an opportunity for relationship. When that happens, people might return home with a negative and/or stereotypical narrative about what they saw. I know I will still be a tourist, in a sense, but I appreciate the option of serving and connecting as part of exploring the bigger world.”

– Ann Hite

Maddie:

So not only did we both get to travel, we got to engage with women in Ecuador who very openly shared that they have not and probably will not have the opportunity to travel. We got to get to know them on a more personal level and compare our experiences and share our realities. While we certainly came from what any American would see as a more privileged position, we all found our constants.

Ann:

I think it was so great, given Maddie’s purpose of “bringing” her female ancestors on her trips with her, that this project was centered on working with women who work with children. I noticed and appreciated the transition of titles given to those women. They have, until recently, been called “tía” (auntie) by the little ones, which is such a warm familial term. The change to “profe” (teacher) shows respect for the formal education they are bringing to their profession. Both titles are honorable. Women who choose to raise and teach children around the world bring real knowledge and love to this lifework. Maddie’s grandmothers and aunties would indeed be proud, not just of her curiosity and service, but of her openness to becoming herself while keeping an eye on her role models. I’m proud of her, too, and learn by watching her grow.

“Women who choose to raise and teach children around the world bring real knowledge and love to this lifework.”

– Ann Hite
  • Maddie celebrated her 26th birthday in Ecuador. Here, with a passion fruit cake.
  • Maddie smells the roses the team bought for the teachers at the center.

Maddie:

I got to experience something with my mom that not a lot of people ever get to have, and that I don’t think she got to have with her mother. I got to watch her across the room, invested in something, and being the person that she was this whole time outside of our home. I’ve seen my mother so often, I’ve heard her laugh and watched her get wide eyed when something takes an unexpected turn. But I can’t really say I’ve seen much of Ann, investing her time and energy in the things she’s passionate about, like social justice and education. It’s lovely and heartening and I would recommend finding time, if possible, to have the experience yourself. With your own mother or with mine or any figure in your life whose relationship to you could be defined with a label.

“I got to experience something with my mom that not a lot of people ever get to. I got to watch her across the room, invested in something, and being the person that she was this whole time outside of our home. It’s lovely and heartening and I would recommend finding time, if possible, to have the experience yourself.”

– Maddie Hite-Smaka

More stories by Ann Hite and Maddie Hite-Smaka:

  • “Calderón is Powerful,” Volunteer Proclaims
  • Little Ones in Ecuador Teach Volunteer About Openness and Heart
  • Service Experience in Ecuador Helps Volunteers Gain Deeper Perspective

Share this:

  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
April 5, 2020/0 Comments/by Maggie Bjorklund
https://205eev2oa0jm1t4yb914s1nw-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Mother-daughter-volunteering-in-Ecuador-1-3.jpg 1125 1500 Maggie Bjorklund https://205eev2oa0jm1t4yb914s1nw-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/2014-GlobalVolunteersLogo-Web.png Maggie Bjorklund2020-04-05 10:00:002020-04-09 15:12:04Mother & Daughter Share Unique Experience Together By Volunteering in Ecuador
0 replies

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

You must log in to post a comment.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Partner Communities

  • China 66
  • Cook Islands 43
  • Cuba 115
  • Ecuador 87
  • Greece 67
  • Italy 54
  • Montana 42
  • Nepal 15
  • Peru 96
  • Poland 77
  • Portugal 42
  • South Dakota 8
  • St Lucia 57
  • Tanzania 132
  • Vietnam 42
  • West Virginia 24

Categories

  • Boomer Volunteers
  • Conversational English
  • Couples Volunteering
  • Culture and Traditions Worldwide
  • Development Impact
  • Family Volunteers
  • Free Time Options
  • Global Volunteers
  • Group Volunteering
  • Impact Stories
  • Individuals on Teams
  • Projects for Professionals
  • Reaching Children's Potential
  • Repeat Volunteers
  • Retiree Volunteers
  • Staff Worldwide
  • Student Volunteers
  • Uncategorized
  • Volunteer Voices
  • Women volunteers

Tags

alumni volunteers American Indian culture Appalachian culture best destination peru Care for children Caribbean island College groups Conversational English cook islands economy covid-19 covid-19 consequences Cuba people-to-people donate for children Earthbox gardens economic support Essential Services food insecurity Funding your fee Health and nutrition High school groups Labor projects lgbt program peru resume resume high shcool retiree service-learning share food Spring break summer volunteer program support children Support women teaching children teaching english team leader things to do peru top places to visit peru tourism cook islands tours peru travel peru volunteer benefits Volunteer impact work on reservations Work with youth youth volunteering

  • About Us
  • Board of Directors
  • Staff
  • Our Beginnings
  • Our Vision
  • Community Partners
  • Collaborators
  • Compare Us
  • Volunteer Vacations FAQs
  • Accountability and Agreements
  • Travel Risks
  • Impact and Outcomes of Service
  • Donate to Global Volunteers
  • Donate to a Volunteer
  • Money Matters – Explaining Your Service Program Contribution
  • Discounts & Fundraising
  • Alumni Center
  • News/Media
  • Privacy Policy
  • Agreements
  • Site Map
  • Contact
  • Podcast
  • Volunteer Portal
  • Employment
Global Volunteers
375 East Little Canada Road
St. Paul, MN 55117-1628 USA
(800) 487-1074 | toll-free
(651) 482-0915 | fax
globalvolunteers.org
email@globalvolunteers.org

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Subscribe receive notifications of new posts and updates by email.

Global Volunteers - Partners in Development ® | © Copyright 2002 - Present Global Volunteers
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Youtube
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Mail
  • Global Volunteers is an apolitical, non-sectarian, non-profit (501C-3) tax-exempt organization.
  • Send feedback about this web site and its administration.
Nepali Community Partner and Family Struggle During Emergency Lock-down Peruvian Children Feed Others with Bread of Love
Scroll to top
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.