Thorn Tree travel forum

1

Yeah buddy, I just got back 2 weeks ago from working with Volunteer Peten, I was there for 3 months and it really is a great organization, the guy in charge Mateo does everything, and he is like a god in the community there, and rightfully so because he has done and is still doing so much for that whole area. I would highly recommend it, especially if you want to get a feeling for what it's like to really live in Central America like a guatemalan citizen, or rather San Andres is not a tourist town, you will live and the people you will meet and things you will do are all related to "real guatemala" not the tourist stuff built up for the people who come and visit and then leave. If you want to know anything specific about Volunteer Peten feel free to email me (golfstar55@hotmail.com) and ask about anything and I will do my best to answer. Either which way it is a very legitimate thing and the money you pay goes directly into the community and paying for your home stay, it is not going to line the pockets of some director, such is the case in so many other volunteer opportunities in Latin America and around the world.

2

This whole thread is very suspiciously like a commercial. The OP signed up here on the 18th, remained for 43 minutes, posted two messages and left. The other one was an inquiry about ARCAS on an old thread.

#1 started here this same day, posted a little over a half hour after the OP came here, but stayed a total of only 17 minutes This one enthusiastic post is the only one the person has made.

I don't like bogus information and I think that most people here will agree. The real message here is BEWARE OF VOLUNTEER PETEN.

The road to happiness has a bike lane on it. www.mostlymaya.com

3

I got the same vibe Maya, and I did the exact same thing before reading your response. Clicked on both profiles, and came to the same conclusion.

Something like this leads me to believe that this is a desperate organization. I agree, avoid this one.

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness." - Mark Twain

4

Um.... Ok, so, you guys have concluded that IM fake and posting things to try to make people want to do this.

How incredibly disillusioning. Heres the reality of the situation: Ive read the recent replies from people in these forums, and its all "do your own research" so I dont want to take up alot of time. That said, TT is designed to be an exchange of experiences and expertise. My interest is finding someone who knows about this place. I have travelled in south america in 2000, and relied heavily on the experiences that others posted on the thorn tree, and after my preliminary research on peten, they look relitively legit, but figured if they were great, plenty of LP people would know about them. I kept reading the forum after my post and I come accross the "Lone girl" tag and the suggestion to search the site for related information, so I felt bad that i didnt do it before, and kinda dumb. I dont want to bug people, so I did a search through the TT to try to see if the same questions has been asked, and i came across one from recently enough to be related, by someone who claims to have worked with the group i would like to. WOW I can see how thats suspicious that i want to talk to someone whos been there. ME, posting a tag asking if someones been there, and then I look for, well, a post from someone whos BEEN THERE. And reply to them, and ask them about it. Shocking how I do exactly as you recommend, and I'm chastized for it. I'm legit, I don't know if the other person is, but think about the normalacy of a person who states that they're doing PRELIMINARY reseach posting a short note, and leaving a note for someone who says that they volunteered 10 years ago and would like to again- it shouldnt be called into question. What are your motives following people around checking on when they first signed up? My old password is long gone, I needed to create a new login, because i havent travelled in many years. I havent had a great need to be at the LP website since I was travelling, it just makes me jealous. Thanks for welcoming an old friend. that was great.

I get that you're trying to protect the legitimacy of the TT forum, and that you're passionate about this area, but now everyone who looks this up will be encouraged to think that this organization is fraudulent- which I dont know! that is SOOO not what i wanted to do. You would think that if an org was as shady as you presume them to be, they would troll around and post responses to things that dont mention them by name etc. good god, can you say conspiracy theorists?

5

At the very least, it looks like someone used shady means. It's just too much of a coincidence. Maybe you can come back as Goldstar55 and convince us otherwise.

The road to happiness has a bike lane on it. www.mostlymaya.com

6

I thought this place was for people who actually want to help others, or learn. I'm sorry it seems like a well planned web of lies, but in actuality, i signed off quickly last night becuse "lost" was on. sorry to disappoint, but theres no web of lies. at least not on my part. cheers though. Thanks for the faith, good will, etc.

7

Juni:

Shameless promotion and issues similar to "Shilling" tend to happen here. It happens over at Tripadvisor as well, hotel owners rating their own hotels five star, with positive comments.

The people who are posting here looking for good organizations to volunteer are obviously kind hearted souls. Some of these organizations charge a lot of money for the "privilege." Having worked around NGO's in Guatemala on numerous occasions for the past seven years, I take it seriously when someone is willing to donate their time, money, and energy to help those less fortunate. So, yes I do look at user profiles when this topic comes up. A lot of stories out there with regard to volunteers having bad experiences.

As Maya mentioned, it seemed like too much of a coincicdence.

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness." - Mark Twain

8

I am sorry if it seems like I was promoting a good thing, I was. You see I went to Guatemala in January and used TT extensively as a form of researching to see what it was going to be like, I never joined, posted because everything I wanted to know was in the FAQ, or seemed to be asked over and over again by the many people who do not read through the FAQ. Anyway I got home a couple of weeks ago and was browsing when I came to TT and the first question on the Guatemala page was about the organization I had just worked with for the past 3 months (by the way you can see my pics if you want: http://community.webshots.com/user/TwsGuatePics) and said wow, I got tons of help from TT before I left to go on my trip, it seems like it would only be right if I told you about my experience as well, and answered some questions for people who might want to know, be better prepared or so they can trust something that might not seem like, but is a legit organization. My username is my email address, believe it or not I like to play golf, and when I was 17 and in high school I came up with a goofy email address (golfstar55) sorry for not being more professional. I am not an oober nerd that posts every 5 seconds, and has a comment on everything and anything that is Guatemala on TT, however I know one thing, Volunteer Peten is a good organization doing good things, and if you do not want to believe that, I am sorry, but such is your prerogative. Also I stand by what I said in the first message, if anyone wants to know anything more about Volunteer Peten feel free to email me, and I’ll do my best to answer.

By the way, although I am sure about 3 people who post on TT think they are experts and know absolutely everything there is to know about Guatemala and every organization, tourist site, etc., I am sorry to tell you that you are mistaken, and just because you have an opinion, or think you know something doesn't mean that someone else doesn't know more, or have more experience, so calm down, take a break from sitting in front of the computer, and go for a walk, it will be better for your health anyway!

9

More telling was that #1 was on for a very very short time, 17 minutes, and the persona must have zeroed in on the thread to post that longer message, which appeared not long after you logged off the first time. It might even have been a well meaning colleague of yours. LP has had questionable information posted here before, at times by two entities who had just joined and who appeared to coordinate things for a single purpose. We have learned from this, so you don't get a free pass.

I think you honestly want to help people. At least, based on your other post, I do, but I think you took the wrong approach here. Based on later thoughts, I doubt very much that the organization you asked about would approve of the apparent means undertaken here.

There are ways of honestly helping locally worthwhile efforts. There are those of us here who do precisely that and who try to learn to do it better, so don't lecture us here.

Come back if you would like to be helpful or to learn. There will be no vengeful memories here, especially not with me.

The road to happiness has a bike lane on it. www.mostlymaya.com

10

Smokemon I thank you for your realization that I'm not trying to take the TT world for a ride, or some sad person who has to try to tout a cause I believe in to try to spur others on with me. If I really wanted other people to join me on a crusade, I would start with people I know, not strangers in a fairly anonymous forum, with some sad plan of action that involved signing in under seperate user names to snare unsuspecting persons into volunteering for my own cause. I just wanted to find someone who's been there.

Its ironic that i chose LP as a place to post for help because I specifically didn't want to ask for contacts from volunteer Peten because I was afraid of getting fake inflated responses, or the best pickings from the people who have worked there. And now Im in the vortex of this aweful LP soap opera, which is both hilarious and sad.

Mayaphile-I love that there is still the assumption of something shady. This is ultimately pure coincdence. I'm incredibly sad that circumstances have unfolded as they have because i was looking for real information and all i got was a lousy ride on the "youre a fake" merry go round. The unfortunate truth is that with the internet, theres no way for me to prove my veracity, but I was genuinely trying to just get some first hand recountings of how it is down there. Thats why this place (TT) exsists, and thats what I was using it for.

Like golf guy, I too used my email adress= junipersona@hotmail.com to come up with my username, its the same email adress Ive had since highschool, because its easy for me to remember. If you like, feel free to facebook me and see that im not some shady person out to destroy the credibility of what you obviously think of as your site. I am actually trying to verify what I hope to be my experience. All i seem to be doing is vilifying myself on this site, as now you KINDA seem to accept the genuine exsistence of the volunteer peten organization, but still think Im in cahoots with golfstar55 or something.

I get the idea of trying to discourage blatant bolstering/falsifying of information within this site. Nobel effort, and very nice of you to do as someone who wants people to have a genuine top notch experience. But you could certainly give people the benefit of the doubt SOMETIMES that they are actually new people to this site, or have never actually had anything to say, but have used the site for information. I dunno. I guess I was naive about some things after all. Specifically what I should expect when asking an innocent question.

I never asked for a "free pass" I asked for answers from someone first hand. If anything, my posts cast doubt on the genuine nature of Peten, because I ask straight out whether theyre on the up and up. so thanks for treating me like im ruining any chance they have for representing themselves as a viable effort in the world, but what am I supposed to do? You and your counterparts who have been here for years and years run people up and down the rails if we dont look into things ourselves. So I do. I have found an organization that sounds like one I would like to work with, so I ask about it specifically and all I get from you is flack. That is so frustrating. totally counterintuitive. Next time, Ill log on, ask a totally general question, let you tell me I'm stupid for not looking it up myself, then I'll post more detailed questions, and then you will still tell me that I'm not up to snuff. I never asked for your personal stamp of approval.

Thanks for the semi sanctimonious reply, Im not vengeful, I was asking for help, and now, not from you.

11

Ok, and I apologize, I do recognize that my response just now may look like a lecture, and perhaps it is. But I have just received one as well, and when I came here looking for help, and I get a lecture, and my credibility isnt just questioned, its taken for granted that Im scamming, I reserve the right to state my peice back. thanks for understanding that. I'm all for being buddys. I just hate being tromped on.

12

Many of us want to help the people of Guatemala, but we need to realize that part of the problem is that there are so many people and too few jobs. Knowing this, we should see that just another pair of hands is not going to do a lot of good, unless the situation is unusual; such as the area being very isolated or the work very specialized. What most groups need is not another body. They need money, supplies, or the like. Needing money doesn't necessarily mean that the orginazation is not legitimate, but just as in the U.S., one should find out what percentage of the contributions go to the people who need it.

From what I have seen, living in Guatemala, my suggestion would be to only work as a volunter for an organization that doesn't ask for one cent for anything other than food and lodging. Once you have been down here, you will get to know a lot about different orginizations from people who are working with them, but one must be really careful. There are a great many volunteer organizations down here, and from what I have seen, more of them benefit the director and his lifestyle much more than the needy of Guatemala.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime. Give a man religion and he will starve to death praying for a fish.

13

Juan3-
Thank you for that very thoughtful response. Definitely something to think about. The 2 month program with peten asks for 650.00 US, and you are billeted with a family. Does that sound outrageous?

14

junipersona,

$350.oo per month is the average middle class white colar worker's income in Guatemala. Mabe this can help you decide what is a reasonable amount to pay for room and board.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime. Give a man religion and he will starve to death praying for a fish.