The House of the Volunteers

There are a myriad of ways that JVC manages housing for volunteers in the US and abroad. Some houses are owned by JVC, others are rented. Our house is owned by the parish. It is known as “la casa de voluntarios” (the volunteer house). For the last 6 years, that has primarily meant JVs, but the house is not only for JVs.

The parish sends various other volunteers to our house from time to time. A few years ago María, a Spaniard who was a volunteer and then stayed on as a paid worker, lived with the JV community in the Mountain House. Last year Lucía lived with us all year, and Martha and Victor often visited. This year we've played host to a few different young volunteers, with stays ranging from 1 night to 2 weeks.

Most recently we've hosted Fernando and Clara, two Spanish volunteers who work in Ocongate. They arrived in September and stayed in the house for a week to acclimate to the altitude. As with Victor and Martha last year, or the practicantes this year, I think of Fernando and Clara as similar to cousins. They have their own home and daily lives, but we are related through the Jesuits. They are visiting Andahuaylillas this weekend and next weekend, which has got me thinking about my conception the house I live in.

Because it's exactly that: it's “the house I live in,” it's not “my house.” I'm very aware that this is the parish's house, and that I live in it for free. I feel no debt to the parish (after all, I'm a volunteer), but I don't feel the same semi-ownership I felt in the apartments I've rented, or the full sense of “mine” that I felt in the house I grew up in.*

I think of this house as a resource that I have full rights to use, but that is open to others as well. I live here full time. Fernando and Clara don't. But I don't feel like I have more of a right to the house than they do. The house that I live in is the volunteers' house; it's the house for all volunteers.

This attitude of non-ownership of “the house I live in” is an example of how I seek to practice Simple Living. It's an attitude I hope to adapt to my life next year when I will be living in a house that I feel some ownership of. Whether moving back in with my parents, or renting out an apartment with a friend, I want to continue to see the home as a space that is open for all who may need it.

Given the example set by my parents, who have welcomed so many people into the house over the last two years that they haven't had a true empty nester experience, I feel pretty confident that I'll keep this expression of Simple Living going for many years to come.

 *I know, that's my parents' house, and I have no legal ownership but, come on, it's my house too.