Rose Cohlmia, 63, spent one week in Jordan in November on United Planet’s House of Tales and Music Quest. With this trip being her first to the Middle East and third overall, Rose is proof that first time experiences do not all have to be done early in life! The Oklahoma native kindly shared with us some moments from her trip in an interview.
Before her Jordan Quest with United Planet, Rose had volunteered at an orphanage in Russia and worked to empower women in Costa Rica. Once again, she aspired to place herself in a new and different culture while creating a positive impact. Since she always loved reading about Jordan and its history, Rose decided to travel to the Middle Eastern country to immerse herself in the local culture.
Throughout the week, Rose worked at a girl’s shelter, where she spent each day with the children doing arts and crafts projects and sharing music to foster positive self-expression among the girls. She led group activities intended to influence a new generation of strong, emotionally stable and open-minded children. Her eagerness to help and be an active volunteer in the community was perfectly illustrated at a 6-year old’s birthday party, when she was “asked if I was in charge of everything, because I was running around and helping so much! It was pretty flattering.”
Her time in Jordan, however, was anything but routine. One of Rose’s most memorable experiences during the week was an unplanned visit to a Syrian Refugee Camp. There, she met with other teachers and musicians and met many of the children from the camp, with whom she made crafts and sang. Rose recalled the impact that the children from the refugee camp had on her:
“One girl made an incredible puppet and she was only five years old. She also had the most beautiful voice, and it made me appreciate how wonderful her talents were at such a young age…especially after having lost [her] home and even [her] country.”
Rose also had the chance to visit several other cities rich with history, such as Amman and Petra. Within Amman, she visited the Citadel and then ventured to the Dead Sea, which is famous for being one of the world’s saltiest bodies of water (so much so that people naturally float!) However, Rose picked Petra as her favorite city, reminiscing on its enormity and rich history. It was also the location for her very first camel ride, which lasted over a mile!
During the week, Rose stayed with a homestay family with whom she became quite close. One of the aspects of the homestay and of the entire trip that Rose appreciates most is meeting with members of the Muslim community. With Islam being a faith that she had little previous interaction with, she shared that she “is happy to have friends now that are from this different religion because it is so different from the experience of my hometown, and I also feel very happy to have new global friends.” While Rose is American, her background is Lebanese. She expressed, “I really want people to know the Middle Eastern countries…they are beautiful countries with wonderful histories.” Throughout her weeklong stay, she did not meet one rude person and is very glad that United Planet gives people the opportunity to visit the country.
Now an experienced global volunteer, Rose emphasized that people shouldn’t shy away from these experiences when they are older. Rose laments that this kind of experience was not previously available to her:
“I wish I would’ve had this available to me when I was in college, how wonderful that would have been…to travel around as a tourist is really different!” We can only imagine how many more places Rose would have ventured to had she begun volunteering abroad in college!
Finally, Rose advises future volunteers not to worry about things going a little differently than expected because that is what makes the experience unique. According to Rose, “you need to be open-minded and enjoy your time” to fully embrace the experience of a new culture. And we couldn’t agree more!
Thank you, Rose, for your commitment to volunteering with United Planet and your dedication to helping others. We loved hearing about your experience!
Interested in your own Jordan Quest experience? Visit our website to see everything United Planet has to offer, or contact us at quest@unitedplanet.org or 1-800-292-2316!
ABOUT UNITED PLANET
United Planet is a non-profit organization with a mission to create a global community, one relationship at a time. Established in 2001, United Planet offers volunteer abroad, virtual internships, internships abroad, gap year volunteering, and global virtual exchange in more than 40 countries.
