Camino de Santiago de Compostela

[Rebekah Scott]

I´ve been a volunteer hospitalera for several years, and am increasingly aware of an interest among pilgrims in training and becoming hospitaleros. There is no dedicated online Hospitalero site in English, so I wonder if some of the volunteers who lurk hereabouts might be interested in providing info and exchanging insights right here at Ivar´s Virtual Albergue? (Ivar says it´s OK).

Just as a start, I´ll offer my own experience and answers (and guesses!) to anyone with a question or comment. Advice is solicited as well as dispensed!

I was trained as a hospitalera in London via the UK Confraternity, and in Toronto via the Spanish Federation and the USA-based American Pilgrims association. (I am a USA native.) I´ve volunteered for varying lengths of time at CSJ albergues at Rabanal del Camino and Miraz, as well as Spanish Federation albergues in Fuenterroble de Salvatierra, Salamanca, Ourense, Eunate, Ponferrada, and Sahagun (Las Benedictinas); I currently take in pilgrims at my home in Moratinos.

I sometimes attend hospitalero and Camino development events sponsored by the UK Confraternity of St. James and the Federation of Spanish Friends of the Camino Associations (which make me insane); I can post reviews of these events here if there is interest.

So let us know if these are matters considered useful to you all, and what kinds of topics you´d propose.


Rebekah

[William Marques]

Perhaps Ivar could start a new Topic File in "Pilgrim Topics Related to all Routes" titled "Hospitaleros".

[ivar]

I think this is a great idea!

Perhaps Ivar could start a new Topic File in "Pilgrim Topics Related to all Routes" titled "Hospitaleros".

It has been done...

Worst case, if in a years time we realize that there is not really that much interest in this topic, we can just merge all posts here into the Misc. section.

But if there is interest in this topic, we certainly have some "hospitalero experts" here

Greeting from another day with sun in Santiago,
Ivar

[sillydoll]

Hi Reb,
It isn't possible to train in South Africa, so perhaps you could give a few pointers on what is required of a volunteer. I downloaded a pdf file on a CSJ Hospitalero Workshop which gives an idea. I tried to attach it here but it was too large.
I would like to volunteer to do a stint at the end of my walk next year so any advice would be most welcome.
Sil

PS: I am good at scrubbing floors, loos and windows!!

[KiwiNomad06]

It's the same in NZ - no training here. The only thing I can think of is that one Irish-family-run gite I stayed in on the Le Puy route, where they speak English!- might be glad if I offered them my help for a week or two next time I hit Europe!!- but that might not be for some time yet.....
Margaret

[WolverineDG]

You know, sil, with all these far-flung pilgrims, perhaps some sort of online course could be developed? The US training only occurs once a year & always at a bad time for me. You're in South Africa, Margaret's in NZ, & I'm sure others in places that don't offer hospitalero training would like to do this.

Kelly

[Deirdre]

I took the training course with the Canadian Pilgrims (thanks Tom!) in Toronto in April, 2008 and am h9oping to volunteer next year. I did help a little in Rabanal - mostly with language. And I think I helped Reb and Paddy a little - mostly with conversation! haha
It would seem to me that since a prerequisite for the training is that one has actually walked the Camino, that an online course might be feasible. I do know that Tom Freisen told us that some of the training offered by the Spanish Association is a weekend prior to beginning one's stint as hospitalero - perhaps spending some "overlap" time with the outgoing hospitalero prior to taking over.
I'd be willing to help with putting something together.. I have a little english and a little spanish...
Buen Camino,

[jl]

To add to your places that don't have training - as far as I am aware, there is no training conducted for hospitaleros here in Australia. And for those of you who think it would be easy to combine with NZ - we are 2 seperate countries, two and half hours away by plane!. Mind you those living in Sydney are also the same distance from Perth, and so even in Australia having one course may not be helpful! More food for thought! Janet

[Rebekah Scott]

very interesting. I will need to ask the Spanish Federation people how they´d feel about accepting the training credential of people who do online courses, but as desperate as some of these hostals are for help... Maybe Javier could help with this? Javier, will you be at the big hospitalero roundup in Zaragoza in December? Maybe we could do some campaigning there?

I will contact the American Pilgs hospitalero coordinator, (who is a mensch) and the Candadians, who I think use the same format, and see if we can adapt some of their curriculum for this. Somehow they manage to stretch a training over two or three days. It includes lectures and medical and spiritual components and some lovely sessions in the kitchen, learning to cook for a crowd using minimal ingredients and equipment. (I always show up in time for dinner!)

(I am always amazed at the number of newly trained hospitaleros who have great people skills and accounting methods, but have no idea how to clean a toilet or mop a floor or start a laundry load!)

People who have pdf´s of training materials, etc., please email them to me, and I´ll try compiling them into useable sizes and files for posting as wikis or otherwise. Original material will be duly credited.

I don´t see why this can´t work, especially as the antipodians are so accustomed to adjusting and flexing. Please let me know what elements would be indispensible to you in a hospitalero training setting. I am a writer, I´ve done some lecturing, but this is a new field for me and I can use all the input I can get!

Rebekah (rebrites (at)yahoo.com)

[ivar]

If this online course needs a home, I can set up a e-learning classroom here on this site.

I would suggest that the materials would be pdf documents, graphics and maybe some mp3 recordings made by the "veterans" on the various topics.

Let me know if this would be of interest.

Saludos,
Ivar

[sillydoll]

I've been waiting for Brett to post on this topic but he hasn't yet.
Don't forget to read his blog:

http://innkeepersguide.blogspot.com/

[vjpulver]

I understand that the Pilgrims here in the USA will offer hositaleros training in conjunction with the annual gathering of pilgrims. This year, the events are scheduled in March 2009 in Albuquerque, NM.

I can well imagine many trainees will have eye-opening experiences learning to deal with those amazing butane hot water heaters! It is too soon for me to be an effective hospitalero since I have yet to walk (May 2009!) but having lived in Spain for a decade of my younger life, I do have some inside experience and knowledge of some of what may be expected. What a joy it would be to be the host and mentor making the pilgrim's journey even better as they pass through...

Rebekah - thanks for initiating this thread and compiling data!

Life is good...very, very good...

"Ginn"
Sipping Tinto in Sunny Santa Fe - Salud!

[William Marques]

Perhaps, Roads to Santiago: a Spiritual Companion, published by CSJ could form part of this distance learning course. Is is not expensive and many of the prospective hospitaleros will already have a copy.
£4.95 plus post from the CSJ bookshop - http://www.csj.org.uk/acatalog/The_CSJ_ ... nts_4.html

[Rebekah Scott]

Thank you to everyone who´s posted here and emailed me personally. I am now trying to sort it all into some logical order, whilst doing my Castilian Idiom Total Immersion driver´s education training in the tiny backstreets of Leon!
(the actual on-the-street driving exam is Oct. 20. Pray for me!)

This weekend there´s a meeting of Spanish Federation honchos in Sahagun, and I hope to run this Online Hospitalero Training idea up the flagpole Friday night at dinner. Can those in the NZ, Australia, South AFrican communities give me some idea of HOW MANY potential trainees there may be out there, before I get too far with this? I need the info soon as possible, as I am trying to put things into writing.

Thanks
Reb.

[sillydoll]

Reb, thanks for your efforts. I have sent out an email to our local mailing list - Cape Town CSJ will send out to the rest of the country. I've had three positive replies already so I think the response will be good. Will come back to you in the morning.

[jl]

Hello Rebekah,

As yet, here in Adelaide (and surrounds), as far as I am aware, we don't have a formal organisation (mailing list, once a quarter / half yearly meeting etc) and so it would be very difficult to say. It is my intention to call a gathering of interested pilgrims - past and future - but haven't quite got there yet. I suspect that in the Eastern States there could well be some interest from individuals and perhaps they could answer on an individual basis - as could the Sth Aussies. I am not sure what structure there is over there. Sorry I can't be of any more help than that.

Cheers, Janet

[Rebekah Scott]

Good news and bad news on the Antipodean Online Hospitalero front:

I met on Saturday with Ana B., the woman in charge of the Federation Hospitalero program, and asked her about the idea of training Southern Hemisphere volunteers without access to "live" sessions via an adapted online forum. She thinks it´s a great idea, and said go ahead and get crackin´ with adapting materials current in USA and Canada. (at least that´s what I THINK she said...!)

Unfortunately the lively and charismatic people who do "live training" in Spain told me today they think online hospitalero training is an impossible idea, that hospitaleros must be trained in person, and in Spanish, by them. (the fact that my training, done in London and Toronto, was all done in English somehow didn´t register.)

My spoken Spanish isn´t up to the task of arguing this with them, but I will contact the original Ana B. tomorrow and make sure we are on the same page... We can´t let politics and turf-battles derail a fine idea, eh? I´ve decided not to worry about this, let St. James deal, etc.

But do say a prayer, OK? This bad Spanish problem is getting to be a real obstacle.

Meantime I met the Famous Jose Ignacio and heard some wonderful albergue stories and legends!

[ivar]

Unfortunately the lively and charismatic people who do "live training" in Spain told me today they think online hospitalero training is an impossible idea, that hospitaleros must be trained in person, and in Spanish, by them.

Is this training volunteer work or are they getting paid to do it? If they get paid, they may see this new idea as a threat to their jobs.

I have developed 7 online courses at university level and have found that the ideal mix is to have some training in person and some training (once back home) online. If for geographical reasons we can not meet, an online course is much much better than nothing. Alternatively it could also be used as a meeting place after a "in-person" class on each continent.

...just ideas..

Saludos,
Ivar

[KiwiNomad06]

Lol if the training is offered in Spanish, I wouldn't understand much more than the greeting at the beginning! In my case, as I speak a reasonable amount of French, it perhaps makes more sense for me to write to one of the gites I stayed in in France to offer help if they need it. But it might be a while before I next spread my wings in any case!

[sillydoll]

Thousands - perhaps millions - of people study through distance programs. I met an author a couple of months ago who has 7 degrees and has never been inside a University!

[Deirdre]

Hi Reb,

I've heard your Spanish - and it is way better than you think! Trust what you know! You're doin' great!

¡Tonteria! I was recently looking at a website - HigherEd jobs.com - and there were postings for university professors for distance learning online classes.

Of course it is great to get together with a group and hear the stories and share in the learning... I had a wonderful time in Canada in April. But the reality is that much of the information I brought home on paper to keep and to review... that part could easily be done by computer.

It seems to me (and please correct me if I'm wrong!) that the mechanical part of the job (cleaning, tidying,shopping, etc) is different at every albergue and really must be learned "on the job". A broom and a mop in New Zealand and Australia are pretty much the same as they are in North America and Europe, no? It's the hospitalero's "bag of tricks" that really needs to be prepared before hand... and to me if someone want to "give back" to the Camino in volunteer service...I think versatility is key.

Don't give up - I think Ana is pretty savvy and reasonable to deal with. She deals in "distance" with the American and Canadian pilgrims... she can speak directly to you! And you're right.. let Santiago take care of it.

Buen Camino,

[Rebekah Scott]

Here´s a bit of encouragement for those who believe they must have official training in order to become hospitaleros:

The original hospitaleros were homeowners who offered passing travelers a place to stay. Abraham offered hospitality to passing strangers, and found out he was entertaining angels. Moses was offered a place to stay on his early travels, and ended up marrying into the family! A starving widow offered a scraggly stranger a place to stay in the starving town of Zeraphath, and the Prophet of God miraculously provided her and her son with enough oil and flour to feed themselves through the end of the famine...And Jesus told his followers that anyone who offers even a cup of water to a stranger who asks for it is, in essence, giving Jesus himself a cup of water.

And at least one-fourth of the "official" hospitaleros I know started on that path by being asked -- or volunteering -- to stay an extra few days at a pilgrim facility and help out. Ponferrada is a good place for that, and Ventosa, El Acebo and Manjarin and Arroyo San Bol as well. It really is very much a "common sense" practice.

Training is a very good idea, for all the reasons stated in the posts above... not everyone knows how to offer an evening prayer, coordinate a meal for 20, balance books, greet strangers, or clean out drains. And training ensures that insurance regulations are met, hospitaleros form a sort of "family network," and the worst of the possible Bad Hospitaleros are screened out.

But if you really want to be one, the job will find you. You don´t HAVE to go looking for it!

(that said, the work goes forward for an online training thingy!

[ivar]

that said, the work goes forward for an online training thingy!

Great! I can take care of the "tech" part once you have things lined up

Greetings from rainy, sunny, rainy and then sunny again Santiago,
Ivar

[Barbara]

So, a support network.....
But really being a hospitalero isn't rocket science. Just do what you enjoyed people doing for you when you were a pilgrim, and remember what you hated. A large dose of common sense, more tolerance than you would think possible, and a realistic amount of cleaning. A bit like being a mum, isn't it?
Let's not turn looking after tired people into something that needs a university degree, eh?

[Anniesantiago]

I would LOVE to volunteer to be a hospitalera... Can anyone give me information on the training offered in New Mexico in 2009? I went to the website and didn't see anything? Help?