10 Things You Should Know About Volunteer Travel
4 August, 2009
Ever wanted to travel to a far off land and put your skills to use for a worthy cause? I say, “Do it!” These trips can be amazing adventures that change your whole outlook.
Here are a few things you should know:
1. You will get as much (or more) from the experience as those you helped. You go with the intention of helping others, but you’re likely to come home feeling as if you were the one who received. Volunteer travel has a way of putting your life into perspective, and you will gain a great deal from the experience.
2. No matter what your skills are, somebody out there needs you. Organizations are looking for people with skills in the medical, business, agricultural, and education fields. There are construction projects, orphanages, and village schools looking for willing helpers. You can even teach reading or your native language to people excited to learn. There are so many ways to help!
3. Follow your passion. Are you concerned about clear cutting in the Amazon rainforest? Anxious to end modern slavery? Heartbroken over the plight of AIDS orphans in Africa? There is an organization working on the problem that tugs at your heart. Roll up your sleeves and start researching. Keep looking until you find the right overseas non-profit working on your cause.
4. To get the most out of the experience, do your homework on the country and the culture. You are likely to be faced with vastly different ways of doing things. The more you know about the country’s history and the people’s culture, the easier it will be for you to understand why things are the way they are. Remember too, that people in the host country will have a different way of seeing the world. Try to develop an understanding of their perspective before you get there. This will save you from making misinformed judgments.
5. If there’s somewhere you’ve always wanted to go, start your search for opportunities there. Personally, it’s Africa that I hear calling. Where are you called to go? Asia? The Pacific Islands? South America? Every country has programs looking for enthusiastic people to help.
6. There are different kinds of volunteer opportunities for different kinds of people. Some organizations put you to work, others educate you on an issue while giving you an opportunity to get your feet wet. If you want to get your hands dirty, look for an organization that needs help with a specific project such as constructing a community building or digging a well. If you are passionate about a social issue, chances are there are non-profits who want to help engage you on the very cause you are passionate about.
7. The longer you are willing to stay, the more of your expenses will be covered. Nearly all short-term volunteer opportunities will require you to pay your own travel expenses. Some non-profits provide for your food and lodging; others do not. However, if you are willing to stay for nine months or more, there are many organizations who will pay your travel costs, and your living expenses for the duration of your stay. Some even offer a stipend for incidentals.
8. If you are concerned about having a lasting impact, look for an organization which has long-term involvement in the region. For instance, if you’re building a school, does the organization or the receiving community have a plan for paying the teacher? If you are installing a water purification system, will the community receive ongoing support to keep the system running? I recently heard of a village which was the recipient of such a water system. One of the units is now being used as a flower pot, another as a baby bassinet. The non-profit installed the system and moved on—no follow up. This happens more often than you might think.
9. As soon as you arrive, make an effort to learn the most useful words in the native language. Start by learning how to say, “Hello” “Please” and, of course, “Thank You.” Take every opportunity to learn new words as you go. You can be sure that the people you are there to help will be impressed and appreciative of your efforts.
10. While you are there, keep an eye out for needs you can help meet after you’ve returned home. For instance, during a trip to Cambodia we delivered school supplies to an impoverished village. I learned that the village had no medical supplies whatsoever—there wasn’t so much as an aspirin in the whole community. When I got home I raised a modest amount money and put together a comprehensive first aid kit for the community. I then made arrangements to send the duffle bag full of supplies with the organization’s next team going over. It was a great opportunity to magnify the impact of my original volunteer work.
by Tammara Phillips
TamPhi7@gmail.com
Having rarely been out of the country, my expertise in this matter is thin. Nevertheless, I wish to point out the importance of numbers 4, 9, and 10. 4 is perhaps the most important, and probably the reason that there is still so much mistrust in the world. Travelers simply don’t take the time to get to know the people they are around, and thus they misunderstand certain actions.
For many cultures, language is the most important and unifying aspect. Failure to learn simply phrases is a failure to understand the culture, especially phrases like “Thank you”, “I love you”, and “Forgive me”. Also, if you don’t understand a culture, you can’t hope to understand what they truly need. This is where 10 comes into play. If each person took the time to understand one culture outside theirs, consider how many connections could be made throughout the world. Connections leading to help and change.