Questions On Volunteering Overseas

Volunteering can be a great way to give something back to the communities that have enriched your travels.  Whether you decide to travel for the purpose of volunteering or just volunteer along the way, you will be doing something positive for the people that have helped make your trip or passed trips such an experience.  Yet some organised programs can be a money spinner and sham, plain and simple. Before you commit is is worth asking some serious questions on volunteering overseas…

So where to start?

How do I make travel more meaningful? What you do will depend on your interests and what sort of contribution you wish to make.  It might be a year-long commitment or just a few weeks (or even weekends, offered by some companies). You can do almost anything while volunteering; you just need to find the right fit for you, and importantly, the people you wish to help out.

For the really dedicated, a year volunteering is the norm (usually through an NGO, which will require this amount of commitment and a thorough process of interviews and skills testing before you can get the nod). For the short term volunteer ‘volunteering holidays’ with a tour tacked on the end are becoming popular.  For these short trips everything can be organised for you and you usually don’t need any particular skills to help out.

Volunteering need not necessarily be organised before you leave Australia. The process of volunteering overseas is usually not as difficult as it is made out by some companies offering you their services to set up a program before you depart.  While travelling you can usually just show up to, or stumble upon, different projects and go from there.  Volunteers are rarely turned away when in genuine need.

In almost all cases while volunteering, you will have to pay your own way (including flights, accommodation and even meals).

Whatever you decide it’s really important to research the organisation you plan to volunteer with.  There are plenty of companies operating in Australia and worldwide that are cashing in on the rise in popularity of volunteering overseas.  Your money and time are better off away from these companies.  There are plenty of links at the end of the article to get you started with reputable organisations.

Volunteer Holidays

So you want to save the world? It is difficult to critisise anything as positive as good intentions, but it is worth putting that aside for a minute. There are many awkward aspects to volunteering, especially for the short term. These might not be so clear when you are looking at a glossy brochure promoting everything from teaching kids to helping emotionally unstable elephants.

The explosion of ‘voluntourism’ (sorry for the ism) is relatively new and caters largely for the 18-24 year old market.  It’s an absolutely huge market in the U.K and is steadily growing in Australia.

Generally having some sort of skill set used to be a big factor when volunteering, but no longer is this the case. Volunteering is big money.  Big businesses are customising volunteering packages for everyone, regardless of their expertise, motivation or time line. This is great if the volunteers are filling a genunine demand, but unfortunately in some cases this has led to projects being created and matched for the volunteers’ needs rather than a volunteer being matched to an existing project. This is a strange reversal of roles between volunteers and the people (or animals or grass patches)  they are supposedly helping. Who is helping who? And why?

Companies such as I-to-I (quite popular in Australia and Europe) will offer programs to volunteers in a range of destinations and have programs ranging from building work in Africa to helping turtles in Central America. These programs can be useful for very short trips, but similar programs can be organised elsewhere without the considerable amounts you will be charged by this and other companies.

Paying what can be thousands of dollars to work,  of which 100% is pure profit for the company organising your program and not the people in need, makes no sense.  Consider these points before deciding to volunteer with a commercial company:

• These are commercial companies run for profit.  Very little, if any, of the money you pay will actually reach the project you are working on.  Your services alone are what you are giving when you volunteer (consider I-to-I is owned by one of the biggest package tour companies in Europe).
• Why pay so much to let somebody organise simply find you somewhere to work for free? There are heaps of organisations that will happily take your services without charging you anything.  You will still have to pay your own costs in getting there and living expense, but you won’t be stitched up before you leave. Paying three grand or so (without flights) to volunteer for a few weeks is madness.
• Consider that if you book through a travel agent their company will be getting roughly 10% or more of the total fee you are paying (agents always work on commission).  This money and the rest of the “admin” fee is better given directly to those really in need.
• Check out traveller forums like Lonely Planet’s thorn tree; there are regular complaints about commercial volunteer programs

Aside from the commercial aspect of volunteer tourism, another consideration is whether or not you are doing the right thing by local communities by volunteering there in the first place.

Would you want your child taught by different and often unqualified teachers rotated every few weeks? or even people that just volunteer on weekends, as is offered by some companies? Despite the hype there are not often shortages of teachers willing to stay longer term in many places.  To be blunt, most people volunteer for selfish reasons.  It’s hard to question anybody’s good intentions but you might find yourself in a position doing more harm than good, especially through commercially concocted programs.

The positives to this type of program might be more the people you meet than the actual help you give.  You will most likely be in a group of likeminded travellers and get more of a chance to meet and interact with locals than if you were just passing through.

Just be wary of any glossy brochures and any company asking for massive fees to set up the program. While making one kid smile might be a great motivation, it’s perhaps better to try and stick it out longer term if you really want to try and make a difference in their life.

Organised Programs/Long term volunteering

If you want to make a long term commitment to volunteer abroad there are both commercial and not for profit companies that will be able to provide you with a placement and support while abroad.  There are literally hundreds of these types of programs/organisations.  A commercial program will be less likely to require specific skills while NGO’s and not for profits will usually need you to actually have some specific skill to offer (think qualified doctors, nurses, teachers, engineers ect..)

You may get an allowance on long term projects but in most cases you will be funding the process yourself (and paying large fees for the commercial programs).  If you want to really try and make a difference then being in a place long term is a start.  Check out the links below.

Links

Ethical volunteering

A good place to start the process is by checking out the site Ethical Volunteering (http://www.ethicalvolunteering.org/).  It has lots of great tips and questions to ask both yourself and any potential organisation before you decide to volunteer.  Highly recommended!

Organisations

Australian based organisations

AFS Intercultural Programs (http://www.afs.org.au/) International community service on projects ranging from four to twelve weeks.

Australian Youth Ambassadors for Development (http://www.ayad.com.au/). A government program sending 18-30 year olds to volunteer for 3-12 months in a variety of roles

Conservation Volunteers (http://www.conservationvolunteers.com.au/) For volunteering options at home and abroad.

World Youth International (http://www.worldyouth.org.au/) Accepts 18-30 year olds for 5 week community projects in Africa, Asia and South America

International Organisations/ NGO’s (Non government organisation)

ATD Fourth World (http://www.atd-uk.org/) Organises 6 month places around the world

Earth Watch Institute (http://www.earthwatch.org/) An international organisation with ECO volunteering options worldwide

Engineers Without Borders (Aus) (http://www.ewb.org.au/) Placments for engineers.

International Committee of the Red Cross (www.icrc.org) Major international aid organisation

Médecins Sans Frontières (www.msf.org.au) Doctors without borders.

Teachers without borders (www.teacherswithoutborders.org) Placement for qualified teachers worldwide

Other useful sites

Intervol (http://www.intervol.org.uk/) Lots of general ideas on volunteering worldwide

Make Poverty History (http://www.makepovertyhistory.org/) A long running campaign to alleviate world hunger.

Serve Your World (http://www.serveyyourworld.com/) Advice on volunteering from the practical to the ethical.

Volunteer Holidays

Check out companies like Hands Up Holidays, World Expeditions and Adventure VSA for short term commercial programs with tours thrown in.

One more thing..

Volunteers are rarely turned away when in genuine need.  Be it as a doctor working abroad, teaching english, an engineer after the Asian tsunami; there is really no limit on the things you can do.  You just have to decide where you think your work will be of the most benefit and find a reputable organisation to organise your placement. Your money is better used supporting yourself while you volunteer longer term rather than with a commercial outfit?