lonely planet -volunteer abroad guide

Choosing a mutually beneficial placement

It’s all too easy to make a snap decision when selecting a placement for yourself. You
might be so keen to slot volunteering into your travel plans that you focus on practicali-
ties such as costs and time frames and meeting your own objectives. You might not take
enough time to reflect upon whether you believe in the ethos of the organisation, whether
there’s a clear need for you, or whether you have the necessary skills. Elizabeth France,
who volunteered in Cameroon, advises:

I think it’s important to remember that, although you want do to something that you’ll
find interesting and rewarding, you also want to do something you feel could be useful to
the organisation and which will truly benefit them.

A hypothetical scenario will help illustrate this point. Imagine yourself in the situation of
an orphanage with no government support, run by a single devoted individual who wants
to improve the lives of people in his or her community. A foreigner turns up on your
doorstep offering to lend support. You’ve never met an international volunteer before and
you don’t really know whether this stranger has the appropriate skills or attitude, but in
your eyes all foreigners are wealthy and any interest and help is appreciated. Not wishing
to appear ungrateful, or to refuse them hospitality, you take them in. As it turns out the
volunteer ends up being a drain on your resources rather than a help. They don’t speak
your language, have never cared for children before and require constant supervision.
They complain all the time and leave after only a few days, not having paid for their board.
Nobody wants to be a party to that kind of scenario. The last thing you want is to be a
burden or a drain on an organisation’s resources – it’s totally at odds with the concept of
ethical volunteering. So bear in mind that as an independent volunteer the onus is on you
to ask the right questions and ensure that offering your skills leads to a mutually beneficial
outcome. (See pp26–27 for a comprehensive list of appropriate questions to ask an organi-
sation to ensure this).

further preparation

If you’re arranging the placement before you leave home, then you’ll have a hundred and
one things to sort out before you leave (for more on this, see Chapter 3). Even if you decide
to chance it and find a placement once you arrive in the country, you will still need to sort
out board and lodging and check that you have the appropriate visa.
Without a support network back home and with little, if any, support in-country, you
need to be aware of the potential risks to your health and safety and general wellbeing, and

08: Do-It-Yourself Volunteer Placements:

Directories & Useful Organisations

put together a back-up plan for dealing with emergencies. Critical questions to consider

include:

~ Is the area politically stable or unstable?

~ Are the transport links adequate if I need to get out quickly?

~ Where are the nearest medical facilities if I become sick?

~ What access do I have to telecommunications?

~ Do I have basic knowledge of the local language?

maximising Your Contribution

Wow, that was a lot of effort fixing up an independent placement! Things should run

smoothly from here on, as you’ve asked all the right questions. You can relax now – or

can you?

Finding the placement is one thing – actually seeing it through independently requires

even more effort and commitment. Here are some wise words from Kirsi Korhonen, who

volunteered in Bolivia:

You need to understand that sometimes things are done differently and not get all worked

up about the little things. Living abroad can be hard and you just have to take things as

they come. Your attitude is the most important thing. If you think positive, things will go

positively. If you let the unknown and the unexpected get you down, you’re in trouble.

Because the one sure thing about volunteering abroad is that there is always something

unexpected, and it’s not always good...

This is the advice of Karla Gergen, who volunteered in Ghana:

You need to really listen to the people you are working with, to suspend judgement and

learn from them. In that process, and through the work that you do, you may be of some

use. If you fall into the trap of thinking you can save the world (or this group of people or

this place), you will fail. You cannot do that. In order to be of any help, you need to recog-

nise the limits of what you can do.

The last word on independent volunteering goes to Mary Sears, who volunteered

in Bolivia:

Don’t listen when people tell you it’s too hard. Every little bit can help in ways grander

than you could ever imagine.

Kristine Randall, who volunteered with United Action for Children in Cameroon (p231), was

aware of the pitfalls involved with undertaking a volunteering role without a large organisa-

tion behind her, and took some steps to minimise her worries and the potential risks:

I chose Cameroon, because I wanted to go to a French-speaking country, but also be-

cause I recognised that, organising this trip independently, I wouldn’t have a strong sup-

port network available if something were to go wrong. I wanted to go to a country that

has been relatively stable in the past, and where I would feel relatively safe on my own.

I ensured that I registered with my embassy. In preparation, I spoke with previous vol-

unteers and communicated as much as possible with the project director. It truly was my

own initiative, my own project, my own time, effort and money and in the end I feel that

these factors made for a much more satisfying experience.

Minimising the Risks of Independent Volunteering

directories & useful

organisations

These websites and organisations provide

the contact details of grass-roots organisa-

tions and projects that accept volunteers

directly.

International Organisations

go make a difference (go mad)

[email protected]

http://www.go-mad.org

this web-based organisation encourages

cross-cultural understanding and global

peace initiatives by linking volunteering with

travelling. the site includes contact details

and comprehensive descriptions of small-

scale volunteer projects in many regions of

the world.

Independentvolunteer.org

http://www.independentvolunteer.org

this relatively new web directory provides

listings of projects and organisations that

charge no fees other than reasonable food

and accommodation costs. You can search

by country or type of work, as well as

read about the experiences of returned

volunteers.