Most volunteers look for a balance between giving through work and receiving something
in return. Katie Hill, who taught in India through Development in Action (p165), feels that
she found the right balance:
DiA is a small organisation that depends on volunteers, but it focuses on development
education. It’s not just about going out, doing the placement and then coming back. The
work done with partner organisations in India is realistic, and is as much about learning
and bringing experiences back to the UK as helping out in India. I learnt far more than I
could have ever given in such a short space of time. I gained an insight into development
work that I wouldn’t have had with a big, packaged expedition. I think this will be valuable
to me, those around me, and my future career.
Oliver Middlemiss, who taught tribal children in rural India with Dakshinayan (p158),
also feels the scales were well balanced:
The education went both ways. While the children were learning English, I was learning
that kids are kids wherever you are in the world. Through Dakshinayan, I learnt first-hand
what rural India and rural development are really about.
Look at how many partners or projects the organisation works with. If it’s only one or a
few, then it’s easier to determine whether the organisation can offer you what you’re after.
With structured programmes, particularly with overseas, grass-roots organisations, hav-
ing lots of partners is not necessarily a negative factor – it can be an asset. So long as the
organisation has an ongoing, proven relationship with these partners, you may find exactly
what you’re after. As Matthew Sykes discovered in Brazil:
The number of contacts that Iko Poran has means they can find a good fit with the skills
and interests of volunteers.
While the best way to determine if an organisation is for you is by getting in touch with
some of their past volunteers, in the end you should trust your instincts. When asked
why he chose to volunteer with Cultural Destination Nepal (CDN, p162), Michael
Best says:
I didn’t have any real reasons for choosing CDN over another organisation. The picture
that CDN painted for me appealed to me as a person. It was all very natural from the
moment I received their letter of acceptance.
Expectations
According to an ancient Chinese proverb, ‘The one who goes with an empty cup may have
it filled. The one who goes with a full cup leaves no room for new experience.’ In other
words, be open to the unexpected and don’t head off with such a full agenda that you miss
out on opportunities to learn things or to make a difference. Volunteering with structured
programmes generally means that there won’t be a clearly defined task awaiting you. How
the placement evolves is, to a large extent, left up to you and it’s unlikely you will be guided
every step of the way. Therefore, you need to expect as many stumbles as successes.
After volunteering in India, Katie Hill advises:
Be realistic. This is difficult to begin with because of all the excitement, but soon enough
reality will hit and it’s best to be prepared. Things aren’t going to be easy, and there are
going to be days of self-doubt and frustration. Achieving anything in such a short space
of time is difficult. People spend their whole lives doing work such as you may be doing
- a few months is nothing really. Be realistic about why you’re volunteering. You will not
change the world, but you will learn a whole lot. It probably won’t ‘change your life’, but it
will be an experience that will stay with you, influence future decisions and hopefully those
around you for the rest of your life.
Structured programmes are more about the overall experience, especially as they often
involve a high level of cultural immersion. It’s likely that what you accomplish and take
away with you – what you will look back on as your most rewarding experience – will not
be what you expected.
Thinking back to his placement in Brazil, Matthew Sykes says:
It probably sounds corny, but I really did take a lot of pleasure from how chuffed the kids
were when they were able to make themselves understood in English. Even when lessons
didn’t go quite so well, you could tell that it meant a lot to them that two foreigners had
come to spend time with them. They also gained a lot of confidence – even teaching us a
bit of Portuguese.
It’s worth questioning how reasonable your expectations are at the outset. Michael Best,
who volunteered in Nepal, was in need of a reality check:
I went away thinking that the trip would change me so much, that I would come back in
a Zen state and everything would be right with the world. Well, that didn’t happen. I got
involved in the trivialities of life in Nepal as if I were still at home. So in a way the trip
taught me one big thing: no matter where in the world you go, whether to Africa, Asia or
America, you’re always you. There is no big change, maybe just a little growth.pros & Cons
As with other types of volunteering experience, there are pros and cons to structured
placements. While these vary between organisations, there are some common ones that
can affect your volunteering experience. Consider the following information when decid-
ing if a structured placement is for you and, in particular, if a specific organisation meets
your needs.Cost
The low cost of structured placements is a drawcard for many volunteers. Far less ex-
pensive than most organised placements, structured programmes open up international
volunteering to those without a fat wallet. Even when airfares, insurance and any necessary
in-country travel, accommodation and food costs are tacked on to the placement fee,
structured programmes are still considerably cheaper. This is largely due to the DIY factor;
you’re not paying anyone to book transport for you or to act as a guide etc.
Matthew Sykes’s experience of volunteering through a structured placement in Brazil
reassured him that he chose the best deal:
We thought that the fully packaged expeditions seemed overpriced for what they offered
and this was confirmed after a while in Rio. Iko Poran also acts as the local coordinator for
packaged firms so, essentially, we were cutting out the middle man and saving quite a lot
of money. We are very independent people and didn’t want any of the hand-holding that
might come with a packaged scheme.
If you are comfortable taking on the role of middle man and prefer to hunt down the best
deals for flights and insurance yourself, then you may find that structured programmes
suit your personality as much as your finances.
Of at least equal appeal is the fact that most organisations offering structured placements
are small and do not have large overheads. Because of this, volunteers often feel that more
of their money is going directly to where it is needed most. They also feel that their role as
a volunteer isn’t simply to feed money into the organisation, but to make a genuine contri-
bution through both a modest placement fee and actual on-the-ground activity.
Gerrard Graf, who taught at an orphanage in Tanzania through Volunteer Africa (p171),
chose a structured placement for this reason:
I wanted to be part of a volunteer project where I could see that I was making a real
and tangible difference to the people I was working with and for. With some of the fully
packaged expeditions, it is questionable whether you are actually providing any real06: Structured & Self-Funding Volunteer Programmes:Pros & Cons