optional 20-day development internships (funded to the tune of A$1200 from the pro-
gramme). Alumni are encouraged to continue to participate in the AYAD selection proc-
ess, state representative programmes, promotional events and mentoring outgoing AYADs.
If you did not volunteer through an organisation in your home country, you may miss not
being part of any formal returned volunteer network in your part of the world. If this is the
case, contact an umbrella organisation that represents the views of international aid and
development agencies in your country. There is a list of these with contact details on p241.
Money
If you are a short-term volunteer, chances are you didn’t give up your job or accommoda-
tion before going overseas. However, if you volunteered for longer and didn’t manage to
negotiate extended time out from your employer, settling back in at home may involve a
degree of financial planning.
Some of the larger sending agencies that dispatch skilled volunteers overseas long term
offer a resettlement grant to returned volunteers. If you don’t volunteer with one of these,
you might have to budget (see p50) for your return home. Depending on your personal
and professional circumstances, money is often required to untie all those ‘loose ends’
covered in Chapter 4, like finding a job or somewhere to live.
Sian Davies, who volunteered in Tanzania for two years with Médecins du Monde (p143),
makes this point succinctly:
If you are away for a length of time, you have no credit rating so you have to pay upfront
for rent etc. Make sure you have a few thousand saved up for when you get back.
Job-hunting
If you are returning home from a longish volunteering stint, one of your primary
considerations is likely to be finding yourself a job. The good news is that in most cases
international volunteering is an asset on your CV and should be highlighted as opposed to
buried. Many volunteers choose to list it as one of their achievements, showing fully what
skills they learnt and developed while away. It is also a subject that often comes up in job
interviews – employers can be genuinely interested in what you did, what it was like and
how you think it was of benefit.
John Lees, career coach and best-selling author of Take Control of your Career and How
To Get a Job You’ll Love, says:
International volunteering is great for your CV because it shows resourcefulness and
imagination (choosing and planning to do it), and also gives you a broader perspective on
the world. The danger is that the experience says little to a recruiter. Communicate why
you did it, what you learned and achieved, and how this experience makes you a smarter/
sharper/wiser employee!
If possible, you should also try to obtain a reference from a key person on your volunteer
programme. If you have difficulties arranging this, a reference from the sending agency or
charity you volunteered with will be just as good.
Changing Careers
Karen Hedges is very clear about what nine months of volunteering did for her life, career
(and hair):
Volunteering literally changed my life. It enabled me to change careers and I am now
doing something I truly love (working in the press office of an international development
charity). It also taught me that I CAN live without a hairdryer (if I have to).
When you volunteer overseas you step out of your usual environment and step back from
your current life and your profession. This gives you an unusual degree of objectivity,
which can lead to reassessing your career and life choices.
A significant percentage of international volunteers come home and decide to change
their career paths, go freelance or start their own businesses. For example, Jacqueline Hill
returned to consultancy work when she came back to England from Bangladesh, but only
for four days a week. On the fifth day she volunteered for the charity WaterAid (%+44 (0)20
7793 4500; fax +44 (0)20 7793 4545; [email protected]; http://www.wateraid.org; 2nd Flr, 47-49 Durham St, London
SE11 5JD, UK) and Hope and Homes for Children (%+44 (0)1722 790111; fax +44 (0)1722 790024;
[email protected]; http://www.hopeandhomes.org; East Clyffe, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP3 4LZ, UK). Six months later
she set up as a sole trader offering management consultancy services to the charity sector at
substantially reduced rates. Similarly, Katherine Tubb worked in tourism, but after she vol-
unteered on VSO’s Youth for Development Programme in Nepal (p95) she returned home
and set up her own not-for-profit sending organisation called 2Way Development (p182).
Interestingly, some returned volunteers end up working for the sending agency they vol-
unteered with. After doing a masters degree in marine biology, Jan-Willem van Bochove
worked as a postman before volunteering with Coral Cay Conservation (p134):
I was a Project Scientist and Expedition Leader on two Coral Cay projects in Southern
Leyte in the Philippines and Marsa Alam in Egypt. I was working voluntarily to oversee
the science programme, give scientific training to volunteers, set up Marine Protected
Areas and do community work to increase awareness of the issue and help local people to
develop their coral reefs in a sustainable manner. When I was in Egypt, the founder and
Managing Director of Coral Cay Conservation called me and asked if I would be interested
in a paid position as the Chief Technical Adviser on the Southern Leyte project. I said ‘yes’
immediately and am now responsible for writing up the final reports, analysing the data
and overseeing the scientific work.
And, after five months volunteering with Trekforce Worldwide (p115) in Belize and Gua-
temala, Robert Driver now works in their marketing office:
I can proudly say that I am now working for them! I tried working at a few big companies
and found I was not inspired by anything they did. I really wanted something to challengeWriter Isaac Asimov said ‘I do not fear computers – I fear the lack of them,’ and certainly in
this age of technology haves and have-nots, access to information is at the cutting edge of
raising living standards worldwide. It is predicted that the entire human race will be online by
2016, changing the face of sustainable development in the process. It’s no surprise then that
a new space for ‘virtual volunteering’ is emerging on the information superhighway. Virtual
volunteering refers to volunteer tasks completed, in whole or in part, via the internet. It’s for
people searching for volunteer opportunities they can complete via computer because of time
constraints, personal preference, a disability or a home-based obligation that prevents them
from volunteering on-site. Virtual volunteering allows anyone to contribute time and expertise
to organisations that utilise volunteer services, without leaving home.
But how do you get involved in virtual volunteering? The United Nations has set up a website
promoting an online volunteer service (www.onlinevolunteering.org) to bring development
organisations together with people who can contribute their skills and expertise online, from
administrative staff to translators to web designers. You can register on the website and then
browse through a database of projects. Another useful organisation is InterConnection (www.
interconnection.org), which recruits volunteers to provide free or low-cost websites and virtual
training for charities and NGOs. You can search for virtual volunteering opportunities world-
wide on the Volunteermatch website (www.volunteermatch.org/virtual).
And you can always keep an eye out for your own virtual volunteering opportunities. Spotted
a small-scale weaving operation on your South East Asian travels that could benefit from
having a website designed for it, for instance? Travelling is a great way to spot grass-roots
organisations that could do with an extra set of hands.Virtual Volunteering
09: Coming Home :Settling Back In