INTERNATIONALVOLUNTEERISM

What is International Volunteerism?

It's simply the act of volunteering in any country otherthan your own. It is a very noble thing to do especially ifyou are doing it for the right reasons.

The whole point behind international volunteerism is tohelp others, but unfortunately sometimes people getinvolved for other reasons such as to travel, to pass aclass, to boost a resume, etc.

Guidelines

Here are three guidelines that can help you make surethat your participation in international volunteerism ismore helpful than harmful:

Be ethical in your choicesBe realisticBe informed

Be Ethical In Your Choices

Study the organization you plan to get involved with. Inquire about how they plan to sustain your effortslong-term. Ask how they involve locals and community membersas part of their volunteer efforts. Going off of that, find out how involved thesecommunities are in terms of deciding what thevolunteers should be helping with.

Be Ethical In Your Choices

Find out how the organization spends your fees andallocates their resources. Do they hire locals for staff positions? How much do they spend on administration versusvolunteer programs?

Be Realistic

Don’t get involved in international volunteerism if youare expecting to change the world in one day. Changetakes time, so be prepared to not see much of animpact from your efforts (unless you stay for years).Focus on seeing your contribution as being part of longcontinuum of volunteers’ efforts and contributions.

Be Realistic

Even though you should be very aware of the biggergoal of the organization, don’t underestimate the powerof small acts of kindness - a smile and a hug can go along way.

Be Realistic

The key is to balance between the big picture and theimmediate picture. And most importantly, always keepin mind that while you are playing an important role ina community, the future of those efforts are thecommunity’s, not yours. The best you can do is assist them in improvingwhatever they want to improve.

Be Informed

Before traveling to any overseas community, makesure you take the time to learn about the specificplace you will be visiting. Understanding a community in terms of their historyand how they go to where they are now, will allow youto understand their needs and better help them.

Be Informed

Studying their political and social contexts will also helpyou remain realistic of how far your efforts will be ableto go. Being informed is great because it will allow you toremain open-minded, which is key to internationalvolunteerism.

Use these helpful tips and start planning your firstvolunteer trip overseas.

Good luck!

Now what are you waiting for?