Volunteer Abroad

[kalliea]

I thought this could be a place for people to post volunteering opportunities. A friend and I are looking for some places to volunteer in SE Asia and Nepal.

Also, there is a Habitat for Humanity build in Vietnam near Christmas. They are still looking for volunteers.

[Beer Baron]

Good call

[word]

So, yeah, you didn't respond to my PM about the H4H build in 'Nam. While I might be a jackass to you here on the forums, I promise that IRL I'm actually a really nice guy (usually). Are they actually looking for volunteers, or is this a scam (pay a bunch of $ to go on vacation in 'Nam for a while, swing a hammer for a bit, then go back to your friends and tell them all that you volunteered overseas, "helped people," learned what "real" Vietnam is like, and can feel like you're better than all the other tourists you see there)?

[chuckle]

Also, if you don't mind me asking, how did you hear about this? I tried emailing H4H Japan directly because I was interested in abroad volunteer opportunities this upcoming summer and they basically told me to keep checking their web site which they never seem to update... still just have summer 2010 opportunities listed but nothing else >_<

[Jojo]

Also, if you don't mind me asking, how did you hear about this? I tried emailing H4H Japan directly because I was interested in abroad volunteer opportunities this upcoming summer and they basically told me to keep checking their web site which they never seem to update... still just have summer 2010 opportunities listed but nothing else >_<

jetwit.com

[Kegger]

So, yeah, you didn't respond to my PM about the H4H build in 'Nam. While I might be a jackass to you here on the forums, I promise that IRL I'm actually a really nice guy (usually). Are they actually looking for volunteers, or is this a scam (pay a bunch of $ to go on vacation in 'Nam for a while, swing a hammer for a bit, then go back to your friends and tell them all that you volunteered overseas, "helped people," learned what "real" Vietnam is like, and can feel like you're better than all the other tourists you see there)?

Mmm, from my experience it seems like it is very difficult to get on an organised trip that isn't what you described up there. It's ridiculous how much places charge for the privilege of helping out too.

[word]

Mmm, from my experience it seems like it is very difficult to get on an organised trip that isn't what you described up there. It's ridiculous how much places charge for the privilege of helping out too.

Yeah, it sucks.

Before you pay to volunteer abroad, think of the harm you might do | Ian Birrell | Comment is free | The Observer

[Jojo]

Its a shame your not in niigata - there is a charity trip to papua new guinea every year..this year the trip was cancelled due to lack of interest...

[jerseywonder]

Word - very interesting article, cheers for the link. This is a topic that I find really interesting, although I'm still unsure as to which side I fall on. I volunteered at a slum children's charity in India for 3 months ... fitting the stereotype in the Guardian article, I was 19 and on my gap year, and I didn't really have a clue about what I was doing, I didn't have a prior understanding of the childrens' backgrounds or cultures, and I don't know if I made much of an impact other than providing some short-term entertainment. However, it is one of the most life-changing things, for me, that I've done. Selfish, maybe, but it has given me a different perspective on many things. Now I'm older and wiser (a bit), and I am planning to return to the charity next year after JET for an indefinite period. This time, I know what to expect. I know more about how and why people end up in these situations. I know that I won't be saving the world, but hopefully I can make a small difference, whatever that may mean.

Nonetheless, I still feel uncomfortable when I hear of people going off to foreign countries to volunteer, particularly for short periods such as a fortnight or even less (which amazingly, some charities accept). Hypocritical I know, and I accept that I wasn't aware of the issues raised in the article when I went away for the first time, but I did choose the charity I volunteered at partly because it only accepts volunteers who do a minimum of three months, which I guess the staff see as the point where short-term blurs with long-term volunteering. They also require a police check from all volunteers, don't charge extortionate fees (don't charge any in fact), and have a permanent core of Indian staff who provide a support network to the children. I looked into many different placements whilst planning my gap year, and found lots of companies, such as i-to-i, that charge hundreds or thousands of pounds for a couple of weeks in an orphanage.

In Cambodia over Christmas I saw flyers inviting tourists to come and visit orphans. I saw Westerners throwing out handfuls of sweets to street children who immediately passed them onto the adult accompanying them without eating any. My friend actually went to Kenya with i-to-i and has stories of tourists swanning into the centre she was at, posing for photos with the 'orphans', distributing toys and games, and then disappearing after an hour, probably to boast to their friends about how they saved some African children. She ended up hating everything about the company, which channels very little of what people pay to volunteer to the charities themselves.

I'm sceptical about the good things like this can do, and sometimes of the motives for volunteering. Again, I'm fully aware of how hypocritical this is of me, and this is an issue that I've not managed to reconcile in my head yet. But an example - some JETs from my prefecture went to Thailand over Christmas to volunteer at some children's charity. They went for a week. They spent another 2 weeks in Thailand, no doubt sunbathing and drinking. But I'm sure because of this first week, they felt vastly superior to all the other people just there on holiday. Things like this surely can't be doing any long-term good. I guess the most we can hope for is that they don't do any long-term damage either.

Sorry for the (possibly incoherent) ramble, but as I said this is something that I'm really interested in, and I'd like to hear other people's opinions if anyone's willing to share!

[kalliea]

So, yeah, you didn't respond to my PM about the H4H build in 'Nam. While I might be a jackass to you here on the forums, I promise that IRL I'm actually a really nice guy (usually). Are they actually looking for volunteers, or is this a scam (pay a bunch of $ to go on vacation in 'Nam for a while, swing a hammer for a bit, then go back to your friends and tell them all that you volunteered overseas, "helped people," learned what "real" Vietnam is like, and can feel like you're better than all the other tourists you see there)?

I don't know. I think it might be a bit of both. It looks like some pretty long work hours, so I don't know. But you do pay for it. However, the person I talked to said the accepted people who weren't part of the 'package.'

Global Village Program - Habitat for Humanity Int'l

[wry bread]

What do you guys know about PEPY? I'm interested in their Golden Week trip.

[word]

Hmm. Trivial, wanna take this one?

[Kegger]

A bunch of people here are going to India via GoLongitude.

Reasons why this annoys me:
1. They're "volunteering" for 7 or 8 days
2. It's costing 200,000 YEN excluding "Besides this we ask all the volunteers to try and collect donations for ARV which goes towards building materials and other community support programs. Materials for one home costs US$1500."

Also, this:
"BUT you will have a chance to see a part of India that very few foreigners get to see and you will also get to connect and meet with like minded JETs from all over the world placed throughout Japan. India is a very bustling and exciting place to be right now."

From the JET who is organising it. -_-. Sigh.. Like minded sheep you mean, who have more money then sense?

All I want to do is to rock up somewhere, and help someone who needs it or asks for it, with no god darn middle man. And this is exactly what I'm gonna do following JET.

[bananaloaf]

I volunteered at a slum children's charity in India for 3 months ...

Would you mind naming the charity you worked with? And would you recommend it, even though it's not ideal?

I'm looking for cheap, semi-long term options post-Jet. I'm also a qualified teacher so a charity that asks for qualifications would be nice (usually most of them say 'no teaching experience necessary, just pay $$$!' which is not exactly reassuring).

Also, has anyone heard anything good / bad / indifferent about ecoteer? Volunteer Abroad | Teach English | Volunteer Conservation | Charity Volunteer

[person]

In regards to the article.

It's probably true that most short term international volunteer endeavors are for personal gain more than helping the local people. This is not to say that these organizations and volunteers have no positive impact.

In reality, a majority of young college graduates and the average citizens of a developed country don't have the skills required to help a developing country. (construction, agriculture, skilled teacher). Those who are generally qualified will not go abroad to volunteer for a long time since skilled labor pays well in their respective countries and they know short term volunteering can not take advantage of their skill set. However, what unskilled short time volunteers do have is money. So these organizations let inexperienced hammer swingers and teachers go to a foreign country to make an "impact" for a week so that they can get enough money to continue doing some good such as paying local laborers, purchasing materials and continuing their organization.

It allows young adults the opportunity to travel to countries they may otherwise avoid if they didn't have a group of people to go with. It let's them at least see another aspect of a country's society which is usually overlooked as a tourist. It may also inspire this individual to do long term volunteering which may have a greater impact in the future.

I have done a few international volunteer trips. I first volunteered in Thailand. I always wanted to go, and at the time it was just something "extra" to a trip I already wanted to take. I never was part of an international volunteer team before and thought it would be a good experience for me while helping others. It is a direct project between JETs and the orphanage. So there is no middle organization to speak of. Trip fees were reasonable (which included a donation to the orphanage) and all fund raising that was done went directly to orphanage. I enjoyed this, and made some great connections with the kids there that I went back this past year, and will be going again next year.

I also volunteered with GoLongitude in India. Although I don't really regret the experience, it was much different than Thailand. It was expensive, even though expenses in India are cheaper. Meaning having the middle man "GoLongitude" between volunteers and ARV (grassroots Indian volunteer organization) was somehow causing extra expense. I felt that the relationships built with the people we were helping to be rather unimportant. However, we did work hard and speed up the construction of homes. If anything we brought money and a few extra hands to help out.

What it really boils down to, is how much of a difference you want to make and if the volunteer environment is conducive to it.

Whereas harm can be caused, and exploitation is rapid in developing countries, there is also good that can be done, even in a short amount of time if you are committed to that time.

[word]

I dunno, are you sure the orphanarium in Thailand was legit? Reading that article had me all worried that such orphanariums might be populated with children who are being exploited in order to acquire tourist dollars. The article was pointing out that well-meaning "volunteers" often do far more harm than good without realizing it. By "volunteering," such persons may take job opportunities away from locals, create situations in which unscrupulous individuals may take advantage of their good will by exploiting children and poor people for their own personal financial gain, and influence local beliefs and traditions with Western ideals that may or may not be beneficial to the populace.

Your argument is that the volunteers bring money, but I question whether or not that money is actually going to the right places. GoLongitude seems legit, although they do seem to be set up more as a fund-raising organization rather than a volunteer organization (despite the fact that the volunteering aspect is their public face).

[person]

Yes, I am positive that the orphanage is legit.

It isn't a sad, "cry me a river" atmosphere. The kids all eat well, probably healthier than I do, and the building is in good condition as well as a new building under constuction to give the older kids a different space from the younger kids. Also the orphanages philosophy is something I can agree with and see in action. I like volunteering there because it is obvious that the kids enjoy their life. The orphanage also runs a school, allowing primary education for all the orphans and even children in the town that are not orphans. It sees that they can go to high school, and if there is an outstanding student they will even find a way to send them to university.

I've heard of other orphanages in Thailand and SE Asia, so the article you posted is true in many respects. However, it shouldn't be something to deter someone from volunteering, even just short term, since there is also a lot of positive effects of volunteering. Not to mention, much exploitation is from local peoples too.

As far as local jobs, the orphanage supplies a lot of work for the local people in the community. The amount of "full" time foreign volunteers is actually not even enough.

I think one can never be 100% sure of the validity of any corporation. However I see more good being done than bad, and that is a good start to keep it going in that direction.

Volunteers do bring money, but it is their responsibility to research and observe to know if the investment is actually in the best interest to those that need it. I would think GoLongitude is legit, however there is a lot of legitimate overhead costs that take a good percentage from your pocket before it reaches the hands in need. However without GoLongitude many of these people and places in need would not have such a large voice to bring in the volume of volunteers/cash. That is the positive of large volunteer organizations, since someone has to do less active searching themselves.

[Trivial]

Oh boy, you’ve hit on something that I’m very opinionated about here, but I’ll try and keep it short...

The article that Word posted absolutely nailed it. I lived in Siem Reap and worked with PEPY for six months, and that’s one of the better accurate articles that I’ve seen regarding the ethics of irresponsible voluntourism. It is beneficial almost solely to the person taking the trip, and in a vast majority of situations ends up doing more harm than good.


Instead of looking to volunteer abroad, look for opportunities to engage in “responsible tourism.” Any company that is offering a chance to “do good” in a foreign country by supplying unskilled labor might be trying to make a quick buck or could be a deluded idealist.

All I can say is that PEPY is by far the most responsible organization that I’ve ever seen when it comes to responsible tourism abroad -- they are EDUCATIONAL trips, not volunteer trips, and they don’t try and trick people into thinking that they’re doing good. There are no orphanage visits, and they actively try to educate people who go on their trips.

I’ve invited the director of PEPY to come in and comment on this, as she's massively more knowledgable and passionate about this subject than I am. Her blog over at Lessons I Learned|NGOs, Voluntourism, Cambodia, and Life Lessons is a great resource for learning more about the subject, and to learn more about PEPY you can visit the NGO arm's website at www.pepycambodia.org.

Definitely check them out.

[Trivial]

double post

[wry bread]

Thanks Trivial. I am wary of doing a volunteer trip that would only serve to make me feel pious, but PEPY sounds legit. I can't afford to do it now, but maybe next winter vacation.