Reality Check: Volunteering Abroad
(especially for Westerners)

That said, the days of international volunteers are NOT numbered: there will always be a need for international volunteers, either to fill gaps in knowledge and service in a local situation, or because a more neutral observer/contributor is required.

So, to volunteer overseas, you need to have skills and experience that are critically needed in a particular region, and that can be utilized by local institutions and local people quickly. To be able to train others in these skills increases your chances of placement.

There is no way to list all of the skills needed in the developing world, and there's no way for one person to acquire them all. A listing of international volunteering opportunities will include calls for midwives, civil engineers, lawyers, financial managers, weavers, sanitation experts, police trainers, wine growers, photographers, farmers and various other specialists. Many volunteer postings, particularly those where the volunteer does NOT have to pay for placement, require people with a Master's degree in a specific area.

But there are certain qualities that are looked for in all volunteer candidates, and certain areas of specialization that are in frequent demand. These include:

• experience in training others in a specific area of specialization, such as an activity that could lead to job development for local people, or, an activity that directly improves local people's quality of life (in a way that will be sustained after the volunteer leaves).

  For instance, teaching motorcycle or tractor repair, training nurses aides, training in tailoring and sewing, teaching elderly people to use the Internet to find information they need (government pension, health, etc.), teaching a community or families about caring for people with HIV/AIDS, teaching children about good sanitary practices or peaceful conflict resolution, teaching an entire department to use a new, complicated database program, teaching adults to read, teaching farmers how to fight pests organically, training teachers to implement a particular teaching tool, etc. Many of these are experiences you can gain as a volunteer in your local community (more on that later), or through your professional work wherever you live now.

• experience working with people who are traditionally socially-excluded, such as immigrants, people with disabilities, people with HIV/AIDS, prisoners, etc. Or, other specific populations who may have special needs, such as women, children or the elderly.

• experience managing or facilitating a capacity-building program, such as a literacy project, or an income-generating program, like a cooperative.

• experience in high stress, crisis situations, such as in a disaster or a conflict situation.

• experience relating to educating people, particularly children, teens and sexually-active adults, about HIV/AIDS and other health risks.

• experience working in an election, such as setting up and staffing a voting site, and training others to work in an election.

• experience helping or directing a large-scale, highly-specialized local community-transformation projects, such as building a canal, putting all local government public documents into a searchable database, creating a cooperative, etc.

• any experience teaching any subject on a high school, college or university level.

• experience working in another language. For instance, not just that you took two years of high school Spanish, but that you have traveled extensively in Spanish-speaking countries, or that you use at least some Spanish in your job.

• demonstrated ability to work effectively under pressure and in a highly political environment.

• demonstrated ability to navigate and work with large bureaucracies.

• strong inter-personal skills and cross-cultural sensitivity.

• extensive experience in making presentations and conducting workshops, particularly to diverse or non-traditional audiences.

• volunteering or working at local nonprofit organizations that serves high poverty areas, people with disabilities, youth, the elderly, abused women, women re-entering the work force, etc.

• taking emergency response courses and volunteering through the American Red Cross (or the Red Cross, Red Crescent Society or Magen David Adom in your local area); this is essential if you want a chance to participate in disaster relief efforts.

• volunteering or working for organizations that help people with HIV/AIDS, or that educate people about HIV/AIDS.

• volunteering or working in a hospice, particularly one that serves people with HIV/AIDS or cancer patients.

• volunteering or working for organizations that provide health-related education, advocacy or care.

• volunteering or working in a literacy program, not only in helping people learn to read, but also helping with the administration of the program and promotion of such a program to low-literate and semi-literate communities

• volunteering or working at a job-training organization or initiative.

• volunteering or working as part of a voter-education initiative or local election.

• volunteering as a firefighter, and receiving training in specialist areas, like hazardous material cleanup.

• volunteering or working as part of an advocacy effort, such as advocating for recycling, women's rights, indigenous rights, immigrant rights, environmental regulation or education reform, particularly in a highly-political environment.

• volunteering or working at an organization focused on micro-financing and financial education for people from low-income communities, immigrants/migrants, etc.

• helping at a youth center that is focused on at-risk young people, and develops positive, worthwhile activities for the youth to engage

• taking intensive language courses, becoming certified in that language by the official language body, such as DELE for Spanish, and seeking local opportunities to use your language skills. If you are looking to add a second language to your English abilities, consider any of the other official UN working languages: English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese and Russian. Hindi is also an excellent language to learn, as it is even more widely spoken by some of the previously-mentioned languages. Portuguese speakers are in high-demand as well.

• volunteering online with organizations focused on the developing world. The Online Volunteering service is where organizations working in the developing world recruit online volunteers to design web sites and publications, build databases, research information, translate documents, prepare presentations, moderate online discussion groups, etc.

Don't try to "do it all." Specialization is more valued by potential placement agencies than generalization.

Your curriculum vitae (CV) should detail your volunteer and professional experience that will be of particular value in-the-field. You might want to prepare a special CV or resume specifically for seeking volunteer assignments, that is focused on the skills and experience you think would be most valued by volunteer-placement agencies.

One thing your CV won't always reflect, but which you will also need to volunteer internationally, is a very stable emotional and financial state. If you find yourself easily frustrated or having trouble dealing with stress, daily activities or people you view as uncooperative, if you are feeling overwhelmed or depressed, or if you are facing financial problems and debt, volunteering abroad is not something you should consider right now.

For an idea on what is looked for in international work, have a look at the job postings on ReliefWeb. Although most of these postings are for paid-placements, the listings give a good idea of what is being looked for in international volunteers as well.

Organizations that place volunteers in developing countries, mostly for long-term assignments, and that do NOT require the volunteer to undertake costs his or herself, include:

• PeaceCorps, long-term opportunities for USA citizens only
  
• CHF International, short-term international volunteering opportunities for USA citizens only
  
• Winrock International, short and long-term assignments, mostly (but not all) relating to agriculture, for USA citizens only. Look under BOTH "volunteers" and "jobs."
  
• International Executive Service Corps (IESC), now includes Geekcorps. Short-term volunteering assignments for USA citizens only.
  
• VSO, based in the United Kingdom, involves mostly UK-citizens in its ranks, but does involve some long-term volunteers from other countries
  
• Australian Volunteers International, for citizens of Australia only
  
• VSO Canada, for both Canadian and USA citizens
  
• NetCorps Cyberjeunes Canada, for Canadian citizens only
  
• German Development Service, Deutscher Entwicklungsdienst, or DED, for German citizens only
  
• France Benevolat, for French citizens only
  
• Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers, for Japanese citizens only
  
• United Nations Volunteers
  

There are many, many organizations that also place international volunteers but require that the volunteers pay the costs associated with the placement themselves. I'm not listing those, not because there is anything wrong with such a requirement, but because there are so many such organizations. There is a listing of the more-than-30 member organizations of the International Volunteers Program Association (IVPA) that is a good place to find reputable volunteer-for-a-fee programs. Also see this page of a massive number of links to organizations that place volunteers internationally. This is a mixture of organizations that do and don't charge volunteers for placements.

The Learning Abroad Center Work, Intern, Volunteer (WIV) Database, hosted by the University of Minnesota, allows you to search work, interhsip and volunteering opportunities all over the globe. There are more than 500 programs to choose from, and you can search by keyword, region, type of program, etc.

Here's ONE endorsement of a program, because this program was featured on CNN International, and one of the organization's key people frequently posts to online fora that I'm on as well: Unite For Sight and its partner eye clinics and communities work to create eye disease-free communities. "While helping the community, volunteers are in a position to witness and draw their own conclusions about the failures and inequities of global health systems. It broadens their view of what works, and what role they can have to insure a health system that works for everyone..." This program was featured on CNN International. Volunteers, both skilled and unskilled, are 18 years and older, and there is no upper age limit. It is obligatory for accepted volunteers to purchase insurance coverage through Unite for Sight's recommended provider, and volunteers are responsible for all travel arrangements, visa vaccine requirements, lodging, airfare, food, and any additional expenses.

Lonely Planet published the book Volunteer: A Traveler's Guide to Making a Difference Around the World. It lists and reviews more than 190 organizations that provide short-term volunteer-abroad experiences.

I strongly recommend the book How to Live Your Dream of Volunteering Overseas, by Joseph Collins, Stefano DeZerega, and Zehara Heckscher. It will give you details about what international volunteering really entails, why some organizations require that international volunteers pay, suggestions on how to raise funds for such, and an excellent overview of your options for fee-based overseas volunteering. But best of all, it provides tips and worksheets that can make your volunteering have real impact for the local people, and benefits for you long after the experience is over.

For those who think it's wrong to have to pay to volunteer overseas: again, remember that it is much more beneficial to local communities to use funds to hire local people to serve food, build houses, educate young people, etc., than to use those resources to bring in an outside volunteer. The priority is not you and your desire to help -- the priority is local people being employed. Volunteers from outside of a community are needed to fill gaps in local skills and experience, but it's not cost-effective for most organizations to pay for someone to come only for a few weeks or months. If you want a short-term volunteering assignment, be prepared to pay for at least your travel and accommodations.

A WARNING: Several individuals and organizations have posted horror stories about volunteering through the Institute for International Cooperation and Development (IICD), also affiliated with California Campus TG (CCTG). Both organizations are part of a Danish network known as "Tvind." Its volunteering program also operates under the name "Humana People-to-People". See Zehara Heckscher"s warning about this very shady organization for more details and links to other sources. IICD/CCTG/Tvind/People-to-People is not an organization I recommend.

Also see:

• Volunteering To Help After Major Disasters
  Whenever a disaster strikes, hundreds -- even thousands -- of citizens in the USA start contacting various organizations in an effort to try to volunteer onsite at the disaster site. But what many of these people don't realize is that spontaneous volunteers with no training and no affiliation can actually cause more problems than they alleviate in a disaster situation, particularly regarding disaster locations far from their home. If you want to be a part of the mobilization for a future disaster, here are tips to help you get into "the system," get training, and be in a position to make a real difference.

• Vetting Organizations in Other Countries
  One of the frequently asked questions I receive is: "how do I know if a mission-based organization in another country is 'for real'? I want to volunteer/donate to such, but first, I want to make sure it's a credible organization, that it's not some sort of scam, or an 'organization' of just one person." This list of suggestions is my answer.

• Hosting International Volunteers
  More and more local organizations in developing countries are turning to local expertise, rather than international volunteers, to support their efforts. However, the need for international volunteers remains, and will for many, many years to come. This resource provides tips for local organization in a developing countries interested in gaining to international volunteers.

• transire benefaciendo: "to travel along while doing good."
  Advice for those wanting to make their travel more than sight-seeing and shopping.

• My Lonely Planet Blue List: Doing Good On Vacation in a Developing Country. Please rate it (I hope highly)

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