Your Guide to Volunteering abroad

The first question I asked myself was: Why would I want to volunteer abroad?

First of all volunteering is a very rewarding experience whether you volunteer abroad or in your own country. However, if:

- You are feeling adventurous and would like to help people abroad
- You feel a sense of social responsibility
- You enjoy a change of environment and you like to travel
- You like to experience different countries and cultures
- You would like to work in developing countries,

then volunteering abroad might be the challenge you are looking for.

The benefits you get out of volunteering abroad are many such as:
- You get a sense of a purpose
- You go through a personal growth
- You meet other people you might otherwise not meet, make friends and build a network
- You gain confidendce and independence
- You learn to be more creative; you learn to do more with less
- You learn how to deal with people from different backgrounds, with different beliefs, views and customs
- You learn to appreciate all that you have back home
- you may possibly learn a new language

Usually short term volunteering is anywhere between 2 weeks up to 6 months. If you are committing yourself to Long Term volunteering it usually means a period between 6 months up to 2 years.

Many people nowadays want to volunteer abroad but most of us cannot afford to be gone for a long term project.

SHORT TERM might be the option if you are:

- a student and can only go during the holidays
- working but willing and able to do volunteer work during your holidays.
- not working but still want to choose for this option (maybe to prepare for a long term volunteer job)

For those of us who don't get many days off, it means you will have to sacrifice your holiday for a "working" holiday. Alternatively you could combine the two. There are some organisations that offer just that. For example: you could volunteer 2 weeks in Guatemala followed by a 2 weeks holiday in Guatemala.

You could also choose for a combination of Learning the language in your chosen country followed by for example a month of voluntary work in that country. This way you can immediately put what you learned in practise.

You may consider LONG TERM volunteering if:

- you can get a sabbatical from your work
- you are a student who wants to take a GAP-year (=up to a year off your study to travel and/or do community volunteer work abroad)
- you have the wish, time and resources to commit for so long

After deciding whether you want to do short term or long term volunteer work, your next step is to decide what kind of volunteer experience you want.

For short term volunteer work you can usually choose between an:
- eco/wildlife (nature) project or a
- social-cultural project (which can also include a teaching job)

Long term volunteering is mostly possible for social-cultural projects or teaching projects.

One way of volunteering abroad which is very popular is teaching English overseas. Many countries, projects require you to have the TEFL-certificate. This certificate is a guarantee that you have the capability to Teach English as a Foreign Language (TEFL). Even though English is not your first language you can still get an English teaching job if you can show that you have a TEFL-certificate.

There are various institutions where you can get TEFL-certified. Before choosing an institution, please make sure that they are reputable and internationally recognized.

Below you can find three TEFL-institutions that are recognized:

1. www.worldteflschool.com
2. www.teflonline.com
3. www.onlinetefl.com

Before taking a decision, please check whether you considered the following:

- For how long do you want to do volunteer work?
- In which country do you want to volunteer?
- What kind of work do you want to be doing?
- Have you found an organization that offers what you want at a reasonable price?
- Can you afford this? You will rarely be paid for your "short term voluntary" work . In most cases YOU are expected to contribute/pay when you want to do voluntary work for a project. Usually that will be considered a donation and/or a contribution towards your meals at work. Please check with your sending agency if this is the case.
- Do they also arrange accommodation, transport, airport pickup, etc?
- If you are not using an agency it might be a challenge for you to arrange accommodation. Check if your local employer can help you with that.

Now you can book your trip!

This chapter is as important as the chapter on Researching Volunteer Possibilities. Miss a few steps here and you might find yourself facing some big, unpleasant surprises at a later stage.

Of course nobody can prevent emergencies but if you go well prepared, you will be much better equipped to cope with any emergency.

HEALTH

Although safety is important, I think that your health is THE most important thing while you are out there. Depending on your length of stay you should get a complete medical checkup in your home country. I am not a doctor but I would suggest you have a physical checkup in any case ESPECIALLY if you are going for a period longer than 3 months.

Please check back home at your health centre which jabs(vaccinations) you need. This depends firstly on the country you are travelling to, secondly on your length of stay and lastly on the risk areas (for example you might go to a malaria risk area for holiday) and risk population(for example you may be working with people who may have tuberculosis).

I am sure you probably already know this but I feel I have to warn you again! HIV/Aids is predominant in most of the countries you will be travelling to. Don't think it won't, can't happen to you! Please, practice safe sex! Some countries have a pretty high percentage of infection rate. In Malawi for example, around 1 in every 5 people are HIV-positive! Enjoy life but Be Wise and Be Careful!

It may all sound very scary but if you take all the precautions (medical check up, vaccinations, always practice safe sex) you should have a wonderful time without much fuss.

Insurance is also very important.
- Make sure that you have a good medical insurance that will cover everything in case of an accident, in case you do get sick, etc. when you are abroad.
- If you use medication, remember to take a prescription where the medical (chemical) name is written. It shouldn't state the brand name of your medication because the brand names differ per country.
- Also remember to take enough medication stock to last you a few months.
- Attention: if you are travelling with a lot of medication it is advisable to get a letter from your pharmacist stating that these medications are for your use only. You may need this at the customs when you arrive.
- And last but not least, I would highly recommend to take a well equipped first-aid kit with you.

INSURANCE
Like I said before: you definately need a good health insurance. I suggest you also look into the following insurances that you might need.

- Coverage in case of emergency evacuation due to illnes and accidents
- Liability coverage
- Travel & lugage insurance
- If you are taking any valuables with you such as laptops, cameras, etc: you can insure them for your stay abroad
- If you own a house and are not selling it, you will need to keep them insured too (as usual)
- I hope your family won't need this but in case of your death it helps to have an insurance that pays out to your family (flying bodies back home is a very costly thing).

COMMUNICATION WITH HOME
You may get homesick or to the other extreme you may be enjoying yourself so much that you might forget your family and friends back home!

In any case it is good to keep in touch with home. In case of emergencies back home, they should be able to contact you quickly!

Also, I recommend you have one or more people who have the contact details for your family in case something happens to you! If e.g. you are very ill, unconscious and have to be flown to a neighbouring country, your employer, the sending agency or a friend will want to notify your family but they will fail if you haven't provided them with your emergency details.

My advice: write or print your emergency details and give it to your employer and at least one friend.

Find ways of keeping in contact:
-Phones: If there is coverage I suggest you buy a mobile phone so at least you can receive calls from back home. If you buy a local sim-card you will also be able to call or sms your newly made friends.
-You can always send/receive parcels and letters through normal mail (post office).
-In many places you now have access to internet which you can use to email, chat or even call (through skype).

COUNTRY RESEARCH
Now that you know where you are going you need to find more information on that country, people, culture, language and local travel possibilities. Lonely planet is my favourite travel guide publisher. I have used Lonely Planet guides on almost all my travels. Their books are well-researched and of high quality.

They have introduced a brilliant new service: If you only need a specific chapter of a book, then you don't need to buy the whole book anymore. Isn't that great? It's called Pick & Mix service! You only download individual guidebook chapters and of course you pay much less then the whole book. This is what I call customized product! This customized service is only possible through the Lonely Planet website (see link below).

If you click on this Lonely Planet banner you will be redirected to the Lonely Planet website where you can pick & mix your chapters and make your own guidebook for your next travel.



PS:
If you are going to work with children you will probably need a "proof of good conduct " from your country. Please check with your sending agency or your employer there.

- Check with your embassy but it is wise to let your embassy know that you have arrived, where you are living/working, and for how long you intend to be in the country. This is for your own safety in case of emergency evacuation
- Try always to have access to safe drinking water
-While you are out there, try to travel and discover the country. It doesn't have to be expensive. You can use the public transport
-Enjoy yourself out there. Who knows whether you will be able visit again in the future
-Don't put yourself in dangerous situation if possible.
-Respect the culture and their customs
- It's better not to discuss potentially dangerous subjects such as politics
-Try to understand and learn from them while they are learning from you too.