“I personally feel that any volunteer has to constantly be thinking of the role he or she is playing in the situation, and be honest about the benefit he or she will get, which is bound to outweigh the amount they will contribute in a small period.” Jenny, volunteer in Ecuador, 2004.
Having decided on a volunteer placement that excites you, the next step to consider is what it will be like when you arrive in your host community to start your placement. The key to overseas volunteering is to open your mind well before you leave home and keep it open all the time you are away. Former volunteers have continually stressed the importance of being flexible while in a placement, and volunteer placement organisations often list flexibility as one of the characteristics of an ideal volunteer.
However, simply having an open mind and travelling to another country and culture are not enough to automatically guarantee that you will learn from an overseas volunteer placement. It is also necessary to reflect on your experiences so that you can learn about the country and culture you’re in. A good way to do this is to learn how to question what you have seen and done from other perspectives. Additionally, it is very important to consider how you as a volunteer might be perceived by the host community with whom you will be working and living. Having the attitude that you are in a placement to learn, rather that just to help, can be a useful point from which to start asking the questions that will contribute to your knowledge and understanding. The experiences of former volunteers, who have undergone both the high and low points of volunteering, can point to some of the issues that might arise for you while you are overseas. In trying to understand the complex relationship between host and volunteer, you can get so much more out of your experience than by assuming it is all a simple case of the helper and the helped, the needy and the giver, of us and them.
(This information is based on field research done by Dr. Kate Simpson of Newcastle University amongst volunteers in Peru and Malawi, and Comhlámh’s testimonials from former volunteers)