“Volunteering overseas allows you to learn more about the actual structures and agents that help perpetuate poverty in that country. This can be done by educating yourself about the country’s history, economy and society before you go and while you’re there.”
As well as having some knowledge of the larger forces that are shaping structures and institutions worldwide, it is important for volunteers to know something about the history of volunteering throughout the ages. Today’s international volunteers will rarely be entering into a situation that is not in some ways defined or affected by the past actions of people from developed countries. A better idea of some of the bigger ideas around overseas volunteering can be gained by looking at the origins of international volunteering and how it has developed into its present forms.
Some of the big issues that affect development work and that will also have an impact on volunteers include power relations, gender in development, and racism. Having a knowledge and awareness of these topics helps to promote an understanding of the unequal power relations that influence underdevelopment throughout the world.