This is just a quick blog to air some pent up frustration over the attitudes of some volunteers.
There are as you may or may not be aware a lot of for and against arguments over young westerners heading out to developing parts of the world to do short term volunteer work. Are the volunteers taking a local person’s job for example? or are they really skilled enough to take the role of teacher/builder/carer? is the role they are filling a sustainable role or will the project be left short/worse off once the volunteer leaves again?
I, obviously, think volunteering is a good thing. I won’t go into the whole debate now but essentially I think we westerners do have something to offer and it is part of a big two way process – we benefit from our experiences – they, hopefully, benefit from whatever skills it is we can offer.
But, and here’s the problem, there are a few volunteers that give the rest of us a bad name.
When you volunteer you have to have a few things: patience, tolerance and, most of all, a real desire to help the people you are meeting and understand they can enrich your life as much as you can theirs, just in a different way.
I have met two volunteers this week who have really got my goat. They seem to think this is some kind of holiday camp and when they discovered they were expected to teach a class of kids they complained that that was ‘not what they had paid for’. Well excuse me but I thought what you paid for was to come and help in a community and surely if that means getting stuck into some teaching then that’s what you do?
Volunteering does not mean strolling in and expecting to play with children all day. Children go to school all day in the UK/USA- so why would you think otherwise here?
A couple of others refused to do office work. But office work is where the project needs the help. They apparently are not too fussed about that – they want to do the fun stuff like singing and dancing with the kids – so who cares what the project needs right?
Wrong. Volunteering is about helping a project or community in the areas THEY need you to. It’s about being flexible and adapting and sometimes just sucking it up and giving things a shot even if they scare you (teaching can be scary let’s be fair!).
No one expects you to clean toilets all day – but if you choose volunteering as part of your gap year/life experience then put your heart and soul into and do it properly. Remember – it’s a two way thing.
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Hi- firstly, i agree with what you're saying and would never expect to pick and choose what I did as a volunteer. but I'm here in Tanzania, getting ready to start on the project next week which I know will involve at least some teaching young children and I'm starting to panic. I have a degree etc etc but I've never taught before, and it suddenly feels arrogant to expect to be able to teach now that I'm here. I suppose I'm just looking for a bit of advice about how to go about it so that I really can help the kids i'm working with rather than just wasting their time...?
I'm stunned to read what you just commented upon. Those so called volunteers are not worth a carrot or should I say grain of sand (carrots can be very precious in Kenya). Their names should be publicised and shamed. That may sound a bit strong and controversial but that is how I feel. C.
I agree!
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HELP WITH RESEARCH INTO BENEFITS OF VOLUNTEER PROJECTS......
Hey guys,
I'm on campfire to see if any i-to-i returnees from African community, people or children projects are interested in filling out a short questionnaire about your i-to-i experience to help with research into the benefits of volunteer projects and to be in with a chance of winning £20!
Your posts seem pretty relevant to this topic and it would be great if you could spare a few minutes to do the questions! They focus on how you feel you benefitted as a volunteer and how you feel the local people benefitted. Your answers will be completely anonymous and will be used as part of the research for my final year geography university dissertation investigating the benefits of volunteer projects in Africa. I’ve been out to Africa myself on a different volunteer project researching local opinions and so am really interested to hear opinions about other African projects, such as those organised by i-to-i.
Please click on the link below, to take the survey and to be entered into the prize draw to win £20!
http://FreeOnlineSurveys.com/rendersurvey.asp?sid=pg8ue2otqc7gc9d653320
Thanks so much for your help,
Brigitte Rudram
I'm interested in volunteering & would never expect to pick & choose what I did,if I was on a project.You do it because of the right reasons,not just because you want to impress those back home.Isn't volunteering about helping others?
Agreed!! x
well on my i-to-i account with details of acomodation and money stuff it says the new hope children's home, unless thats liable to change i assume there! :)x
Hiya, that's cool - I'm sure you'll love it! do you know what project you are on? there are about 12 different ones which run in Mombasa, I was at Twaayf which of course I'm veru biased about! x
hi!
I agree with you, surely you have to be flexible to the projects' needs as that's the whole point of you being out there? Anyway that's the project i'm doing for 12 weeks next year so could you tell me a bit about it from your experiences? I'm so excited!
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