Volunteering Abroad for Grown Ups:
Why Should Our Kids Have All the Fun?
I can’t be the only one who’s noticed that more and more young people keep volunteering abroad. When I was 18, it was almost unheard of for kids to trot off to foreign lands to help with humanitarian projects. The few who did venture forth were the exceptions: young, idealistic and perhaps somewhat naïve. I have to say I’m quite impressed with today’s generation of young adults. Although university students have earned a bad reputation for spending too much time in front of the telly or drinking every night, increasing numbers are reaching out to explore the world, learn new languages and skills and help to make the world a better place.
Come on you guys! Why should young people have all the fun? We’re older, smarter and more mature. We want to travel the world and help people too! Why should we stay at home and subsidize our kids’ international travel while they get all the credit for making meaningful contributions?
The students and ‘gappers’ are getting the lion’s share of publicity, and quite frankly, they’re making us look bad. But they’re certainly not the only ones who care about the world. There are countless reasons to consider an international volunteer experience. As I age, I realize that there are still a thousand things on my list of things to do before I die, but my daughter is ticking them off instead of me.
I didn’t have the chance to travel much when I was younger. Taking a year off to travel wasn’t as widely accepted as it is today, and I didn’t have that much in my bank account either. As an adult, I’ve taken the occasional beach holiday, a spa retreat, a few city breaks, failing to venture much further than mainland Europe. But recently I realised that although I enjoyed the break from work or family responsibilities, I was experiencing none of the personal satisfaction that my daughter was gaining from her volunteer activities. This may be the only time I’ll ever publicly admit it, but I think we should take a lesson from our kids. Get out and explore the world! Give back to people in need!
There’s no reason we can’t take a cue from our children and volunteer abroad as well. Instead of taking a beach holiday, we could get out there and do conservation work on a tropical Thai island. We don’t need to take a full on career break in order to do our part for the world. We can do it in the span of a regular holiday, in as little as one or two weeks. And so what if you have kids? Leave them with your husband, or take him and leave them with your mum for a few weeks. Many of our kids are almost grown up anyway- what better time to travel than right after they’ve shipped off to uni?
As older, wiser adults, we’ll get more out of this experience, and having acquired more skills over the years, we will also be able to share our knowledge with local communities. There are projects to suit every interest. If you are interested in working outside, why not build homes in the Caribbean? If you love to work around children, there are orphanages and schools all over the world where you could work side by side with the local community. Other programs are aimed at teaching English, conservation, wildlife rehabilitation and working with underprivileged children, to give just a few examples. Global problems such as biodiversity loss, HIV/AIDS, poverty and pollution all need your help. Adult volunteers provide a wealth of badly-needed expertise which is desperately needed in developing countries throughout the world. And when you return to your normal routine, you’ll have more than a t-shirt to remind you of the connections you have made when you travel with a purpose.
It’s time to show the world what we adults can do. Don’t let our kids have all the fun- get out there and volunteer abroad as well!
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