What is the essence of being a volunteer?

What is the essence of being a volunteer?

     Recently, I have an interview with a friend of mine who have been to Turkey and become a volunteer in teaching. From his word of this special experience, he told me that the reason why he want to join this project is because he think it's funny and attractive, which he can go aboard, tasting different cultures. He only need to pay for the organization less than ten thousand and then he would stay in Turkey for almost two months. In there, he and other volunteers would prepare some lessons including health, technology, introduction of Taiwan, etc, to share with students there. For truth, it's appealing to Taiwanese people who desire to go aboard yet they don't have enough money. Also, the access of becoming one of the volunteers is easy, comparing to long-term volunteers' training lessons. Due to accessible enter of becoming an overseas volunteers, lots of people, especially college students, flowing to those developing areas, in name of a "volunteer."

      After the interview, some questions came to my mind. What is put in the priority of serving aids to other? Do those volunteers' help really meet locals' need? Is it appropriate for organization putting such lower threshold on deciding volunteers?

what should volunteer think before they start action?

The Process(figure 1)

     A chat making by an experienced volunteer give me the answer. What is the process of doing volunteer thing? From this picture, we can see that serving other is not a straight line but a cycle. Every part is important as speaking to helping other, regardless in Taiwan or overseas and regardless the short or long-term of the help. However, most of short-term overseas volunteer organizations overlook the part of "evaluation of the need" and "evaluation of the effects", following the rethinking and self-examination of volunteer and organization. This expanding hole of the missing parts gradually lead to organizations which break away from the essence of volunteers to one more like  travel industries. As the friend I interviewed with told me something importance he learned from this experience is the growth of himself.

                                                                      (figure 1)

       

   Going somewhere, experiencing life around the world, learning and growing are definitely accounts for a large part of becoming a volunteer. However, the essence of volunteer is still serving locals in need. From the begin, volunteers should focus on what locals really fall short and how to improve their life essentially. After having deep realization of local's condition, they should prepare complete plans and while practicing, keep thinking if the assistance does work. When term is due, volunteers still need to record the result and keep following the effect of plan and pass their outcomes to next volunteer groups. This cycle of helping will thus never end, which will change and improve locals' environment greatly.

     People always think that do something is better than doing nothing. Yet if we don't exam if the help really help locals, we better not do anything. To be volunteers, we should change our mind to "learning how to help other" instead just "helping other".

Source

1.Himalayansecerts  直言，國際志工，你夠格嗎?
 Retrieved from  http://blog.xuite.net/himalayansecrets/blog/70812691

2. Lihpao Daily 2013.05.08 認知不足，海外志工恐幫倒忙
 Retrieved from  http://blog.xuite.net/himalayansecrets/blog/45976377

(advised Annotation)-Should a short-term volunteers being trained or own skills before they help the locals?

In an article appearing in the November 14, 2010, website of The Obeserver, Ian Birrell states that "Voluntourism", an industry booming fast in developing countries in recent year, which westerners spare part of their travel time to help local children, might bring damages to locals. He states, this face-growing industry affects developing areas a lot in not only their environment but also their local industrial structure and culture. To give us this point, Birrel shows an incendiary report conducted by South African and British academics, which focuses on “Aids orphan tourism” in southern Africa. It reveals that as more and more volunteers or voluntourists spend money and lots of effort helping locals, local workers may end up giving away much-needed job and waiting for foreigners’ help, which will, gradually become a dependency culture. Moreover, due to the departure of short-term volunteers, children who have been helped and already have attachment with them might go through trauma of being abandoned.

In this case, Birrell mentions a similar situation: slum tourism. It’s an industry that tourists pay money to get a glimpse of how life is in slum. They take pictures, giving them food and cloths, treating those impoverished families like animals in zoo. In Africa, same problem conceals in every time a group of volunteers come to giving out their sympathies.

   Birrell continues to point out abnormal growing orphanages in developing areas. The investigation reveals that most of children lived in orphanages are not “real orphans” and only a few orphanages are licensed. These unqualified orphanages may lead to unsaying problem that volunteers who shows their kind to children may become helpers fostering the whole deteriorating situation.

   “Unfortunately, they are led by their hearts and not their heads and unknowingly support environment that may be abusive to children,” said Mark Turgesen, international co-ordinator of ChildSafe Network, Birrell quoted. Becoming a volunteer is definitely laudable, Birrel concludes, however we need to think and treat carefully before we head off. We should exam the consequences first and what skills and sources locals really need. 

   Here the weird situation: a group of strangers just walk in your house and start to take care of your children. You may can believe the organization of these volunteers is authentic, yet when you try to talk to them, telling them your real situation, you find that a language barrier destroys all the communications. Then, the question comes out: how can these people (most are college students) showing out for merely two months and leave nothing but a short period of enjoyment really help to resolve the locals’ problem? (hunger, disease, severe environment, education, poverty, etc.) What are the practical aids they have given so as to make progressing improvement? What the real purpose of being a volunteer? From this annotation, I would like to focus on the following question: Should international volunteers being trained before they contact to local people? What should they required? What the affect short-term volunteers have brought to the local? How do volunteer organizations work to help volunteers to adjust intercultural environment? 

Source:

Ian Birrell (2010). Before you pay to volunteer abroad, think of the harm you might do . Retrieved from 

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/nov/14/orphans-cambodia-aids-holidays-madonna

Annotations-Before you pay to volunteer abroad, think of the harm you might do

In an article appearing in the November 14, 2010, website of The Obeserver, Ian Birrell states that "Voluntourism", an industry booming fast in developing countries in recent year, which westerners spare part of their travel time to help local children, might bring damages to locals. He states, this face-growing industry affects developing areas a lot in not only their environment but also their local industrial structure and culture. To give us this point, Birrel shows an incendiary report conducted by South African and British academics, which focuses on “Aids orphan tourism” in southern Africa. It reveals that as more and more volunteers or voluntourists spend money and lots of effort helping locals, local workers may end up giving away much-needed job and waiting for foreigners’ help, which will, gradually become an dependency culture. Moreover, due to the departure of short-term volunteers, children who have been helped and already have attachment with them might go through trauma of being abandoned.

In this case, Birrell mentions a similar situation: slum tourism. It’s an industry that tourists pay money to get a glimpse of how life is in slum. They take pictures, giving them food and cloths, treating those impoverished families like animals in zoo. In Africa, same problem conceals in every time a group of volunteers come to giving out their sympathies.

   Birrell continues to point out abnormal growing orphanages in developing areas. The investigation reveals that most of children lived in orphanages are not “real orphans” and only a few orphanages are licensed. These unqualified orphanages may lead to unsaying problem that volunteers who shows their kind to children may become helpers fostering the whole deteriorating situation.

   “Unfortunately, they are led by their hearts and not their their heads and unknowingly support environment that may be abusive to children,” said Mark Turgesen, international co-ordinator of ChildSafe Network, Birrell quoted. Becoming a volunteer is definitely laudable, Birrel concludes, however we need to think and treat carefully before we head off. We should exam the consequences first and what skills and sources locals really need. 

Source:

Ian Birrell (2010). Before you pay to volunteer abroad, think of the harm you might do . Retrieved from 

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/nov/14/orphans-cambodia-aids-holidays-madonna