Volunteering: getting involved
Mentally prepared What and for whom
It is wise to remember that volunteer work is just Many volunteers are attracted to a specific
that, WORK. It is often hard, and most volunteers organisation from the outset; others find
have days when they wonder what they are themselves confronted by an array of options
t!
doing and miss home (and home comforts). and have a hard time deciding between them.
o
r i
Before committing to OS volunteering you
If you are not sure what kind of volunteer work GO f
should ask yourself a few questions:
you would like to do take time to think about:
• Why am I doing this?
• What kind of activities you enjoy
• How will I manage ‘bad days’?
• The skills you currently have and the skills you
would like to develop
• Am I prepared to live without various home
comforts/luxuries?
• The kind of organisation that you would like
to work for: is it big or small? Public sector or
• What do I hope to contribute?
private? What kind of culture does it have?
• What can I do to get the most out of the
• The work environments that suit your
experience?
personality.
There are not necessarily wrong or right answers
to these questions, but they will assist you
When you have narrowed down a list of
in determining whether you are genuinely
potential organisations, research them so you
prepared for the OS volunteering experience.
are aware of their culture, philosophy and
workplace practice.
What you need
Some organisations accept volunteers with little
Culture shock
or no relevant qualifications or experience. In
No matter how prepared you are for volunteer
these cases, pre-departure or on-site training.
work, some culture shock is inevitable. The
intensity and duration of the culture shock
Many organisations, however, will require that
will vary from person to person, and will be
you have skills and qualifications that match
influenced to some extent by how prepared
their specific needs or the needs of the host
you are for your new environment. Depending
community.
on where you are located, you may have to deal
Costs
with unfamiliar customs, conditions, weather,
Make sure you find out what costs are involved
attitudes, gender relations, language and
in OS volunteer placements. Many volunteer
political/social arrangements. Services such as
organisations charge a fee (which can vary
banks, doctors and pharmacies may be different
greatly) for assisting you to find volunteer work
to ‘home’, which can be stressful. Remind
placements. Others offer a small stipend or
yourself that it is normal to feel unsettled in a
provide housing or transportation assistance. For
foreign place where everything is different. After
these reasons, make sure you do your research
a period of time most OS volunteers acclimatise
and know what expenses will be involved. Find
and start to enjoy the differences.
out as much as you can about what the daily
Helping hand
living costs will be and factor in as many of
Volunteer organisations vary in the degree to
your expected personal expenses (healthcare,
which they support volunteers on the ground.
internet etc) as possible.
Continued page 17
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