Having taken the leap into the unknown and signing yourself up to a commitment of volunteer work abroad, it is important to know what you are getting yourself into.
Firstly, a brief recap on what overseas volunteer work is all about. Many people have a yearning to do something different with their time – often wanting to help those who are less fortunate. Whether this is for environmental reasons (saving the rain forest, or other planetary resources), or for humanitarian reasons (helping out in times of natural disasters – such as floods), there are myriad ways in which time and effort can be spent on things other than paid work. Every year, tens of thousands of people go to all the four corners of the world in search of opportunities to help.
Once this decision has been made, the next thing to do is to prepare for what is in store for the coming months or even years! Preparing for volunteer work abroad can be split into a few categories: financial, personal and informational.
Financial preparation:
One of the last things on peoples mind when they make the decision to enroll in a volunteer scheme is how it is going to affect their finances. Either bills that were previously being paid now have to be ceased, or an alternative method of payment set up. For example, if you were working before, and now will be out of the country for an extended amount of time, who is going to pay the rent, or make the house payments? Certainly for the larger bills (like a mortgage), certain lenders enable you to take a payment holiday. This is where you have over paid for a certain amount of time, and because of this, is able to pay nothing on your mortgage up to the time where the excess you have paid, is used up. Often times, a period of 4 or 5 months can be spent not paying the mortgage at all, just because of previous over paying.
Another thing to think about financially is where is the money for this international trip going to come from? a lot of volunteer organizations will help you to raise funds for going abroad, some even going so far as to give you pro forma letters that already have the text on them that is most likely to gain funding. Never the less, flights still need to be paid for, and it would be a good idea to have some cash in the local currency you are going to available for the small things in life that can make a huge difference e.g. toilet tissue and other sanitary ware or chocolate.
Personal preparation for:
Something else to think of in you preparations is the affect that this journey is going to have on yourself. The chances are that you will come back as a very different person. Core beliefs and ways of thinking could quite possibly be different when you come back home. How will people that you hold dear react to your possibly new outlook on life? Many people are fearful of change, whether it be internal or external. This is certainly something to think about.
Also, be prepared for a certain amount of hardship. It is easy to have a rose tinted view of what you are going out to do, how you will do it and what the results are. There is every chance that through the best efforts of your own, you still cannot make much of a change. This can be very demoralizing and can put a huge mental strain on you. Better to think about this in a safe and well known environment than have it hit you square in the middle of the forehead when you are out in the back of beyond.
Information preparation:
Not to be overlooked in any respect, you need a clear idea of where you are going and what it is going to be like when you get there. Is there any possibility of getting in contact with people that have already done what you are about to do? Experience counts and you can pick up a good number of tried and tested tips from people that have made mistakes before you. What is the climate going to be like? There is no point taking sun-bathing clothes if the area normally has snow for the 10 months of the year that you will be out there. Conversely, do not worry about bringing a heavy coat with you if the only time that you will use it is at your home airport.
What will the food be like out there? Will you need to take some nutritional supplements in order to stay healthy (standard 1 day vitamins com to mind)? Will there be safe drinking water, and if not, is there an easy way to get any. All of these questions and more need to be answered – -preferably before you are setting off on your adventure.
From just these points, maybe you can see how to prepare for volunteer work abroad, the correct ways to think and what questions to ask yourself. Forewarned is forearmed, and with a little bit of information, your experience will be that much more pleasant.
Therefore, to recap, when looking to prepare for volunteer work abroad, make sure that you know what you are getting yourself into – know the length of time you are supposed to be there for, have an idea of what you will be doing. Try to find some people that have been there before and can impart their knowledge to you. It is always easier having someone else’s experiences along for the ride. Try and find out what food there is and whether it will agree with you – a lot of people can find it really difficult to have a pleasant time in a place where the food is not to there liking. Make sure that travel tickets are booked and that copies of passports are made and kept in safe places should the original documents get lost. Overall, though, have a wonderful time. Whatever happens, you will not regret the experience!