Whether at home or abroad, when one volunteers it comes from a place of compassion. It’s a meaningful way to spend your time and is almost always considered a selfless act. Reasons why people volunteer include the desire to find meaning, purpose, and a sense of fulfillment. Or perhaps, for more practical reasons, someone’s motivation could be updating a resume or learning new skills.
Volunteering is a meaningful, multifaceted experience.
Either way, meaningful volunteer work can affect both your life and the lives of others. And in order to make a positive impact, a volunteer must ask themselves two very crucial questions: How can you be the best volunteer? Where can you find meaningful volunteer work?
In this article we will discuss just that, and what steps YOU can take to make the most of your experience!
READ MORE: What Are the Benefits of Volunteering Abroad?
How to be the best volunteer abroad
If you’re asking yourself how you can be the best volunteer, you’re already halfway there. The tips below will help you achieve meaningful volunteer work on your next project abroad.
1. Be aware of the project's expectations
First, we must establish the reality that volunteering can be challenging and requires an open mindset. Understanding the difficulties you as a volunteer might face will better prepare you for what is ahead.
For example, knowing what conditions you will work in before you get there, and what the project is striving for; this knowledge will help you determine what they will expect from you as a volunteer. It will also help your adjust your own expectations more effectively.
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2. Prepare for a culture shock
If you volunteer abroad, be ready to leave your comfort zone.
Acknowledging the likely culture shock you will experience abroad is also important. The different customs and possible language barrier at your destination could pose a challenge. Therefore, learning a few important phrases and doing a little research prior to your volunteer trip abroad could prove essential.
“Hello,” “Thank you,” and “Where is the bathroom?” are all wonderful phrases to start with. NOBODY wants to be that guy terrorizing the locals on their desperate search for a toilet.
Equally, being aware of not only the language barrier but of important customs is beneficial. For example, covering up before entering a temple in Thailand or wishing someone provecho while they eat in (most) of South America, are good examples of a thorough Google research sessions prior to your departure.
It’s best to not assume the locals will take responsibility for informing you of what’s considered “normal” in your host country. If you want to be the best volunteer, take the initiative and learn before you arrive.
READ MORE: How to Volunteer for Natural Disasters
3. Know that things WILL get lost in translation
Despite the endless research you might have conducted, or the tips locals might have been generous enough to give you, we must remind ourselves that it’s okay to have that occasional awkward moment while traveling.
Yes, sometimes you might look and feel like an idiot—it happens to everyone who is traveling abroad! Not everything can be found on the internet and Google translate, so more often than not, you end up sounding like a complete Gringo if it’s your first stint in a foreign country.
It happens to the best of us. If you want to be the best volunteer, it’s important to understand that these experiences only serve to make you realize the ornate complexities of a country's culture, and that sometimes it’s far deeper than the comprehension of you; the outsider.
4. Allow yourself to make mistakes and learn
Volunteering isn’t easy! It’s okay to make mistakes or feel out of your element.
Although, no matter how much of an alien you might feel like in a foreign country, typically the locals will welcome you with open arms—as long as you’re respectful and intentional, of course. The world can be awfully intimidating, and inevitably it will push you way out of that box you label your comfort zone.
But in this chaos, the world also harbors empathy, acceptance, and overall humanity. There will be qualities that you will discover as universal traits in all corners of the world.
Being the best volunteer abroad means accepting the inevitable mistakes, because in order to take the role of a volunteer, one must also take the role of a student. Your experience will teach you lessons of gratitude, patience, and, ultimately, it will humble you.
One won’t fully know themselves until they interact with the world and the instances that force a person to respond to it.
5. Work alongside your fear, don’t ignore it
With that being said, don’t expect yourself to handle situations with a fearless mind. Feelings of doubt and apprehension are emotions that we ALL exhibit. The famous journalist and writer, Elizabeth Gilbert, put it best: “Fear can have a voice, but it doesn’t get a vote.”
Make space for that fear, listen to it, and consider it, because it certainly isn’t going anywhere. It’s completely acceptable to admit and acknowledge your fear or anxiety over a new experience.
Our fear is only trying to protect us. However, don’t mistake that fear for a reason not to make errors or be curious. Just like Google translate sometimes does, your fear will fool you with wrong, over exaggerated messages. Only allow your fear to simply suggest, but not rule.
More advice for being the best volunteer
Being the best volunteer often comes down to your intention.
To be the best volunteer, it requires practicing an open mind, being optimistic, and having a sense of passion. You might be thinking, “Well duh.” But it also entails making errors, possessing doubt, and being a little hesitant at times.
Have patience and conviction in your own credibility, because success doesn’t happen overnight. Both your positive impact of volunteering and what volunteer you choose to be, takes time. Yet, much like a seedling, its growth happens entirely beneath the surface and is unnoticeable.
With faith, we continue to nurture it, and gradually, the roots expand and the branches grow. We must allow ourselves to blossom into these roles, take our time, dabble with the idea of who we really want to be and what difference we really want to make in this world.
There are many reasons why people volunteer, and many ways one can go about it. Simply follow your heart, stay intentional, make mistakes, and believe in your efforts!
READ MORE: How to Know if Your Medical Mission Trip is Worth It
How to find meaningful volunteer work
Finding meaningful volunteer work depends on you and what you're passionate about.
What would you like to see change? Is it the environment? Do you think access to free education is important? Or perhaps it could be the efforts of conserving precious wildlife and biodiversity?
There are a wide variety of projects that could use your help! It’s about finding the right project that inspires YOU to take action. The well-known primatologist and expert on chimpanzees, Jane Goodall once said, “What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”
Therefore, we must ask ourselves what that difference might be. When you decide to volunteer abroad, you can find a variety of ethical and authentic projects that strive to bring you a meaningful experience. If you are unsure where and what you would like to do, we recommend starting by checking out the dozens of great volunteer opportunities with GoEco!
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You’ll see the positive impact of volunteering…if you do it the right way!
If you show up with an open mind, you’re already on your way to being the best volunteer.
In order to see the positive impact of volunteering, we must consider that every story, encounter, and experience is unique and individual to each volunteer. Thus, there are no step-by-step instructions, or an exact manual that will tell a person how to volunteer. Rather, it comes down to a mindset.
Filled with optimism, the desire for knowledge, and a sense of curiosity for the world; harboring a moral compass that helps one navigate the world with empathy. We could consider that these are qualities of a true humanitarian and volunteer.
And, the most important aspect of volunteer work is community. To see genuine change, it requires a collective approach, and working with like-minded people expecting to learn, teach, mentor, and spread awareness of these critical issues.
To summarize, strive to show up as your best self and expect to learn. Remember to collaborate with others, keep an open mind and above all, take part in ethical projects that bring you a sense of passion. Keeping these key values in mind will help you make the most of your volunteer experience!
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