Volunteering abroad is an amazing thing to do. Many people
want to get up from their home countries to volunteer abroad, not ignoring the
people who need help at home but to extend the reach of their services. It’s
really an exciting experience for those who to do it as the rewards are
amazing. Like everything else in life it is not easy to volunteer abroad
because as soon as you decide to do it there is a barrage of information that
you are supposed to go through. Also there are pitfalls that one tries to avoid
in order to have a pleasurable experience. There are a couple of things that
one should look into before they volunteer abroad:
Location is really important as it determines many other
factors about volunteering abroad. Picking the right location is also the most
difficult as it seems everywhere in the world needs help and the volunteers
don’t have enough money to go to all the locations. As such one should look
into places where they need most help as well as somewhere they have always
wanted to visit. This way apart from helping out they can also fulfil their
desire to travel.
There are many volunteers who are touched by a certain cause
and would like to be a part of the change while there are others who are not
sure where to put their efforts in. the volunteer should soul search in the
case they don’t know what they want to do. Also the volunteer project matters a
lot as you would want to make sure the program that you are involved in makes a
difference in the lives of the local community. Many volunteers sometimes feel
that they didn’t put their best effort and time into the program. In the end they regret why they went abroad.
Deciding on what to do should complement the volunteers’ skills or add to it.
When to go abroad is also a deciding factor, many volunteers
who are in school, college or University choose to go in the summer as they
have 3 months free. There are some who opt for the shorter periods during
winter and summer break to travel abroad. Choosing the best time depends on the
volunteers’ free time, although one should also consider the time at the
volunteer location. The volunteer wouldn’t want to leave home when its summer
to find themselves freezing in the winter in places like South Africa. In
addition they should try and avoid months when it is heavily raining, monsoon
seasons and lastly hurricane seasons. It is sometimes overlooked but in the end
it’s a big factor when volunteering abroad.
Lastly choosing a volunteer abroad organization to go with.
They are thousands if not hundreds of thousands of volunteer programs which are
all over the world and they all provide volunteer abroad programs. When choosing
a volunteer organization there are many factors that should be considered, e.g.
services offered, costs and the work they do. There are many mainstream
organizations that can be found easily on page one of google but they are the
ones which are usually the priciest. If the volunteer is on a limited budget
they should avoid these ones and take time to research for other affordable
organizations which provide the same services.
