Voluntary Work

[blushenka]

I'm currently looking for a summer job (or more) and I came across an interesting job opportunity, which actually involves voluntary work - but that's fine by me so far, seeing as it appears to be an interesting experience and you get a diploma of sorts at the end, which you can add to your CV. It also strikes me as something worthwhile doing, in that you're actually helping people and your actions make a difference.

 

 

 

First of all, I need to mention I'm from Europe, so this project specifically may be known only to Europeans, but I'm sure there are similar projects in America that most of you can relate to. So, the job involves a 4 months training-course in Norway or UK (I would choose Norway)- which you can either pay for yourself, or they'd help you get a minor job there so you can raise the money for it, afterwards they send you to a country in Africa or India, where you can begin the actual work (teaching the children and adults there about health, disease prevention, hygiene, environmental issues, or even other languages such as English; or helping them in other ways). The actual voluntary work takes 6 months, after which you meet the team again to evaluate your work.

 

 

 

I'm looking for any personal experience that you guys and girls might have with such voluntary work, difficulties you have encountered, good or bad experiences, questions you would/have asked the organizers before you set off, anything relevant or less relevant that you'd like to share and that will help me get an idea about what this works involves.

 

 

 

Anyone interested in the particular project I'm thinking of applying to can check out this site: http://www.drh-norway.org/

[user1991]

I'm doing something like this next year. Too many people complain about the world without doing anything about it - so I decided to actually do something worthwhile.

 

 

 

A couple of my friends have done things like this, one went to a village in the vietnamese countryside to help start up a clean water supply system, and one went to Ethiopia to help giving out aid to ill people as well as help with the process of vaccinations in various villages. Both said that they realised just how lucky they are, being born into a family with a comfortable amount of money.

 

 

 

I look forward to it, should be something different. And it actually gives a chance to help people in a REAL way..

[jackattack]

I haven't done anything too in depth in another country. I've done the thing where you go down to TJ and build houses. I'm doing Jamaica next summer. That should actually be fun.

[Lenticular_J]

I wouldn't do this, personally. I'd like to help people, but in a lot of these things family and a couple friends have gone on, they sat them in hospitals or places like that, and it was in general not a good experience. But that was in Africa, and there were diseases and killings everywhere. So I wouldn't mind going to India, looks to be a very nice nation.

 

 

 

Only volunteer work I've done is help landscape houses for the homeless/poor/lazy. Mostly the latter, unfortunately.

[ThurinEthir]

I go on short-term mission trips with my youth group. Some are as short as a few hours (Going to Boston Common, handing out sandwiches), some are as long as a week or two. Some of it is purely religious stuff, but there have also been times where I worked on construction projects and stuff.

 

Never done it out of the country though.

[dragoonson]

I wouldn't do this, personally. I'd like to help people, but in a lot of these things family and a couple friends have gone on, they sat them in hospitals or places like that, and it was in general not a good experience. But that was in Africa, and there were diseases and killings everywhere. So I wouldn't mind going to India, looks to be a very nice nation.

 

 

 

Only volunteer work I've done is help landscape houses for the homeless/poor/lazy. Mostly the latter, unfortunately.

 

I would do the opposite,to be honest.Never really liked the Indian race,no offence.The ones in Singapore are just...

 

 

 

As for personally volunteering to work...Nope,all those were compulsory school things.I wanted to go as a child,but mom and dad weren't free.

[user1991]

I wouldn't do this, personally. I'd like to help people, but in a lot of these things family and a couple friends have gone on, they sat them in hospitals or places like that, and it was in general not a good experience. But that was in Africa, and there were diseases and killings everywhere. So I wouldn't mind going to India, looks to be a very nice nation.

 

 

 

Only volunteer work I've done is help landscape houses for the homeless/poor/lazy. Mostly the latter, unfortunately.

 

I would do the opposite,to be honest.Never really liked the Indian race,no offence.The ones in Singapore are just...

 

 

 

As for personally volunteering to work...Nope,all those were compulsory school things.I wanted to go as a child,but mom and dad weren't free.

 

 

 

What?

[Solidus_77]

I'm currently doing volunteer work in a place that serves hot meals for people who have "difficult situations"

 

 

 

Pros:

 

 

 

- The people I worked with each time were very friendly, glad to have my help and were fun to chat with.

 

- It always feels good to have the people come up and tell you how thankful they are and how you're helping their lives.

 

- Low pressure situation.

 

 

 

Cons:

 

 

 

- Time consuming

 

- The people working there are all way older than me, which is not bad, but can make thinks a little less comfortable.

 

 

 

It's really not bad if you are really into the whole "Helping people out" thing.

[Stilev]

lol my older brother does something like that, every year, past 5 years i think, bring a cell phone that gets service there, one time he went, and we couldn't talk to him at all to see if he was ok, and he was in a violent area, so didn't know if he was ok or not :(

[tripsis]

If you enjoy what you will be doing then go for it - by all means!! But if you won't enjoy the process or the kind of work that you will be doing, then it would be best not to go. It is nice that you want to help out others but this sounds like a 10 month commitment.. which is huge. So you have to love the work or you will quickly lose interest, or become tired/bored/homesick/etc.

[Roseiah]

I have been doing voluntary work in an animal shelter near to where I live since I was little. I have also been Ghana with my school and taught kids over there in their school, and fund raised so that they could come over here and see our school and the differences between them.

 

 

 

My brother's old girlfriend always used to be doing voluntary work. She had spent a lot of her childhood with her parents doing work in South Africa and she went back every year. Her family practically rebuilt an entire village. Building houses, getting clean water, get supplies, tools. She went to Africa every year and did a lot of aid-work over there. The village her family used to mainly work with built a monument to her when she died because of all the amazing work she did for them.

[Furah]

only current voluntary work I do is help around at my church whenever I can, and I really hope to be able to go on a missionary trip, so I am listening to find out when the next one I can go to is on, although it will cost about $250 I would love to go on a missionary trip (they often go to a place called Bourke in NSW which is like a 10 hr trip away, very violent bunch out there, my friends got threatened several times :ohnoes: but after a day or 2 things started to sun smoothly :D )

[Igor]

Well it sounds great, but it could be pretty dangerous in Africa :|

 

 

 

Good for you for thinking about doing this tho. I would never be able to put in that much effort.