Guideline # 1 - Good volunteer projects require a significant commitment of time
While most development workers can tell stories of volunteers or
volunteer projects that did more harm than good, most of us also got our
start through volunteering or an internship. I personally was a Peace
Corps Volunteer. With the debate raging over poverty tourism, disaster tourism and voluntourism
(see links at end of post), I thought it might be a good time to
develop guidelines for useful and appropriate overseas volunteer work.
Because there are many factors to consider in evaluating a volunteer
project, this will be a series of posts. I welcome feedback that will
help clarify, tweak, or improve the guidelines so that potential
volunteers can use these to make informed decisions.
It takes time to understand the local needs and to develop a successful project
This may either be your time or the time of the organization with
which you are volunteering. Significant time is needed to truly
understand the local needs, their abilities, and how you can best
contribute. This requires that either you or the organization
understands the local language, culture, and politics. In addition, the
people you are helping need to play a key role in determining the type
of aid that will be provided and how it will be provided. This cannot
be accomplished over a one or two week visit. In fact, Peace Corps used
to counsel overanxious volunteers to not even try to accomplish
anything their first year, but to spend that time learning the local
context and developing relationships that will be key to a successful
project.