(at the outset I should say that I work for an NGO that sends volunteers overseas)
Volunteering is not a waste of time, as long as you choose a high-quality organisation (which I would define as a signatory of the Comhlamh Volunteer Charter). As well as the short term benefits to the community overseas, and the volunteer, the long term benefits are the real story here.
Some criticisms you might hear are that the volunteer is only doing something to make themselves feel better, or that if they really cared so much they would just give the money they had fundraised directly to the community overseas.
Taking them one at a time; of course the volunteer will feel better about doing some good, this is an important aspect and not to be ignored. But their help is very much appreciated by the communities overseas. For example, here’s a quote from a director of Prayas Jahangirpuri, an Indian organisation that receives Irish volunteers each summer:
I must thank you for providing us opportunity to work with such wonderful and committed people who have worked so hard with the children of Prayas
What of the notion that the fundraised money would do more good if it were just donated to the community overseas? On the surface, this makes a lot of sense, but it is an extremely short-term view. I can only explain how our organisation, Suas Educational Development, operates, but in our case we realise that the solution to the education problem is not just financial. There are upwards of 70 million school-age children that don’t go to primary school and it will never be possibly to fundraise enough to put them all into school. The problem is far more complex.
There are social and economic reasons why children aren’t in school and, in general, people that volunteer overseas get a deeper understanding of those issues, and are more passionate to do something about it, than people that don’t have the same experience. After their time as a volunteer, they can get involved in local or international politics, they can talk with their friends and families about the problems (and the solutions) and they will understand that while donations of funds are crucial at the moment, that is not the long term solution.
That is the reason why volunteering is about more than ‘the summer overseas’, because it gives people an experience of a situation that they cannot get any other way. It’s not the only route to understanding, but it is certainly a summer well spent.
To learn more about the organisation that I work for, and to apply (before December 21st) for next summers Volunteer Progamme, visit suas.ie
