My daughter is a sophomore at UVA. She would like to devote at least a couple of weeks during her long Winter Break to volunteering outside of the United States. There are organizations that recruit such things. Is it typical for there to be large fees? Does anyone know of or have experience with such organizations? Any recommendations, suggestions or insights will be much appreciated. Thank you.
Ask yourself why a very short term volunteer without special skills would be worth the travel logistics for a charitable organization to bring to an international destination where some need exists.
My niece organized alternative spring break trips when she was at UVA. She loved it. Spent time in Argentina and Ecuador doing manual labor and getting to know fellow students and workers. USB had an active organization at UVA when she was an undergrad (about five years ago). I also think their parent organization has an alternative winter break program for families.
Your daughter would normally be expected to pay for her transportation to wherever she’s going plus a fee that would cover housing, food and any other assorted costs such as training, supervising staff time, or any entertainment/cultural experience provided by the sponsoring nonprofit.
@ucbalumnus is right about the average unskilled volunteer not being particular of use to an international nonprofit. The reasons organizations accept such volunteers are:
- They provide an infusion of cash through fees, or
- They help connect the organization with a wider audience that will provide funding or legitimize the nonprofit in some way. An example of this would be a college or church sponsored group that leads to the college or church becoming a supporting partner of the nonprofit.
1 is much more common than #2.
I would encourage your daughter to do her research and to really think about what she can offer a group and whether those skills could as easily be provided by the local community if a small portion the money she’d have to spent on the trip were donated instead. She should also look into whether she would be working alongside local people or simply within a sheltered group of Americans. I’m of two minds about short-term international volunteering. On the one hand, it can be a productive way for a kid to get to know another culture and I’ll never sneer at good honest work. On the other hand I think a lot of organizations that arrange these trips are in it only for the profits and kids can get really soaked doing work they could do at the local US low-income community for free. The trips require a tremendous amount of work either from the nonprofit, requiring a donation to even break even when staff or local volunteer time is taken into account, or by a professional tour operation which will need to charge a fee in order to make a profit. There are also real dangers to the local economy inherent in “voluntourism” and it can have dire unintended effects. Here are a couple of articles to give you a sense of what I’m talking about.
Just to give you a sense of where I’m coming from, I head a small international nonprofit. We have been approached many times about accepting well meaning volunteers and school groups but we have never said yes for the reasons I list above.
Many times colleges arrange these types of things. I’d have her check through the school first.
Unskilled volunteers undermine the local jobs market in poor countries.
Thank you all, truly, for great information, insight and perspective. This has been most educational and helpful!
@BrooklynRye, if “volunteer” is the operative word here, UVA has a thriving volunteer community. She should start with the Madison House to find a program that aligns with her interests, and to connect with like-minded students.
I am against voluntourism primarily for the fact that there are too many areas domestically where $$$ and time would be put to good use. I suspect it’s not very useful as a resume enhancer either, just like so many bogus charitable activities in college applications.
Poverty tourism is a waste of time and money.
I hear you all loud and clear. The concept of “poverty tourism” is indeed new to me and provides unique insight I did not previously possess. My daughter already teaches in Charlottesville via work study and volunteers at a regional senior citizens facility throughout the school year. No resume enhancer sought. She just views a 5-week ‘vacation’ as too much time off and prefers to devote some of her time in a more productive way.
Can she just get a job for these 5 weeks? Would the $$ earned put her work-study arrangement at risk?
Now that we’ve expressed the negatives of volunteering abroad I’d like to address ways in which people can be helpful to an international nonprofit. First the caveat- check organizations carefully. In my book if one is imposing values from the outside, cross it off your list. A group should never be saying “We want these people to…(think the way we want, vote the way we want, live the way we want, worship the way we want).” What you’re looking for is a group helping the local population to accomplish goals they’ve set for themselves, such as improving the community’s water safety or finding ways to send their kids to school. I’m a big believer in asking people what their most pressing problems are, and how they would like help in solving them.
The organization should also not be doing something that can be accomplished by local people without non-monetary help. Donating clothing? Great, but make sure you’re not putting the local fabric shop and seamstresses out of business. Coaching soccer? Fun, but first make sure there isn’t a local coach you could hire instead.
Volunteers are most valuable when they offer a skill not readily available in the local population. Some examples:
Engineering
Agricultural science
Medicine
Social Media/Web design
Photography/Videography
Organizational strategy
Building trades such as plumbing, carpentry, or electrical work
Grant writing
Translation
Targeted education, e.g., dyslexia tutoring
I don’t think nonprofits benefit much from the “let’s get 20 people at $3000 a head to dig an irrigation trench” model of philanthropy, but a relatively untrained volunteer could be of service by, say, building a Kickstarter campaign or creating and maintaining a Twitter feed to help a young nonprofit stay in touch with its international donor base.
I second the idea of looking to the college for programs. The ones that have partnered with nonprofits have usually gone through the exercise I describe above.
She is looking into regular jobs, but hoping for community service more than money. Doesn’t hurt her work-study as far as I know…
There are on-campus clubs that do work with international partners throughout the year then go on-site for some period of summer or break. One is Globemed and its GROW intern program. GROW interns pay something to go to their partner’s country but there is funding to help to varying degrees, depending on income sometimes. My D’s school has that org and a second one that pays to send members to the partner (in that case, a health clinic in Peru). In both cases a year or longer commitment to the club itself is required, but if she is truly interested that would be a great way to do it.