This is a presentation by Jayne Cravens and Erin Barnhart regarding options for volunteering abroad. We presented this for the two hostels in Portland, Oregon.
6. Paying to Volunteer Why isn’t this counterintuitive? Is this ethical? When is it a good option for the volunteer? How do you choose a quality program? June 2010
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8. Volunteering Expertise Abroad (not paying to volunteer) Why are these long-term assignments (six-months to two years)? June 2010
9. What Long-Term Orgs are looking for: Be able to WORK in a language in addition to English (French, Spanish, Russian, Portuguese...) Have an expertise that's needed abroad (HIV/AIDs education, forming an agricultural cooperative, teaching people how to repair bicycles, how to train teachers, wine making, etc.) Volunteer in project leadership positions in your home city re: HIV/AIDs education, immigrant assistance, prison literacy program, etc. June 2010
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13. More Resources Idealist (Erin Barnhart) www.idealist.org/ivrc Reality Check: Volunteering Abroad (Jayne Cravens) www.coyotecommunications.com/volunteer/international.html June 2010
Notas do Editor
Welcome, who we are
Just for this presentation; definitions vary (for instance, I don't believe UN Volunteers are really volunteers. But that's for another time...)
Erin, do you agree that this is the three types we'll be discussing?
JAYNE: Times have changed drastically in the last 30 years regarding "Westerners" (North Americans, Europeans, Australians, etc.) volunteering in other, economically-disadvantaged countries. Local people in developing countries are asking for experts that can help them get jobs or access health care or immediately start improving their environment. They want to be hired themselves. Developing countries – even some of the poorest countries – have doctors, nurses, IT professionals, construction workers, teachers, and other professionals, as well as huge numbers of low-skilled workers. What they often don't have is money to pay these people. Now, the emphasis in relief and development efforts in poorer countries is to empower and employ the local people, whenever possible, to address their own issues, build their own capacities, improve their environments themselves and give them incomes. That said, the days of international volunteers are NOT numbered: there will always be a need for international volunteers, not just paid consultants, either to fill gaps in knowledge and service in a local situation, because a more neutral observer/contributor is required, or because a priority in a particular situation is inter-cultural understanding.
Erin's points; Erin, feel free to change this and the next slide, as you like.
ERIN: There is a listing of the more-than-30 member organizations of the International Volunteers Program Association (IVPA) that is a good place to find reputable volunteer-for-a-fee programs. The Learning Abroad Center Work, Intern, Volunteer (WIV) Database, hosted by the University of Minnesota, allows you to search work, internship and volunteering opportunities all over the globe. There are more than 500 programs to choose from, and you can search by keyword, region, type of program, etc. Also see The Complete Guide to Finding a Job Overseas , from Transitions Abroad Publishing. Unite for Sight World Computer Exchange (WCE) Xx Erin's program xx
JAYNE: Because there isn't much a volunteer can really accomplish for local people in a shorter-term. Because it's incredibly expensive to bring people from outside of a country to work and, therefore, to get a better return on investment, the desire is for someone to work long-term Other points from slide 5
JAYNE: -- Experience in training others in a specific area of specialization, such as an activity that could lead to job development for local people, an activity that directly improves local people's quality of life (in a way that will be sustained after the volunteer leaves), or an activity that raises the professional skills of local people so they are better able to administer and manage their own local institutions. For instance, teaching motorcycle or tractor repair, training nurses aides, training in tailoring and sewing, teaching elderly people to use the Internet to find information they need (government pension, health, etc.), teaching a community or families about caring for people with HIV/AIDS, teaching children about good sanitary practices or peaceful conflict resolution, teaching an entire department to use a new, complicated database program, teaching adults to read, teaching farmers how to fight pests organically, training teachers to implement a particular teaching tool, training local NGO staff in accounting standards and best practices, training local government workers in setting policies and procedures for purchasing, etc. -- experience working with people who are traditionally socially-excluded, such as immigrants, people with disabilities, people with HIV/AIDS, prisoners, etc. Or, other specific populations who may have special needs, such as women, children or the elderly. -- experience in high stress, crisis situations, such as in a disaster or a conflict situation. -- experience relating to educating people, particularly children, teens and sexually-active adults, about HIV/AIDS and other health risks. -- experience working in an election -- experience helping or directing a large-scale, highly-specialized local community-transformation projects, such as building a canal, putting all local government public documents into a searchable database, creating a cooperative, etc. -- any experience teaching any subject on a high school, college or university level. # demonstrated ability to work effectively under pressure and in a highly political environment. # demonstrated ability to navigate and work with large bureaucracies. # strong inter-personal skills and cross-cultural sensitivity. # extensive experience in making presentations and conducting workshops, particularly to diverse or non-traditional audiences.
JAYNE Organizations that place volunteers in developing countries, mostly for long-term assignments, and that do NOT require the volunteer to undertake costs his or herself, include: * PeaceCorps, long-term opportunities for USA citizens only * CHF International, short-term international volunteering opportunities for USA citizens only * Winrock International, short and long-term assignments, mostly (but not all) relating to agriculture, for USA citizens only. Look under BOTH "volunteers" and "jobs." * International Executive Service Corps (IESC), now includes Geekcorps. Short-term volunteering assignments for USA citizens only. * VSO, based in the United Kingdom, involves mostly UK-citizens in its ranks, but does involve some long-term volunteers from other countries * Australian Volunteers International, for citizens of Australia only * VSO Canada, for both Canadian and USA citizens * NetCorps Cyberjeunes Canada, for Canadian citizens only * German Development Service, Deutscher Entwicklungsdienst, or DED, for German citizens only * France Benevolat, for French citizens only * Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers, for Japanese citizens only * United Nations Volunteers
ERIN: want to take this? If so, feel free to alter/add
The point being that international volunteering should never happen in a vacuum, and there are ways to help the experience continue to do some good long after you have left the country. Erin, would you like to take this?
If there is time, Erin and Jayne will show their web pages
