Should I volunteer in Africa?
It seems to me like there are ton of conflicting opinions on the idea of volunteering abroad. I've been invited to an Assessment Day for ICS, where I can volunteer in Zambia or Ghana for 3 months over the summer if accepted.
Lots of people are telling me I should go since it is a great way to help out those less fortunate, and at the same time it will help me gain a bit of experience other than my part-time job (i'm 18 and going to study International Development at UEA in September)..
whereas a lot of people say I should just work over the summer. That volunteering doesn't actually help the local communities very much at all and the money I'd have to raise would be better off just being donated to a charity rather than funding my own trip there.
Whilst I feel like I would love to help out, I am just so unsure on whether or not this will actually be a beneficial thing to do
Any help would be great, thank you so much
Lots of people are telling me I should go since it is a great way to help out those less fortunate, and at the same time it will help me gain a bit of experience other than my part-time job (i'm 18 and going to study International Development at UEA in September)..
whereas a lot of people say I should just work over the summer. That volunteering doesn't actually help the local communities very much at all and the money I'd have to raise would be better off just being donated to a charity rather than funding my own trip there.
Whilst I feel like I would love to help out, I am just so unsure on whether or not this will actually be a beneficial thing to do
Any help would be great, thank you so much
Original post by TomWeller
It seems to me like there are ton of conflicting opinions on the idea of volunteering abroad. I've been invited to an Assessment Day for ICS, where I can volunteer in Zambia or Ghana for 3 months over the summer if accepted.
Lots of people are telling me I should go since it is a great way to help out those less fortunate, and at the same time it will help me gain a bit of experience other than my part-time job (i'm 18 and going to study International Development at UEA in September)..
whereas a lot of people say I should just work over the summer. That volunteering doesn't actually help the local communities very much at all and the money I'd have to raise would be better off just being donated to a charity rather than funding my own trip there.
Whilst I feel like I would love to help out, I am just so unsure on whether or not this will actually be a beneficial thing to do
Any help would be great, thank you so much
Lots of people are telling me I should go since it is a great way to help out those less fortunate, and at the same time it will help me gain a bit of experience other than my part-time job (i'm 18 and going to study International Development at UEA in September)..
whereas a lot of people say I should just work over the summer. That volunteering doesn't actually help the local communities very much at all and the money I'd have to raise would be better off just being donated to a charity rather than funding my own trip there.
Whilst I feel like I would love to help out, I am just so unsure on whether or not this will actually be a beneficial thing to do
Any help would be great, thank you so much
Well, if you plan to study International Development this trip will be pretty good on your CV, however work experience would probably top it since employers would see that you know what you are doimg somewhat. But, if the work over the summer has nothing to do with what you plan on doing in the future then obviously the trip would be better.
You also need to consider the country and where you are actually going. You are not going to be staying in 5* Hiltons i persume. Expect the living conditions, food, water and other general needs to be pretty bad. There will probably be a much higher level of disease risk compared to where you live.
In the end its for you to decide. As much as going to Africa to help may seem really good, usually charities do a ton more, so i would say that think about yourself and your CV/Personal application than about the help you are going to do as selfish as it may sound.
I'd say volunteer. While I've not volunteered as part of a programme like that, I grew up West Africa and have spent a significant amount of time volunteering at orphanages and schools. I'm not sure what your programme entails exactly, but the experience will honestly be incredibly rewarding and will stay with you for life. Giving to charities is great, but a large part of the money you give is used to cover other costs and little goes to support the actual cause. By volunteering, you can see for yourself the impact you're having on the local people. It's great for character building too-you'll grow so much as a person and develop a new outlook on life. African people in general are one of the happiest and friendliest you'll come across. Despite the struggles many face, they still try to maintain a positive outlook.
I definitely advice you to volunteer
I definitely advice you to volunteer
(edited 8 years ago)
Do the assessment day then decide, if you get rejected obviously theres no dilemma. If you get accepted then think about it. if it was me I would do it even if the impact you make is small its still something and I'm sure the actual experience will be worth a lot in character building etc. Its an awesome opportunity you have you should take it while you have the freedom to
Original post by TomWeller
It seems to me like there are ton of conflicting opinions on the idea of volunteering abroad. I've been invited to an Assessment Day for ICS, where I can volunteer in Zambia or Ghana for 3 months over the summer if accepted.
Lots of people are telling me I should go since it is a great way to help out those less fortunate, and at the same time it will help me gain a bit of experience other than my part-time job (i'm 18 and going to study International Development at UEA in September)..
whereas a lot of people say I should just work over the summer. That volunteering doesn't actually help the local communities very much at all and the money I'd have to raise would be better off just being donated to a charity rather than funding my own trip there.
Whilst I feel like I would love to help out, I am just so unsure on whether or not this will actually be a beneficial thing to do
Any help would be great, thank you so much
Lots of people are telling me I should go since it is a great way to help out those less fortunate, and at the same time it will help me gain a bit of experience other than my part-time job (i'm 18 and going to study International Development at UEA in September)..
whereas a lot of people say I should just work over the summer. That volunteering doesn't actually help the local communities very much at all and the money I'd have to raise would be better off just being donated to a charity rather than funding my own trip there.
Whilst I feel like I would love to help out, I am just so unsure on whether or not this will actually be a beneficial thing to do
Any help would be great, thank you so much
Depends on how you useful you'd actually be. A lot of these over seas volunteer programmes, particularly ones in Africa are just programmes for privileged kids to go to to feel good about themselves. Snap some photos of locals as if they're some sort of zoo attraction. And they do shoddy work that the locals just have to fix anyway.
For example a bunch of untrained 18 year olds going off to Kenya to "build" schools, who do such a poor job from their lack of training or experience in manual labour the locals often just have to tear it down and start again.
There are some excellent volunteering programmes, but honestly most of them are not helpful at all and the locals would be much better off if money was donated directly for them to help the community.
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by SophieSmall
Depends on how you useful you'd actually be. A lot of these over seas volunteer programmes, particularly ones in Africa are just programmes for privileged kids to go to to feel good about themselves. Snap some photos of locals as if they're some sort of zoo attraction. And they do shoddy work that the locals just have to fix anyway.
For example a bunch if untrained 18 year olds going off to Kenya to "build" schools, who do such a poor job from their lack of training or experience in manual labour the locals often just have to tear it down and start again.
There are some excellent volunteering programmes, but honestly most of them are not helpful at all and the locals would be much better off if money was donated directly for them to help the community.
For example a bunch if untrained 18 year olds going off to Kenya to "build" schools, who do such a poor job from their lack of training or experience in manual labour the locals often just have to tear it down and start again.
There are some excellent volunteering programmes, but honestly most of them are not helpful at all and the locals would be much better off if money was donated directly for them to help the community.
Very good point. I would be volunteering with Challenges Worldwide which typically assign you and a few other volunteers to a small business in Zambia or Ghana to help them become more efficient and grow. Such as helping a woman who sells clothes to be able to get access to a loan or to manage her accounting or something like that I believe.. I'm only 18 and although i have an A-level in Economics and Maths I don't have any real experience with that kind of thing..? That is only one example though, there are a huge range of things I could be doing
Original post by TomWeller
Very good point. I would be volunteering with Challenges Worldwide which typically assign you and a few other volunteers to a small business in Zambia or Ghana to help them become more efficient and grow. Such as helping a woman who sells clothes to be able to get access to a loan or to manage her accounting or something like that I believe.. I'm only 18 and although i have an A-level in Economics and Maths I don't have any real experience with that kind of thing..? That is only one example though, there are a huge range of things I could be doing
I can't imagine you'd have any profound knowledge of how to run a business that these people hadn't thought of? The money in my opinion would be better spent paying experts to actually help rather than kids "helping"
Original post by TomWeller
Very good point. I would be volunteering with Challenges Worldwide which typically assign you and a few other volunteers to a small business in Zambia or Ghana to help them become more efficient and grow. Such as helping a woman who sells clothes to be able to get access to a loan or to manage her accounting or something like that I believe.. I'm only 18 and although i have an A-level in Economics and Maths I don't have any real experience with that kind of thing..? That is only one example though, there are a huge range of things I could be doing
Hey mate, I think I'm going to the same assessment day as you, is it the 15th?. If I were you I'd come along to the assessment day and make your mind up after it. Having done a lot of research (And hving had the same concerns as you) I've come to the conclusion that ICS and particularly challenges worldwide is probably the most ethical way to volunteer abroad without any professional qualifications.
I say go abroad and do volunteering. You are right, there are other ways to volunteer and do charity works out there. Work experience has a huge impact on reeling a job. Especially a company that deals with international development, then definitely do volunteer abroad. Just imagine how big it will help your personal and career growth. Just an opinion mate 
Original post by SophieSmall
Depends on how you useful you'd actually be. A lot of these over seas volunteer programmes, particularly ones in Africa are just programmes for privileged kids to go to to feel good about themselves. Snap some photos of locals as if they're some sort of zoo attraction. And they do shoddy work that the locals just have to fix anyway.
For example a bunch of untrained 18 year olds going off to Kenya to "build" schools, who do such a poor job from their lack of training or experience in manual labour the locals often just have to tear it down and start again.
There are some excellent volunteering programmes, but honestly most of them are not helpful at all and the locals would be much better off if money was donated directly for them to help the community.
For example a bunch of untrained 18 year olds going off to Kenya to "build" schools, who do such a poor job from their lack of training or experience in manual labour the locals often just have to tear it down and start again.
There are some excellent volunteering programmes, but honestly most of them are not helpful at all and the locals would be much better off if money was donated directly for them to help the community.
Often a lot of these paid-for international volunteering companies have a vested interested in not improving communities. If a community no longer 'requires' voluntourism then privileged Westerners will no longer be paying large amounts of money to these companies and the company goes out of business.
There is a big difference between a qualified plumber installing a well in a village to provide clean water and teaching the villagers how to maintain it and providing them with the required tools and an 18 year-old with no skills building a school despite never having done bricklaying in their life.
Be careful what sort of charity you choose to volunteer with because some do not involve doing anything that will make a difference at all to the locals. The charity I chose was one that involved teaching First Aid in Kenyan villages, due to the shortages of hospitals and the distance between them and many of the villages. They showed us beforehand how training people in the villages to become certified First Aiders was working in practice.
On the other hand I came across other Western volunteers over there who were simply obnoxious and patronising towards the locals. A group of them were probably the only people in the village (beside the local resort) who had electricity and they were on a project to "build schools" for two weeks. They would be spending the other four weeks touring the country and having a grand old holiday but hey, at least they get to put up pictures of themselves on social media holding little African babies to show their friends how "charitable" and "giving" they are. Ugh, please don't be like those people.
So yeah, find a good charity where you're convinced you will be useful and go for it. You'll have a lot of good experiences
On the other hand I came across other Western volunteers over there who were simply obnoxious and patronising towards the locals. A group of them were probably the only people in the village (beside the local resort) who had electricity and they were on a project to "build schools" for two weeks. They would be spending the other four weeks touring the country and having a grand old holiday but hey, at least they get to put up pictures of themselves on social media holding little African babies to show their friends how "charitable" and "giving" they are. Ugh, please don't be like those people.
So yeah, find a good charity where you're convinced you will be useful and go for it. You'll have a lot of good experiences
Original post by WBZ144
Be careful what sort of charity you choose to volunteer with because some do not involve doing anything that will make a difference at all to the locals. The charity I chose was one that involved teaching First Aid in Kenyan villages, due to the shortages of hospitals and the distance between them and many of the villages. They showed us beforehand how training people in the villages to become certified First Aiders was working in practice.
On the other hand I came across other Western volunteers over there who were simply obnoxious and patronising towards the locals. A group of them were probably the only people in the village (beside the local resort) who had electricity and they were on a project to "build schools" for two weeks. They would be spending the other four weeks touring the country and having a grand old holiday but hey, at least they get to put up pictures of themselves on social media holding little African babies to show their friends how "charitable" and "giving" they are. Ugh, please don't be like those people.
So yeah, find a good charity where you're convinced you will be useful and go for it. You'll have a lot of good experiences
On the other hand I came across other Western volunteers over there who were simply obnoxious and patronising towards the locals. A group of them were probably the only people in the village (beside the local resort) who had electricity and they were on a project to "build schools" for two weeks. They would be spending the other four weeks touring the country and having a grand old holiday but hey, at least they get to put up pictures of themselves on social media holding little African babies to show their friends how "charitable" and "giving" they are. Ugh, please don't be like those people.
So yeah, find a good charity where you're convinced you will be useful and go for it. You'll have a lot of good experiences
I agree with you! One should find a charity work that will really make a difference for the locals. not just to make a cv look better or to look better from others' eyes.
imho, you should go and do what you think is good for the people and for you. helping other people from a third world country is life changing
Original post by WBZ144
Be careful what sort of charity you choose to volunteer with because some do not involve doing anything that will make a difference at all to the locals. The charity I chose was one that involved teaching First Aid in Kenyan villages, due to the shortages of hospitals and the distance between them and many of the villages. They showed us beforehand how training people in the villages to become certified First Aiders was working in practice.
On the other hand I came across other Western volunteers over there who were simply obnoxious and patronising towards the locals. A group of them were probably the only people in the village (beside the local resort) who had electricity and they were on a project to "build schools" for two weeks. They would be spending the other four weeks touring the country and having a grand old holiday but hey, at least they get to put up pictures of themselves on social media holding little African babies to show their friends how "charitable" and "giving" they are. Ugh, please don't be like those people.
So yeah, find a good charity where you're convinced you will be useful and go for it. You'll have a lot of good experiences
On the other hand I came across other Western volunteers over there who were simply obnoxious and patronising towards the locals. A group of them were probably the only people in the village (beside the local resort) who had electricity and they were on a project to "build schools" for two weeks. They would be spending the other four weeks touring the country and having a grand old holiday but hey, at least they get to put up pictures of themselves on social media holding little African babies to show their friends how "charitable" and "giving" they are. Ugh, please don't be like those people.
So yeah, find a good charity where you're convinced you will be useful and go for it. You'll have a lot of good experiences
Hi, which organisation did you volunteer with in Kenya?
Original post by ziggycj
Hi, which organisation did you volunteer with in Kenya?
First Aid Africa. I would recommend VSO as well, my sister is volunteering with them now and they're really good.
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