The Culture of Volunteering Abroad

Dear Internet

I have been busy.

Okay, not actually "busy" but more "busy doing other things instead of blogging". I have no excuses for my long absence but something has made me want to write again and so comes this sporadic blog post.

Moving on, it has come to my attention that many a millennial has been volunteering abroad. I have actually been involved in helping others find volunteering opportunities because of my extracurricular at University. There many students who have pure intentions to volunteer and I love that.

Unfortunately, I find that some kids are interested in "volunteering abroad" but have some questionable intentions.

First of this isn't a "you should focus on your own country before you go volunteer overseas". I do respect that opinion because we should all look at helping within the community; but I also think that there's a lot to be learnt from travelling and living in another area. Whether you live with a host family or student house you look at that country differently as opposed to a tourist. This is one of the merits I find in volunteering abroad.

My problem with volunteering internationally is two-fold: 1) The self-social awareness created by the likes of social media and 2) [forgetting and] finding yourself.

Kids preaching about their global charity work on insta with their Nike free kicks got me like 👐 #thisisnotokay #nike

— Haseena (@haSeena95) April 15, 2015

I'm okay with the odd photo shared from your volunteering experience. But that's where the line is - social media sharing and volunteering do not go hand-in-hand.  Whether you're teaching English or building a house (something else which bothers me), I think I would feel more enriched reading a final overall facebook/blog post as opposed to multiple fractions daily. I am sure it's amazing but documenting your day-to-day activities kind of extract from the overall experience, don't you think?

[Disclaimer: Not my video]

My second problem with potential volunteers is the high expectations of self-enrichment. I partly blame the "find yourself" mantra movement that should have anything to do with expensive extensive travelling. Volunteering abroad is not an outlet for your emotional imbalance. If you're coming out of a relationship I suggest you volunteer at home first before travelling. Your experience abroad will not be as fulfilling as you want it to be.

You also may disappoint yourself if you're looking for something culturally and/or spiritually uplifting. Whether you want authentic naan or you want to live the life of a Khaleesi and try out that fresh, bloody horse heart; volunteering abroad might be lacking. You will probably go to a more westernised region of the country so that communication isn't a problem.

I don't want to discourage anyone from volunteering abroad but please remember the reasons why you choose and spend to do it.

Yours sincerely
Searching for hope in my generation