A recent initiative at United Planet is to encourage our volunteers and alumni to be ambassadors of their experience through our Campus Outreach Internship (COI) program. Alix Vadot is one such individual at McGill University who wanted to share her experience well-beyond her Short-term Quest to Nepal this summer. She applied to be a COI and is now a point person for those looking to go abroad and pursue a volunteer opportunity. The following is a piece Alix put together regarding her take-aways from volunteering, and how you can do the same after your journey.
Photo Credit: Lilyanne Nguyen
Students are always told that volunteering or interning abroad is a great experience that can add to both your personal perspective on life as well as make for an impressive resume for future employers. What students are rarely told, however, is how to act once you are abroad: how to integrate into the culture without seeming like you’re doing “too much”, how to get through the harder times (because it is not always all good), and how to really get the most possible out of the experience as a whole. After having volunteered in multiple countries, both within a group and as an individual, I decided to put together a list of the do’s and don’t’s of volunteering abroad.
1. Take into account other people’s perspectives, but only to a certain degree.
It’s always good to separate yourself from others and their opinions and it is definitely not necessary to conform to what seems to be the “right” idea, especially while abroad. Other volunteers around you may have very strong opinions about their own volunteering experience, either good or bad, and, although it is important to listen and try to see it their way, it is also crucial to maintain your own perspective so that your volunteering experience truly teaches you what is relevant and important to you.
2. Enjoy every moment.
Put your best into everything you do: the work, the building of relationships, the opportunities that the country has to offer, etc. Even if there are some hard times related to cultural adjustment, it’s really important to try to overlook them and enjoy every minute of your time abroad. Negative thoughts are always a burden, and even more so in a country that you may never be able to visit again. Just try to see all the other good things that are happening around you!
(Painted Desert) Photo Credit: Iva Houskova
3. Don’t be reluctant to trying new things.
Be it new food, new places, new people, new traditions, try them all! New things are what going abroad is about, and you will definitely be happier to have tried them than ending up with regrets at the end of your trip.
4. Bring it back home.
Bring your experience home with you. Not just the amazing memories, but the lessons you learned about the world, the things you accomplished, everything you learned about yourself, and share these lessons with others. You might be able to convince someone to engage in a similar learning experience, and that could benefit both them and the group of people they would go on to volunteer with. In addition, attempt to incorporate all these lessons in your daily life, and let them guide you in your actions and interactions with others.
5. Share!
When you meet people abroad, they will no doubt be eager to learn about what your life is like back home, the food you eat, your traditions, what your family and friends are like, etc. Don’t be afraid to share! Even the smallest details, which, to you, may seem insignificant, may be very different from those of the culture you have arrived in, and it is always incredibly amazing to discover all these differences! When you open up to them and share your stories, they will do the same, and it will be an incredible learning experience for both parties.
These are some lessons I learned from my travels abroad, and which were particularly consolidated over this past summer during my travel to Hetauda, Nepal. Hopefully they are useful to any future volunteers, but they might also not apply to everyone in the same way that they did for me.
The most important thing to remember when traveling and volunteering abroad, especially when integrating a new and unknown culture, is to keep an open mind!
“Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.” – Ryunosuke Satoro
Thank you, Alix, for sharing this insight with us! We hope your advice will provide some food-for-thought for those looking to volunteer abroad.
ABOUT UNITED PLANET
United Planet is a non-profit organization with a mission to create a global community, one relationship at a time. Established in 2001, United Planet offers volunteer abroad, virtual internships, internships abroad, gap year volunteering, and global virtual exchange in more than 40 countries.
