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Originally Posted by Lonesome George
I volunteered on my trip a couple of years ago, enjoyed every second of, was happy that my money was going to a good cause and hope I did more good than harm.
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Could you say more about what you did, and how you arranged this volunteering? And are you still in contact with the NGO you assisted? And if anyone else reading has done this kind of short-term volunteering during a trip, would love to hear your answers to these questions as well.
I come to this from two perspectives: on the one hand, I'm a development worker, primarily with the UN, and someone coming in for just a few days or weeks, no matter what their skills, rarely made an impact in any of the developing countries where I worked, and I got tired of people constantly asking me for opportunities that, really, were more focused on their desire to help and have fuzzy warm photos than on the people that would be served. On the other hand, I'm also a volunteer management consultant, and know that volunteer engagement is about more than getting work done, and sometimes, volunteering can create understandings and collaborations that wouldn't happen otherwise. So I straddle a gap between both sides of this issue.
To me, what's most important if you want to volunteer abroad during an extended motorcycle trip is to focus on things that will actually make a difference and are *wanted* by the local communities you want to help. Local people can build their own wells, build their own schools, etc. - what they want are people that have and can apply skills they don't have, and can build their capacities so that, when you leave, they can continue on. Helping with computers, for instance: could you help a rural computer lab update its virus software, and help the lab managers to do it themselves? Could you install LibreOffice or OpenOffice on the computers, and show the lab managers how to do so and explain why these are better to use than pirated copies of Microsoft?
To help in this way, you need to do your homework before you arrive in an area: you need to introduce yourself to local NGOs *before* you arrive, be clear about who you are and what you want to do, that you would do this as a *volunteer* - entirely unpaid, and so forth. You need to ask questions about the appropriateness of picture taking, especially of women and children.
The link in my signature file links to a lot more suggestions and resources - I share it all, for free. This is an issue near and dear to me.
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