Role of the International Volunteer

“Local people are the experts. Hopefully they have identified the needs within their own community and the appropriate roles that outsiders can play in addressing those needs. The most effective international volunteers learn to work in solidarity with the members of the host community, helping them carry out their objectives, offering advice when asked, and encouraging them in their work. The community can benefit from your skills, labor, education, financial and material contributions, and your continued support once you return home. But one of the most important roles you'll play is that of a motivator, just by having come from so far away to lend a hand. 

The international volunteer can be a positive presence in a community, a source of inspiration and empowerment. But the outsider's role can also be disruptive and burdensome. There have been countless examples of outsiders who impose their cultural norms, force their own agenda, and initiate projects without the participation of the local community. The results can range from inappropriate to disruptive or destructive, and the local people are left to put the pieces back together long after the well-intentioned visitor has left. 

Once you're there working in the community, take stock of your actions and contributions. Is the help and advice you're offering appropriate and respectful of the local people and culture? Is it inclusive and empowering? Who will continue the work when you're gone? 

Whether you are working in a 'developing' country or a more affluent community in another part of the world, the role of the outsider is the same -- to work side-by-side with and learn from the local people, to exchange ideas, and to build bridges of mutual respect and understanding. 

"Volunteers with no medical, technical or other relevant background -- and with no knowledge of the local language -- inevitably find it difficult to make a concrete difference to the lives of others. They learn the hard though valuable lesson that the giving of aid is a messy and complicated business, but at the same time become convinced that it is one of the most important and valuable tasks facing us all." 

Susan Griffith, "From Small Beginnings: Volunteer Vacations Abroad" (Transitions Abroad magazine)