Shopper's Guide

--The work starts before you even get there

-By Ken Budd, Courtesy of the Worldview Magazine

Teaching a classroom of children in Nepal, caring for cheetahs in Nambia or studying sea turtles along Sri Lanka’s shores–exotic opportunities like these have made made volunteering part of the growth industry in the travel biz. But the key to a good work experience is not the work you do on your trip.  It’s the work you do before you ever leave home.  Just as a smart shopper researches sports cars before buying that new Ferrari (or a used Volkswagen, in my case), you’ll need to sort through the roughly 150 organizations offering trips under the new industry buzz called voluntourism to find the group that’s perfect for you. To help make that ideal match, follow this seven-step plan:

Ask the right questions:

Selecting an organization is a bit like getting married: there are plenty of possible partners; the hard part is finding Mr. Right. To narrow the often-overwhelming options, start with these three essential questions: One, What kind of work do you want to do?  Two, Where do you want to do it?  There, How long do you want to stay? Keep the questions coming.  Think about living conditions: Are you okay sharing a closet-sized room with three college students or do you need your own space?  How much are you willing to pay for your trip?  Do you want to use your professional skills or do something entirely different?  Are you hoping to spend eight hours a day working or are you more interested in lounging on the beach?
These questions may seem obvious, but travelers often don’t think about them until they’re already in a foreign land, grousing about the living conditions or the work assignment.

Become a snoop:

On a travel site called Worldhum.org, a blog about voluntourism led to this cynical post from a reader:  “If you pay to volunteer,” the poster wrote, “you are a total sucker.”  Snide as that may be, there is something odd about paying to perform free labor (it’s kind of like winning at blackjack and then paying the dealer).  But there’s a reason why most groups charge “program fees,” as they’re called.  These fees typically cover not only the basics of your trip–lodging, food, security, local transportation–but they also help pay the group’s basic operational expenses.  To find out how your money is being spent, ask the organization for a breakdown or check its web site: most explain how the program fees are used.
Don’t stop your detective work there.  To get a more intimate view of a potential assignment–the living conditions, the food, the work projects–contact previous volunteers.  “Talk to as many as possible,” says Charlotte Hindle, a co-author of Lonely Planet’s Volunteer: A Traveler’s Guide to Making a Difference Around the World.  “This is the one of the surest ways of finding out about an organization.”            

Obviously, the organization will put you in touch with people who had a positive experience, so if you want an unfiltered opinion, search for blogs that might be commenting on a particular organization, or check travel review sites TripAdvisor.com or IgoUgo.com–these commentary and community sites let you post questions and take advantage of other travelers’ expertise.          

Gauge a group's interest in you:

When my wife and I volunteered in Costa Rica in 2006, we didn’t find out we’d be teaching English until a few days before we left home. Had we known further in advance, we could have brushed up on our teaching skills (which were nonexistent), talked with ESL teachers, and developed some tentative lesson plans.
“It is really important that you volunteer with an organization that wants to spend time with you, working with you on finding the right placement,” says Hindle. “I, personally, would never volunteer with an organization that tries to tee you up quickly with a placement online or over the phone and one that doesn't spend proper time understanding your skills and how they can best be used.”

An on-the-ball organization, says Hindle, will send you a skills audit or questionnaire before matching you to a placement. You should also ask for a job description.

Find out the group's impact on the community:

One of the big questions with any voluntourism trip is whether the work you’re doing actually benefits the people it’s intended to help. Christina Heyniger, founder of Zola Consulting, a company that focuses on the adventure travel industry, says there are ways to see how committed the organization is to the local community. Do the group’s leaders speaks the local language? Is the local community engaged in the projects (are they contributing time or money)? Is the voluntourism group creating dependency or are they building a self-sustaining program?
Equally important is why the project was started. Heyniger writes on her web site: “Did the operator simply cruise through the village one day and say, ‘Hey! Looks like these people need more tennis shoes, windbreakers, and blankets—I’m going to bring some of that through on my next tour!’ Or did they take a collaborative approach, and work with local people to ask them what they need and then determine whether and how they might be able to support those needs?”

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