This factsheet has been prepared by Australian Volunteers International. If you are thinking of volunteering overseas with a different organisation, we recommend that you contact them regarding conditions of service. Deciding to live and work overseas as a volunteer is a big decision. It's rewarding, enriching and unique but requires a real commitment, patience and flexibility, along with sensitivity, creativity and a sense of humour! There are many questions to think about ranging from "What do I do with my cat?" to "What's the value of a volunteer to a developing community?" Perhaps the most important question to answer is, "Why am I doing this?". You'll go back to this during the tough times and the good. It's important to think about all these issues before applying to become a volunteer and again before you commit yourself to a placement. This section outlines the many typical personal and practical issues about volunteering that you'll need to consider carefully. Along the way, there will be many opportunities to find out more and ask specific questions. Remember: the final decision to accept a volunteer placement is yours. Leaving Australia Family and Friends Leaving partners, family and friends can be distressing. For many volunteers, the hardest thing about being away is missing people they love and who love them. It's important to consider the effect that your departure will have and how you will cope without a familiar support network. "It was the first time I'd left Australia and for the first few months I missed my children and friends terribly. I coped by writing a journal and asking friends to send newspapers and magazines." - Australian Volunteer community development worker, Sri Lanka Other Things That Matter Many volunteers underestimate the extent to which they will miss their lifestyle and their favourite possessions. Volunteering means being separated from opportunities and items that define and sustain your everyday life. It's important to think about the things (other than friends and family) that you don't want to live without and which you can't take with you. "I get to Phnom Penh about every two months. You can get most things but you only get electricity now and then. You can't have a fridge or anything like that." - Australian Volunteer national park assistant, Cambodia Financial Commitments Volunteers usually receive the equivalent of a local salary and a safe and secure home. It's enough to live simply in your host community but it will not stretch to luxuries, nor savings. Many volunteers have found it useful to have a pool of personal savings for unanticipated expenses. Before you go, you'll need to think about how you will meet and manage any financial commitments you have in Australia. Health Preparation It's important to realise that health is more than just physical. It encompasses emotional, spiritual and environmental wellbeing. During preparation for departure we will advise you on ways to access up-to-date medical and vaccination information related to developing countries and to the region where you will be working. Talking to others who have travelled and lived overseas is a good way to learn how they have managed their health and what precautions they took. On assignment, you may need to be more pro-active about your health than you are at home. Managing your health will require you to researching the health issues and services in your country of placement. "My health was good apart from the occasional bout of food poisoning. I began to grow all my own food and my health picked up after that. I don't think I've ever eaten so well in my life." - Australian Volunteer, Botswana We provide insurance cover that includes reimbursement for medical treatment and hospital expenses in your host country, and emergency repatriation if required. Medications and pharmaceuticals are covered only when they are part of a course of treatment that is necessary as a result of an accidental injury, sickness or disease. Settling In To Your New Home Culture Shock Moving between cultures is an individual experience. Most volunteers underestimate their capacity for change and are unprepared for the adjustment, even if they've previously travelled or lived in their host country. Moving from a familiar to unfamiliar environment can be turbulent and exhilarating. As a volunteer, you'll be changing everything all at once: diet, climate, language, friends, colleagues, home, social activities, privacy, pace of life, expectations, daily routines and more. "I still had this idea that things would work as they do back home, like clockwork. I thought it was crazy that it would take me a month or two to settle in. I've moved around a lot over my life and it never took that long." - Australian Volunteer manual arts teacher, Bougainville Common manifestations of culture shock include loneliness, fatigue, loss of appetite, a loss of motivation and an inability to make decisions. These are not unlike symptoms of stress and are quite normal but it's important to work out if you have the personal qualities and mechanisms to cope with the extended period of adjustment. Relationships, Families & Volunteering Volunteering as a couple is a wonderful thing but it will impact on your relationship in all sorts of ways, some of which you may not predict. You'll be living and maybe working together and sharing the associated strains and rewards. It won't necessarily be easier because there are two of you. If you are volunteering with your children, we strongly advise discussing the idea with them, even the young ones. Some families have very happy experiences overseas, while others do not, and there is no single reason for this. Some find low incomes too difficult; for others, their children don't adjust easily. Although families hope that international volunteering will be a positive experience for each family member, the transition process for children of any age, particularly teenagers can be traumatic. "Volunteering was probably more difficult as a family in an economical sense, because essentially we were supporting five people on the one wage. But our life was much fuller and richer because we were doing it together". - Australian Volunteer drug rehabilitation counsellor, Maldives Work Expectations While you may be given a job description, there is no guarantee that your job will be exactly as outlined. You may find that many decisions rest on you or that there is a set plan of work with little room for innovation. Although your skills have been requested by an employer and we are responding to that request by sending you, it could be that you will be under-utilised or overwhelmed. It will be up to you to try various ways of using your skills and to work out how to discuss particular issues with your employer and colleagues. Expect to be resourceful and don't assume that the things you need will be available. "I had a computer studies curriculum all planned out, only to realise that the class had little knowledge of English. I had to teach basic grammar before anything else and redesign the syllabus." - Australian Volunteer computer trainer, Sri Lanka Personal Security & Safety In every country where we place volunteers there are security issues of one nature or another. We monitor security very closely at all times through our official and local contacts and are experienced at responding to situations that change. In the pre-departure briefing we work with all volunteers so that they can develop their own security plan before they leave. Understanding the culture, observing local social behaviours, establishing friendships and seeking advice from the local community will improve your everyday personal security, as will being sensitive and sensible. While it may be tempting to take expensive camera gear or electronic equipment away with you, consider how you will feel if these items were damaged, lost or stolen. Also be aware that, as a volunteer, taking such equipment will make you stand out in your host community and could affect people's perception of you. Dealing With Differences Communication Communicating across cultures is challenging and rewarding but it is unlikely to happen quickly. You'll be living and working with people from varied backgrounds who may have values far different from yours and English may be their second or third language. Even in English-speaking communities you'll encounter differences in meaning and usage and expressions that are unique to that country. It requires time and energy to overcome language barriers, understand a new culture and successfully function within it. "I'm used to originating copy myself, conducting interviews and finding stories…the reality is it's a lot harder in Viet Nam when you have the language skills of a three year old." - Australian Volunteer journalist, Viet Nam Social & Cultural Issues As a volunteer in a developing community you will be confronted by a variety of social and cultural issues that at times may challenge your values and beliefs: poverty, child prostitution, child labour, HIV/AIDS, refugees, corruption, discrimination, deforestation, and more. How, for example, will you respond to beggars on the streets? How will you react when you observe discrimination based on gender, ethnicity or religion? How will you deal with the grief of people dying around you from HIV/AIDS? Most volunteers contemplating working in the developing world will be confronted by many of these distressing and unavoidable issues. "I've learnt lots of new things about politics, systems and religion. I've also learnt that I'm often wrong." - Australian Volunteer, Zimbabwe Personal Relationships We've probably all experienced how complicated relationships can be within our own culture. In a cross-cultural environment they can be even more difficult. There are many cases of successful and rewarding relationships between Australian Volunteers and locals but the consequences of getting it wrong can be painful and damaging, not only for the individuals concerned but also for local communities and local friends of volunteers. "I chose not to pursue relationships with local women as such relationships entailed long-term obligations to the family and even village." - Australian Volunteer, Tonga Living Locally Australian Volunteers live under local conditions and find many of the comforts of Australia absent in their new homes. You may encounter polluted air, an unvaried diet, extreme temperatures, lack of sleep or privacy, crowded transport, persistent insects and other physical discomforts. Consider how you might react to these and if such factors would substantially affect your state of mind or performance. "For a while, our classrooms had little heating, despite heavy snow fall. I wore my down jacket over a Polarplus, over a long sleeved top, over thermal underwear - and that was just for sitting at my computer!" - Australian Volunteer agricultural lecturer, Mongolia Also think about the type of physical activity and socialising you enjoy and what you will do in place of these. It's not unusual to find yourself in a place with limited opportunities to play sport or even to go out alone, and a volunteer salary may not provide for travel and leisure activities as often as you'd like. "I valued my own space and personal time but found that if I retired to my room to read a book people would ask me if I was ill or if they had offended me. On another occasion when I went for a run to be alone, the whole village followed me...they thought I was running away." - Australian Volunteer, Indonesia Making It Work Dealing with differences, managing expectations, balancing responsibilities and tolerating ambiguities can be overwhelming. The challenge is to find ways to enjoy the diversity, keep your sense of humour and nurture relationships with people. "In Namibia, my lack of cross-cultural awareness, my prejudices and my ignorance were brought sharply into focus. With the help of others I was able to make sense of what I was experiencing." - Australian Volunteer teacher, Namibia Most volunteer assignments are for two years, which is regarded as the optimum time for volunteers to adjust, integrate and contribute to their host communities. At the moment, two years might seem like a long time but the benefits of being a volunteer accrue over time. Completing your assignment is not only about obligation; it's also about giving yourself the best chance possible of gaining and giving the most from the experience. "At the beginning I was getting frustrated, but even the little things can make a difference. It's about remembering that I'm not here to change the world." - Australian Volunteer gender advisor, Cambodia Giving Something Back If you're still considering whether you want to work as a volunteer, returning home will probably be far from your mind. However, it's useful to think about this part of the journey as early as possible. Living, working and learning in a different community for an extended period is about more than a change of scenery. Many returned volunteers find that their own beliefs and values are challenged by the experience, and that they are in many ways 'different people' when they return to familiarity of home. Settling back in to Australia and working out what to do with a new perspective on life can take time. Seeking support and advice from other returned volunteers is an effective way to make the adjustment; they understand the challenges facing returning volunteers. Many are actively using their volunteer experience to enrich their own communities. Remember: no matter what you do as a returned volunteer back in Australia, you're destined to make a lasting contribution. "Our family looks back with a great appreciation for the people and places we got to know. The challenge is to weave together the insights, skills and lessons from the volunteer experience with the people and places back here in Australia" - Australian Volunteer project officer, Fiji Find out more about Australian Volunteers International