By Claire Bennett & Daniela Papi 

As many teachers, study abroad coordinators and volunteer travel facilitators know, the learning experience of traveling abroad starts long before the traveller’s plane departs. In fact, our learning journeys start long before we even consider a trip abroad: we build knowledge and preconceptions about the places we are visit through the media we consume, through the history we were taught (or were not taught!), the fundraising campaigns we have seen, the marketing material about the trips we have perused, and a great deal of other sources. Yet, there is still a lot to learn before taking off on an international volunteer, learning, or philanthropic travel trip, and often that learning needs to start with quite a bit of “unlearning”. Some things we might have been led to believe, might not stand true once we are exposed to the realities of the world first hand.

At Learning Service, we are working to create conversations around responsible volunteer travel, and as an education and advocacy group, we’re using a number of approaches to spark these discussions. We have tools and resources downloadable from our website and we are working towards releasing a book. In the last few weeks we have also begun to release a mini video series offering bite-sized tips and advice to would-be volunteers that are passionate about, concerned by or just confused by this complex and tricky field.

The videos are all just a few minutes long, but we hope they accessibly introduce important topics for further exploration. In this blog, we present each one along with some questions to reflect on. We hope that the videos and questions inspire some deep and nuanced conversation of the issues – and we would love for you to share them with us!

Video #1: Finding a Responsible Volunteer Placement

This video focuses on things a volunteer might want to consider before choosing a volunteer travel placement. The deeper question behind all the tips in the video is “Who benefits from international volunteering?”, exploring whether some volunteer projects can be designed more for the benefit of the volunteer than for the hosts and partners they are volunteering “for”.  Of the returned volunteers we have interviewed for our research, we found that many saying similar things to this:

“The most challenging part was the lack of learning I did before volunteering…I was a volunteer/intern in Uganda in public health with a focus on nutrition, yet I had no extensive background and experience in either subject….I realized how important it is to know a little about the community/culture/topic before entering a volunteer project.”

– Jeomar Montelon, volunteered in Uganda in 2011 for 1-2 months[1]

Learning Service aims to literally and metaphorically turn the concept of ‘service learning’ on its head, arguing that instead of using our service in other countries as a way for us to learn and grow, that to be responsible and effective we need to learn before we can help (and continue being open to learning throughout our volunteer placements, and indeed life). The learning suggested in this first video is all about ensuring that the organization we choose to volunteer for, and the role we choose to do, have a positive impact on and are empowering for all involved. Some questions to start a conversation among aspiring volunteers might be:

• What are your motivations to volunteer abroad?  Who will benefit and how?
• What are your goals? What are the goals of the organization you are considering traveling with, and how do you know? How might these different goals converge or diverge from each other?
• What things do you think are important to learn before you decide to go abroad? How can you do this?
• Based on what you heard in the video, what do you think might be some possible negative impacts of volunteer travel, if not organized “responsibly”?

Video #2: Being a Valuable Volunteer

This video is focused on how to make the most of a volunteer experience. It recognises that the attitudes we bring and the relationships we build will determine the success of our impact – on both ourselves and the cause we aim to support. The act of volunteering itself creates a dynamic, that of givers and receivers, of volunteers and beneficiaries. How can we be conscious of that and lessen our impact in either changing or reinforcing power structures?

“…I was very cognizant of the negative impacts I felt I made which were prolonging the “western-dominant” ideals that seem to accompany volunteering. I.E. in South Africa, I was seen as “smarter” than my black peers (who had more experience) simply because of my race. I felt uncomfortable with the subconsciously oppressive role.”

–       Katie Larsen, volunteered in South Africa in 2012 for 1-2 months

In all cultural exchange there is a balance to be struck between “achieving” something and “learning from” someone, and a balance between adapting to different cultural norms and offering a different perspective.

• We practice “skills” – such as sports, musical instruments and technical skills. Do we need to practice “attitudes” in the same way? What attitudes to you think are needed to be a successful volunteer?
• What are your values? What has influenced them and how have they evolved over time? Are you open to these values changing?
• What is cultural relativity? What is the line between cultural appropriateness and cultural imperialism?

Video #3: Returning from your Volunteer Experience

This video focuses not just on the time we spend on a short-term volunteer project, but on the rest of our lives. On returning from a powerful learning experience overseas, we may be even more passionate to continue having a good impact on the world. In fact, changing our lifestyle choices, consumer habits and how we engage with others can often have a larger impact than offering our skills and passion in direct service overseas.

‘My initial reaction was to return to my home country and help tackle UK poverty issues, rather than trying to ‘intervene’ in somebody else’s country. So I moved to London to work on policy and research issues.’

–       Katie Boswell, volunteered in India for 5 months in 2006-7

In exploring global issues whilst overseas, we often find that the root causes of problems in one country lie in political decisions made by our own countries’ government, trade our own country participates in, or even aid given by donors in our home areas. Returning home, we also might realize that many of the issues we had been so eager to tackle abroad also exist right under our noses at home, and we’ve ignored them. Getting informed about and involved in a local organization or global education project, campaign, or activism work can have an enormous impact on the world without the purchase of a plane ticket.

• What do you think the biggest value of your time abroad will be? Will it end when you end your placement? How could you translate your short term experience abroad into ongoing positive impact?
• Why do you believe that the big issues facing our world, such as poverty or climate change, exist and are being perpetuated? Who is responsible, and who is responsible for addressing this? What is your role?
• What steps can you take now, right away, to ensure you are part of the solution and not the problem?

This blog is the first part of a two-part series introducing the six ‘learning service’ videos. If you work with students, encourage them to watch and discuss the videos – they can even answer questions on the website in order to enter a competition!

For more information, or to share your thoughts and ideas on the videos or the discussion questions above, follow the Learning Service team on Facebook and Twitter, or reach out via contact@learningservice.info.

Claire Bennett works in development education, previously working with Development in Action and Where There Be Dragons, and was a regional coordinator for a DFID strategy. She is a founding member of the community development organization called PHASE which works in Nepal, where she now lives.

Daniela Papi is the founder of PEPY Tours, an educational travel company and PEPY, a youth leadership education organization in Cambodia. She recently received an MBA from Oxford’s Saïd Business School, has been working for the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship since graduating, and is a 2014 Clore Social Leadership Fellow.

Due to their own experiences in volunteering abroad, and the lessons they learned along the way, Claire and Daniela teamed up with a small global team to launch Learning Service and write a book, create a video series, and produce educational tools around the ‘learning service’ concept.