Benefits of International Volunteering
You can learn a considerable amount by working as a volunteer overseas. The experience can change your life in ways more than one. Volunteering will allow you to determine the different cultures of communities in developing countries.
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The experience you will take back home after your international development and volunteering programme will prove to be very important. The skills and lessons will improve both your professional and personal life. Here are more ways you can benefit through volunteering.
1. It Will Change Your Worldview
Volunteering overseas will change how you perceive the world. By being of service to people from different political, social and cultural backgrounds, you get to learn more about the world. Volunteering is a great opportunity for everyone to see just how much affection is needed by the less fortunate.
Not only will you better your understanding of the world, but you will also contribute to the local communities. A small group of committed people is enough to make a world of difference, especially in developing countries.
2. Volunteering Has Its Rewards
Some people volunteer for charity work abroad, while some people get to earn some money in the process. People who do so without expecting financial return gain a rare feeling of accomplishment knowing they have helped the less fortunate. It’s a feeling which cannot be acquired from working a desk job, regardless of what is accomplished.
Some volunteer programmes, however, offer the promise of a stipend at the end of the work. For example, the Osteoarthritis Research Institute International (OARSI) is always on the lookout for volunteers to help raise awareness on what is osteoarthritis and how it can be treated. Such programmes help a lot in scientific research to battle disease.
3. Volunteering Will Help Establish New Relationships
Volunteering in foreign countries, especially in situations where resources are limited, is a guaranteed way of establishing long-term friendships. You will gain a strong understanding with people you work with daily.
As a volunteer, you get to see first-hand the power of teamwork. A successful project involves the collaboration of both the volunteering staff and local communities. You will also establish strong bonds with the people living within the local communities at which you have volunteered.
If you have volunteered and travelled with someone from your home country, the experience of working together abroad, especially under conditions which would have otherwise proven non-ideal, will surely grow your friendship.
Volunteering Contributes to Both Personal and Community Development
Volunteering overseas is a life-changing experience. Before you decide to take up a volunteering programme, make sure that you are as committed as the organisation you are choosing to volunteer with.
A host of volunteer opportunities exist in the international community. Be sure that you are capable of doing what the organisation requires and you will definitely find the volunteer programme worthwhile.
