Wouldn’t do it if they paid you?

THE SHOTS of Prince Harry working on various community projects around the poverty-stricken country of Lesotho conjured up quite a romantic image. One would think that with such an icon lending a hand to far-flung communities, other young Britons would be quick to follow. Yet a recent survey of further and higher education students by community volunteering charity CSV found that only six percent of respondents were considering volunteering overseas. This is despite the fact that recruitment group Reed Executive conducted a survey of more than 200 top businesses which showed that three-quarters of employers prefer applicants with voluntary work.

It’s not just employment prospects that may be improved by a spell of overseas do-gooding, however. University of Manchester Religion and Theology student John Percival travelled to a Lepchra village near Darjheeling in India after he graduated. He feels certain that his volunteering experience teaching in the Lepchra community is responsible for the sense of confidence and fulfilment he now carries with him: “Anyone who knows me will remember me saying I wanted to make a difference and not travel around aimlessly. I think I achieved that,” he said, “but I feel I've done so little for these people who are incredibly thankful that we did so much!”

While most of us would welcome a warm feeling inside and a sense of having ‘made a difference’, you also need to think a great deal more about how you’re going to be helping a particular project, and who is going to benefit, when deciding to volunteer. Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) recently expressed concern about the number of volunteer schemes which aren’t really helping communities, “ultimately benefiting no one apart from the travel companies that organise them”. In such a case, the organisation claims, students would be better off backpacking around the world, as is still the more common option.

Surely the solution then must be to seek a volunteer position without the ‘help’ of one of the thousands of companies offering volunteer opportunities? Linguistics student Maria Franke would agree. First-time traveller Maria organised a six-week volunteer placement working with orphans in the Dominican Republic with global volunteer provider i-to-i. Having paid the company £1,995 to cover an online TEFL course, insurance and placement (not accommodation, food or flights), she was disappointed with the lack of organisation she found upon arrival at the job. To add insult to injury, when she’d finally settled into the placement and decided to stay an extra two weeks, the company charged her an extra £200 for “administration costs”. “It just seems really unfair,” she said, “especially as all I wanted to do was help a bit more at the orphanage”.

Eloise Clarke had a similarly negative experience with year out organisation Gap Activity Projects (GAP). Eloise booked a five-month teaching project in Paraguay with the company, but was far from satisfied. The host family the organisation chose for her sent her packing after two months, at which point GAP decided they would be offering no further support. “I’m far from being a saint but I was always polite and respectful to my host ‘mum’, but she hated me right from the start,” says Eloise.  “When she kicked me out and then started causing problems for me at the school, GAP just didn’t want to know”.

These tales may seem shocking, especially given that the average gap year traveller spends around £4,800 (Mintel) on their year abroad. A far better option than further lining the pockets of these companies seems to be organising a placement independently with a small in-country organisation or NGO - and one that offers food, accommodation and a monthly stipend is preferable. Safety, obviously, is paramount, but the task will be a lot easier if you’ve visited the country before, have contacts there, or speak the language. Lonely Planet Travel Editor adds the following advice: “There's no substitute for doing your own research and talking to other people who've been on the same trip you're planning. Ultimately, you shouldn't go into any situation without being fully aware of what's going on.”

And so, whether you’ll be teaching kids in Vanuatu, protecting elephants in Tanzania or working with HIV patients in Africa, make sure that your “voluntourism” doesn’t have a negative impact on the community you’re working with. Also, as Tom Hall says, “Often there'll be a fee to pay - make sure you know where your money is going”: if there is, ask yourself, are you prepared to pay for giving up your time to help others?