We travelled a few places already and we had globally good experiences, until today…
When you hit a wall, it makes you think about all the paths and obstacles you’ve been before. In this post, I’ld like to reflect on why our previous experiences were good and why it isn’t working today.
What make a volunteering experience worth the travel and the work?
In my opinion there is lots of benefits: discovering countries and cultures, meeting people, learning new skills, enjoying a nice ambiance, and of course the accomodation and meals. All this seems extraordinary on paper, unfortunately I rarely get all the benefits at the same time. In exchange for these benefits, I will have to help.
I’ll talk a bit more about the help that is expected and then I’ll come back to the benefits.
One of the first concern I have about the help is the schedule. Most of the hosts mention the amount of work like this: « 5 hours / day, 5 days / week ». That also implies that there is 2 days off. Having some days free of work is important if I want to explore distants surroundings. What could go wrong about this?
- it could be a lie: I end up working twice as much without any day off,
- the work could be splited: 2 hours in the morning, 1 hour at noon, 2 hours in the evening,
- the work could be random: if it’s rainy then it’s my free time, otherwise I will have to work,
- or worse than all the rest, it could be no work at all: I will just feel like a parasite then.
I think schedule is important and should be clearly established between the host and the volunteers. It is totally understandable to split the hours to take care of animals. What is more of a problem is wasting my travel waiting to know what to do or when to do it.
I had very differents scheduling experiences: no scheduling at all, following the animal schedule, a very precise schedule for all our stay. I sometimes had too much days off and sometimes no day off at all. The good new is that it is possible to enjoy my stay whatever the schedule.
The best deal I can find is of course having both consistency and visibility on my schedule. This will allow me to enjoy and relax during my free time. The real question for me is « When can I relax? » more than « When must I work? ».
I just said that it was completely possible to enjoy an environment with poor scheduling. I will enjoy working when I know that I’m doing a good work. I will enjoy shitty works like weeding or digging but I have to know that it’s helping. What could go wrong when I’m doing a job?
- I can be asked to do something one day and change it the day after,
- I can have doubts about it and have no one to answer my questions,
- or I can be not trusted enough.
To avoid this kind of situations, I will need good instructions. By good instructions, I mean that I need to be shown not to be told. I will need consistent instructions that do not change from day to day. And more importantly I will sometimes need education to make me understand why the things are done this way. Of course, this require availability and willingness to spend some time showing and teaching. This is why I have a very bad impression of the hosts that are « very busy ».
I’m very thankful to have been hosted by busy hosts that took the time to instruct and educate us by showing and sharing their knowledge. After all it is in the very best interest of the host to use their volunteer well.
Another pillar of a good work is trust. If I feel that the host is not trusting me either by micro-managing my every moves or by giving me meaningless work to do, I don’t feel good. Trust has a lot of advantage, the biggest one is that trust makes me feel responsible and improve my willingness to do the work well. Trust makes me a better person.
Finally, still going in the same direction, there is feedback and acknowledgement. When I work on something, I like receiving constructive remarks about it. This way I can do it better. When there is nothing to say, just saying « thank you » or « good job » ensure that the work is noticed. Again, what can go wrong with that?
- I can get no feedback and, behind my back, learn that it was not well done,
- I can work for unnoticed hours and then be suggested that I’m lazy,
- or I can get non-constructive feedback with no other output than making a fool of me.
A good scheduling, lots of instructions and feedback is the perfect recipe to have a great volunteering experience.
Okay, now, lets go back to the benefits…
As I said, I almost never saw them all at the same place. Sometimes I have a very poor accomodation but an exceptionnal ambiance, with a lot of friendship and fun. Sometimes it is an exceptionnal food with no new skill to learn. It is a balance between all the benefits that make each experience unique. Sometime, there is just too many unmet expectations.
What I’ve found to be nice for discovering the country and the culture is:
- going out in pubs and bars,
- meet the host’s friends and accompany him as most as possible,
- ask for maps of the area and advices for walks and sightseeing,
- and of course talk as much as possible.
About meeting people, the subject is more complex. Each person is different. Sometimes I deeply found myself in others and sometimes they are too far. Each person brings its qualities and flaws to the table thus being empathic and comprehensive is fundamental. I was talking about feedback about the work but this also apply when I meet people. I try to create a safe environment when it is possible to everyone to express any feeling they have.
This is easier with other volunteers, but it is wonderful when it happens between volunteers and hosts. Sometime, it is easier to bitch about the host between volunteers than talk about the issues face to face with the host. I think because the balance of power favors the host, it is easier for him to create this safe environment by asking questions like: « Are you happy with this? ». Of course, the host have to be prepared to ear what you have to say, being benevolent, open and selfless.
About learning new skills, food and accomodation, I think everyone expects different things. Sometimes I thought I won’t learn anything and learn a lot in an unexpected area. My advice would be to stay open to any kind of unexpected things! I learned that I’m capable of taking outside shower in the winter, at first it was hard and then it was an acomplishment and finally became a life lesson. I learned more human skills that I could have thought and also quite a lot about myself.
Of course, a confortable bed and a hot shower every day are great. But for me, they’re not so important. For the learning part this is quite the opposite. I value it a lot and if I don’t learn anything, I get bored and feel that I’m wasting my time. It could be very different for someone else.
Finally, ambiance is a big part of the experience. I like when I can be myself, without the fear of annoying anyone. I like when everybody care about each other and make me feel a part of the team, not as a servant but as an equal. For me it almost never happen on the first day, it takes me few days, sometimes a full week to find my place in this temporary home.
This ambiance depend on the existing ambiance, before the arrival. Even if a person can ruin a good ambiance, I believe that it is much more likely that he/she adapts to what was already here.
Some hosts helped me to harvest all the benefits, making it very easy for me to be happy. Some others made it harder, sometimes impossible. In this later situation, either I am not mature enough to handle it or the host isn’t.
Note This post is in English because I feel like this could help some hosts and volunteers.