Young girl in an IDP camp in Afghanistan

by Marianne Elliot

I’m a change-maker, a human rights advocate, a yoga teacher and a writer. I came to yoga via more than a decade as a human rights advocate, an activist and a humanitarian worker. Amongst other things, I needed to learn the lessons of yoga in order to make my activism more compassionate and sustainable.

Part of my purpose in life is to support and motivate others to find their own authentic and unique way to serve the world, using the lessons and tools I’ve learned on and off the yoga mat. Alessandra has invited me to write here about my passions – being of service in the world, a change-maker, a kindness revolutionary.

I know that one of the ways that many of us Gypsy Girls dream about combining our love for travel and our desire to be of service is through traveling as a volunteer. I just love the spirit of generosity that lies behind this kind of dream, and I’m absolutely committed to nourishing and cultivating more of that kind of generosity.

I’m also absolutely committed to sharing the knowledge I’ve picked up in the fifteen years I’ve been working in the not-for-profit and international development and human rights sectors.

Because the truth of the matter is that good intentions, while absolutely essential, are not sufficient. The best intentions in the world won’t guarantee that our efforts actually do good. I can tell you from personal experience that well-intentioned efforts can have unintended negative effects. Sometimes precisely the opposite to what was intended.

Even where a volunteer program is having some measurably positive effects, sometimes those are being outweighed by larger, longer-term negative impacts.

So how are you supposed to know whether an opportunity to volunteer abroad is going to have a predominantly positive impact?

I highly recommend a series of posts about volunteering overseas, written by Saundra Schimmelpfennig, founder of the Charity Rater LLC and author of the ‘Good Intentions Are Not Enough’ website.

Here is my summary of the four key issues Saundra suggests we consider if we are thinking about volunteering internationally:

1.    Good volunteer projects require a significant commitment of time

Volunteering requires a significant time commitment. It takes time to understand the local needs and to develop a successful project. Organisations can be hurt if they invest more in a short-term volunteer than they receive back. If you pay a voluntourism company, make sure they have invested significant time on the ground.

2.    Don’t volunteer to do what a local person could be paid to do.

By working for free to do something a local person could be hired to do, you are essentially undercutting the local labor market, thereby continuing the poverty cycle. Volunteer in ways that support, rather than undercutting the local job market.

3.    Examine your motivations

Before volunteering it’s important to have an honest conversation with yourself and examine your motivations and whether putting yourself in the lives of aid recipients is the best way to meet your needs. If your motivation is to help people, start by helping people in your own home town. If your goal is to meet local people, consider other possibilities like joining WWOOF (Willing Workers on Organic Farms).

4.    Manage your expectations

Although volunteering overseas can be a life-changing experience, it’s also one of the hardest things you’ll ever do. Managing your expectation before you volunteer will help you have a more successful volunteer experience.

Bio: Marianne Elliott is a change-maker, a human rights advocate, a yoga teacher and a writer. She is the creator of 30 days of yoga: an online course to establish a regular home practice of yoga and to build a kinder relationship with your own body. She is currently writing a memoir about her life as a UN peacekeeper in Afghanistan.