“I enjoy spending time at home or going out for a quiet meal in a restaurant.”- Jamie Redknap. While one is volunteering you need to be full of energy, to give you the endurance and strength to get through the day, especially in a foreign country. Many a time you will find that a volunteer in a foreign country may have to make a drastic change to the diet that they are used to while at home, in addition, they may constantly go for a long period in between meals, which leads to a situation where your body and consequently your mind are not fully charged to properly tackle your volunteer work, not to mention the health risks that may be brought about by this.

“Easter is the demonstration of God that life is essentially spiritual and timeless.”  ~Charles M. Crowe. Easter is considered as one of those times  of the year when giving to the less fortunate is seen as the best spiritual sacrifice one can make, mainly for those who believe that it is a time when you should give up something of value to you, for the benefit of others. For a volunteer this is most likely their time or expertise. It is easier for someone to volunteer during the holidays like Easter because time off is already available to both student volunteers and working volunteers.

“You can be arrested and not charged. You can be arrested and have no right to counsel.”-
Harry Belafonte. When volunteering abroad, your biggest hope is that nothing goes wrong during your experience while in a foreign country, but as fate would have it things can often go wrong, and most likely when you least expect it. It will help you a lot if you are prepared for some likely unfortunate circumstances that you may find yourself in. Here are some guidelines in case you get arrested.

Volunteering, especially volunteering abroad, is one of those life changing experiences an individual can go through, it can form some of the best moments of one’s life or the worst, and so before a person commits themselves to volunteering abroad, there are a few things you need to ask yourself, to ensure you are making the best choice. Here are a few questions you may consider.

South America is a fairly smaller continent than the other places we have looked at before; this presents a fair advantage to any volunteers planning to offer their services in this part of the world. It is an advantage in that most countries in this region use Spanish as their national language. The biggest exception is Brazil, who use Portuguese as their national language.

Amongst both men and women in Europe, the most common form of greeting is the handshake, it may be a different form of handshake in different areas for example in Germany or England, but in a formal  setting  you can never go wrong with a firm handshake  for a brief moment before you let go. One can go an extra mile with eye contact; however it may be discouraged in some parts of the continent like Turkey, where you may be expected to look down as a sign of respect.  Be careful to address the people that you are meeting with their formal tittles, wait for an invitation from the local person before you may refer to them in a first name basis. This is necessary to avoid any misconceptions of disrespect between you and the locals.

“How glorious a greeting the sun gives the mountain” – John Muir. We have looked at cultural greetings while in other places around the world, but in Asia and the Middle East, it all becomes a bit trickier. First and most importantly, remember that when in Asia you cannot assume to know which language someone is simply by their looks, using a the wrong language in greeting the wrong person, may be very offensive, for instance a Chinese person would not take it lightly if referred to as a Japanese person.

“There is no friend like an old friend who has shared our morning days, no greeting like his welcome, no homage like his praise.” Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. Anyone who has been in a foreign place will attest to this, the biggest hurdle you may run into is the cultural barrier. First impressions matter and the first thing you do when you run into a stranger is get the greetings and salutations out of the way.

There are around 1.6 million volunteers who have left home to go and volunteer in different parts of the world. Some of them planned as early as two years in advance on when they are going to volunteer and what they would do. While for some of them it took less than two weeks to plan and leave home. Depending on the individual, early planner or late planner, it is advisable to plan in advance for a volunteer abroad trip. Advance preparation helps the volunteer to: make everything ready before leaving; taking advantage of budget deals; get time to sort out finances; have more options and avoid last minute problems. Volunteers who use volunteer travel organizations don’t have to plan much as they are helped by the organizations and they oversee everything. However volunteers who are travelling independently will be forced to plan in advance so as to make the most of their trip. Here are a couple of more reasons to plan in advance:

“Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.” - Robert Frost quotes. There are many people out there who love meeting new friends and making connections. They don’t get satisfied with meeting only people of their area and sometimes they choose to broaden their horizons by making international friends. Becoming a host of a home stay is a one of the ways for him/her to meet people from different cultures. A home stay is a form of tourism or study abroad program whereby the host offers a bedroom(s) to foreigners who want to learn the local culture and languages. Most hosts are paid directly or indirectly by the international volunteer. Although in others, the host offers their home for free. There is a slim profit margin to be made in hosting a volunteer as such many hosts due it not to make money but to expose themselves to new cultures. The main benefits of hosting international volunteers or students are: meeting new people; experiencing and exchanging cultures; broadening world views; long term friendships and tax cuts (in the USA). Before hosting a volunteer here are a couple of things the hosts should consider:

“God and angels don't get paid even though theirs is some of the most important work around.  Ditto for volunteers.”  ~Cherishe Archer. Some of the fears for volunteers when they are going abroad are whether they will be able to make friends. Some fear they may be too different and understanding others will be a problem. Hence making friends could be a problem. This fear is common among teenagers, young adults, boomers and expats who are abroad. Most of them are self conscious especially the shy ones find it difficult to socialize with others. Children are lucky in that they can meet anyone of their age and they will be able to get along immediately. It’s very common for kids from different places playing together like they have known each other all their lives. Like kids, older people can make friends quickly and easily if they approach the people abroad the same way. Here are tips to make friends while volunteering abroad:

“Service to a just cause rewards the worker with more real happiness and satisfaction than any other venture of life.” - Carrie Chapman Catt. Culture shock is defined as pronounced reaction to the psychological disorientation most people experience when they move for an extended period of time into a culture different from their own. Many volunteers who are abroad for an extended period of time succumb to culture shock. Some volunteers are affected by culture shock after a period of days, some weeks and others after a few months. Culture shock is experienced differently depending on the individual. Culture shock is not caused by a single factor but a culmination of many factors. These factors could be how the local people organize, speak, perceive, value things different from the volunteer. It is also caused by being cut off to what the volunteer is used to. When volunteers move to a new country they experience these four phases: honeymoon, negotiation, adjustment and mastery phase. Culture shock is normally felt in the negotiation and adjustment phase. Symptoms of culture shock are: excessive concern, irritability, withdrawal, homesickness, stereotyping and many others. Here are tips to overcome culture shock:

 “The world is hugged by the faithful arms of volunteers.”  ~Terri Guillemets. Every year there are thousands of travelers who get arrested because of using and trafficking drugs and alcohol. Most of them are told of the promise of riches after trafficking drugs from one country to another or one region to the other. The travelers are lied to that there is little risk involved and the plan is full proof but in reality more than half of them get arrested. Apart from trafficking, using drugs could also land the volunteers in prison. Every country has strict laws against consumption of drugs and alcohol, and when found with the drugs, the volunteer will be severely punished. The volunteers will be taken to prison and their chances of getting out are very slim. When the travelers are presented in court they are hugely disadvantaged because the trial is in the local language, the judges are already prejudiced against them and getting a good defense is very hard. Many convicted travelers describe their experience as horrific and strongly advice against travelers who want to use or traffic drugs. Here are some drugs to avoid:

There are many issues that affect the world today. Some of these issues are easily solved while others might take more time to solve. Solving issues that affect the world is one of the major factors in the reason why volunteers go abroad. While there are volunteers who have seen the plight of many through television and the internet and know which issues they want to address. There are some who have been personally affected by an issue and want to help others with the same problems. There are various ways of supporting a cause, volunteering, financial support and working. The best option to make the biggest change is through volunteering.  After they have picked a cause and want to support it, the next step is to pick an organization which is credible. The organization doesn’t have to be large or years of experience but one which is passionate and determined to meet its goals. Also the goals and mission of the organization should be in tandem with the volunteers’.  There are some volunteers who don’t know which cause to support or which issue to pick. Supporting a cause is one of being part of something that is bigger than volunteer. Here are a couple of causes a volunteer who is abroad can try to address

Unselfish and noble actions are the most radiant pages in the biography of souls.  ~David Thomas. There is no typical day in the life of a volunteer who is abroad but there are some similarities. Many volunteers have different schedules or itineraries when they are working abroad. The schedules normally depend on the volunteer program that they are in. The program determines when they wake up, have meals and when they go to sleep. In some programs the volunteers is limited to a number of activities while in others the programs are open. Wildlife conservation programs are more rigid, in that the volunteer is confirmed to the conservation area for the work period. Hence the activities are limited. Open programs are where there a host of things to do and thus the volunteer is more flexible to choose as many activities that they want to do. In flexible programs they can choose how many days of the week they can work and how many hours per week they can put in. some volunteers prefer to be really exerted in the program and be really busy, while others want to put in little effort in their work. Here is a typical work schedule of a volunteer who is abroad;