The Volunteer Chronicles: Lessons From Volunteering Abroad

I have done a lot of volunteering, both at home and abroad, and I highly recommend it. I always get more out of the experience than those I helped. Selfish, yes, but it just feels good. It's not always easy, but the greater the challenge the more you'll get out of it.

Volunteering overseas lets you make a difference. You get to work on something that really matters, and it forces you to examine your own assumptions—about comfort, opportunity, and what help is supposed to look like. If you’re thinking about volunteering (especially abroad), you should go in with your eyes open.

Overseas volunteering is so worth it

The best volunteer experiences are the ones that hold up a mirror in front of you. You gain:

• Humility: realizing you don’t know what you don’t know

• Listening skills: learning local context before offering solutions

• Adaptability: working without your usual tools, systems, or certainty

• Relationship-building: finding common ground across culture, language, and worldview

• Resilience: learning to go with the flow

• Perspective: looking at situations from different angles

What I wish more volunteers understood

Volunteering can be powerful, but it can also be ineffective, or worse, harmful, when it’s done carelessly. If you’re considering volunteering (locally or internationally), keep these truths in mind.

1) Good intentions don’t always yield good outcomes

You can mean well and still create problems if you:

• replace local labor when local talent exists

• introduce solutions that can’t be maintained after you leave

• ignore cultural norms or local leadership

• focus on what feels good to you instead of what’s actually needed

You should always aim for the best possible impact, above all.

2) Skills-based volunteering is often the most valuable

If you have experience in areas like operations, finance, marketing, training, agriculture, logistics, HR, product development, or process improvement, your contribution can be durable because you’re helping build capacity.

3) The goal is to support

A good volunteer shows up ready to be useful, not admired.

How to choose the right volunteer opportunity

If you’re volunteering abroad, choosing the right organization matters as much as your willingness to help.

A credible organization typically has:

• a clearly defined mission and track record

• local leadership and local staff in decision-making roles

• transparent finances

• clear and realistic roles for volunteers

• continuity (work continues after volunteers leave)

Preparing to volunteer

Before you go, recognize that you are a guest in another country. You will not fix complex problems in a short time, but you can get them closer to a goal. Your job is to both contribute and learn.

Depending on the location and type of volunteering, plan for:

• required vaccines/health precautions

• travel insurance and emergencies

• communication issues (SIM cards, Wi-Fi access, power reliability)

• local customs around clothing, greetings, punctuality, and gender norms

  
  

If you’re doing skills-based volunteering you may want to bring tools they can use, such as templates checklists, worksheets, and simple SOP guidelines. Aim to train locals rather than doing everything for them, and be diligent about documentation, such as reports, notes, processes, and plans. Bring high value.

What You'll learn

how to work with constraints

Resources you take for granted may be limited or nonexistent in another country. Consider old or poor equipment, inconsistent supply chains, bureaucracies, and basic infrastructure issues.

listen before acting

Most people want to help by offering solutions, but the better approach is to keep asking questions and build dialog. Ask the locals what they need and understand why. Find out what has been tried and what the outcomes were. Develop solutions that are realistic. Listen first. If you lead with certainty, you’ll miss the truth.

dignity matters

Always respect those you work with. They are usually knowledgeable and capable in many ways.

articles & blogs

Below are some of my published pieces that explore different dimensions of volunteering and work abroad. If you’re considering volunteering—or you’re simply curious about what it looks like beyond the brochure language—these will take you deeper.

Un-Corporate Volunteering, October 2014, Experience in Kenya, Business Fights Poverty

Agribusiness Volunteering in Nigeria, September/October 2004, Transitions Abroad

Herbal Horticulture in Kosovo, September 2003, Prepared Foods

Building the Dairy Business....Abroad, South Africa, September 2003, Dairy Foods

After you return: don’t let it become “a moment”

If the experience mattered to you, keep it alive:

• share resources or connections the organization can use

• mentor someone remotely (if appropriate)

• donate strategically to support locally-led work

• volunteer at home with the skills you learned abroad