On volunteering

Is volunteering helping, new form of tourism, a needed mark in your CV or something else?  

For the local salesmen it is a form of tourism. For them anyone with pale skin is a tourist, with pockets full of money wanting to shop shop and shop. And while in the foreign country, sure I want to try to see some of the country, including some touristic places and perhaps buy few of those lovely pashminas. But at least for me, the travelling and what I want to see comes second, first comes my work. If I have the free time to travel and see things, great! But most of the days I’m working full workdays, and after the day you are too tired and it is too dark to play a tourist.   

One of the reasons I applied for Loo Niva was that I could use my education. I felt, that if I could use my education while working on interesting issues I surely would be motivated. And I was right! Of course the mark in the CV is a nice bonus, but I doubt you would go through the possible illnesses, power cuts and boredomness in the long evenings just because of the mark.  

I had my doubts about been able to help. This doubt was connected to my abilities, but also the abilities of the receiving organization willingness to use my abilities, and in the structure of the volunteering system: are volunteers just a link to the funding, and received solely for this purpose. I’m very glad my doubts were proven very wrong. Etvo chooses their partner organizations carefully, and top of it I got very lucky with my organization. I’ve been working with very interesting projects and Loo Niva has at least made me feel useful. In top of this, I feel I have learned a great deal about development co-operation and many other things. 

So volunteering is many things and it depends on the volunteer which aspects are stronger than others. But who should volunteer? Anyone I guess, but I do recommend that you have the willingness to help and work, so you find the motivation even when tired and irritated. And the stereotypical openmindness is important, by this I mean the willingness to face new challenges and experiences and not to care if and when the work, the living, the life is not as you imagined it to be. Of course it’s good to have some strength at the same time, so you know how far you can bend before you crack. Also a high tolerance of loneliness is needed, probably you’d be spending a lot of time on your own, because your local friends are busy with their own life, it is not safe to go out after dark and there is no internet or electricity. You can also feel alone, even if people surround you all the time; in many cultures the Finnish personal space is non-existent. Lucky for me I’ve always enjoyed those liminal spaces: the feeling that you have left but not yet arrived, and in the meantime I’ve been able do something useful and interesting! Though the inevitable feeling of leaving sucks, because you will arrive at some point, though you would understand it only when saying goodbye.  

I recommend opening your world a bit and learning about the world around you. Some boring nights, cold showers and few stomach bugs are a low price to pay for the wonderful experiences and life’s lessons!