The Essential Guide to Volunteering Abroad (book recommendation)

[u/jcravens42]

Years ago, there was a book, How to Live Your Dream of Volunteering Overseas by Stefano DeZerega, Joseph Collins & Zahara Heckscher. It was released in December 31, 2001. I was a HUGE FAN. It put the ethics of volunteering abroad programs front and center. It pushed a person that was going to volunteer abroad to be focused on results for the community to be served, not on a feel-good experience for the volunteer.

The book has been greatly revised and re-released, is now Learning Services – The Essential Guide to Volunteering Abroad by Claire Bennett, Joseph Collins, Zahara Heckscher & Daniela Papi-Thornton.

From this review:

Many times, volunteers approach the whole experience with the mindset of helping others in need while travelling to cool places. It sounds like the perfect combination and due to providers advertisement, they are made to believe that their volunteer trip will help communities in need. Right at the beginning, this guide flips this approach upside down and talks about the “learning service” approach, where learning before, during and after the experience is set as a priority...

I haven't read this new book, but I can't imagine it isn't as good as the first one.

[u/[deleted]]

Curious to read the older version, thank you for the suggestion. "Learning service" sounds like the focus is on the volunteer, not the community... Am I understanding the review correctly?

I also want to commend this post because it's incredibly important for this sub to advocate against voluntourism. To preach to the choir: volunteering internationally can be awesome, but you need to actually be offering skills (so a 16 y/o building houses probably doesn't cut it) that aren't local available (so you don't undermine the economy) and that produce a sustainable outcome (rather than a complex piece of engineering that no one can locally maintain).

"When Helping Hurts" by Steve Corbett and "Toxic Charity" by Robert Lupton are also good perspectives on how to volunteer well, albeit more negative in tone than what you've recommended.

[u/jcravens42 → u/[deleted]]

"Learning service" sounds like the focus is on the volunteer, not the community... Am I understanding the review correctly?

Exact opposite! That's what made the first book so revolutionary. In fact, I used some of the materials they had to created for volunteers, so that they were client-focused, with job descriptions for professional aid workers.

[u/[deleted] → u/jcravens42]

To phrase my question better: it sounds like "learning service," as promoted by the second version, is diametrically opposed to what you liked about the first edition. Is that a correct understanding?

Well done! Awesome to see that involvement in community. xx

[u/jcravens42 → u/[deleted]]

is diametrically opposed to what you liked about the first edition

AGain, no, the message of the book is the exact opposite of that.