The Altruists?

In an interview for the position of aid worker with the International Committee of the Red Cross applicants are asked, “What are you running away from?” For someone to uproot their lives and travel to third world countries, they must have passionate or slightly unusual motives. To some the idea of visiting a post-disaster environment or seeing poverty first-hand would be about as appealing as Delhi-belly, for others it’s their lifeblood. Hannah Gurney looks at what motives people have for moving to third world countries.

Over the years, the number of people travelling to developing countries to volunteer or offer their expertise in work placements is on the rise. VSO, a charity that has about 1600 professional volunteers travelling to 42 of the world’s poorest countries, found the number of enquiries into volunteering with them had doubled from 2007 to 2008. But why do people have the desire to leave their home and be placed in uncomfortable, sometimes distressing environments?

Sandy Scott, life coach at Vive ut Vitas, believes there are two stages when people seek out the experience of volunteering in developing countries.

She says the first stage is, ‘Middle aged people who have worked hard their whole lives but have become disillusioned and feel there is no point in carrying on. Many have stayed with the same company for years and expected to be there until retirement but during the recession they have lost their jobs and feel there is little hope of finding another similar position.

‘It’s very common for people in this situation to look for something meaningful in their lives and somewhere they will be respected and feel useful. Working or volunteering in developing countries can give them a renewed sense of purpose and increase their self worth by giving back a form of status they lost when they left their job.’

Throwing it all up in the air

Sarah Griffith, 51, is founder of the Bridge to Sri Lanka charity. She has visited Sri Lanka 31 times in five years to help rebuild the lives of those affected by the tsunami. She recently took volunteers over to Haiti to provide aid and support to the earthquake’s victims. Her story draws similarities to Sandy’s ‘first stage’ theory.

“I had a job I was disillusioned with, my father had just died, my marriage had broken down, I was in a bit of a hole really. As I watched the Asian tsunami from the comfort of my sofa feeling sorry for myself, I realised my problems were fairly insignificant in relation to theirs,” Sarah explains. ‘And so I thought, “Bugger it, I’m just going to throw it all up in the air!”’

Prior to setting up her own charity, Sarah worked with local charities including Multiple Sclerosis Society and Relate Ltd, a marriage guidance organisation. She admits her decision to focus her efforts globally was due to the breakdown of her relationship, but since volunteering in post-disaster zones she has a different outlook on life.

‘My house is going to wreck and ruin because I would rather spend money on those less fortunate than on material pleasures. I am driven by what I see and do everytime I go over to these places and that’s my motivation to carry on,’ Sarah expresses.

While some people need a change in their lives after experiencing certain crises, Sandy described another stage in life when people crave the challenge of volunteering overseas.

‘They are in the twentysomethings category, they’re people who have seen their parents conform to expected behavior their whole lives and have seen them experience divorce, redundancy, stress and illness. Many have simply decided this is not for them and their failure to find the jobs they aspired to after graduation has left them in search of something they consider worthwhile,’ Sandy determined.

So instead of ‘running away’ from broken marriages or claustrophobic jobs, Sandy sees volunteering as enabling them to combine travel with new experiences and to put off any thoughts of settling down or growing up until much later in life. This could be associated with the rise of people taking gap years and career sabbaticals.

Resisting conventions

Fresh from graduating at Cardiff University, Hannah Furby, 22, was heading for a career in cognitive psychology; she set up her own fundraising idea, The Happy Bus, instead. Her plan is to buy a bus and drive round Africa, teaching English, playing games and doing activities with the children she encounters on the way.

‘The attitude people have of, ‘What difference can one person make?’ Is why I disagree with certain attitudes of people in the West. People use the excuse that charity starts at home, but then those people aren’t even donating money to local charities. If I can bring happiness to just one child in Africa, even if it’s only for a short time, then I’ll carry that with me forever.’

Will it 'make a difference'?

Mark Aquilina, however, believes that going to third world countries with the objective to ‘make a difference’ could leave volunteers disappointed.

Mark, 50, is a doctor from the Shetland Islands. He spent two years working with VSO in Namibia, 15 years ago.

‘I knew what I didn’t want to do and that was to have my life in the UK set out in front of me. I had the chance to experience things in Namibia that I would never have had to deal with as a doctor in the UK. You end up gaining far more than you give back without even realising.

‘I use the analogy of a hand in bowl of water, it will create lots of mess but when you take your hand out the water soon calms down. That’s the affect people have to the communities they work in, any changes made will soon disappear after they’ve left.’

Anne Sieve, the Southern counties representative on the UK board of United Nations, has dedicated her life to looking at the long-term rather than short-term solutions of improving conditions in the third-world.

‘The VSO volunteers used to teach English to all former British colonies, to people who were the elite of the country because if you could speak your tribal language and English then you were more likely to receive an education. So VSO only actually touch a tiny, elite minority of whichever country they go into. ‘

'You do what you can where you are'

After spending years involved in International aid charities, Anne now involves herself in more domestic charities.

‘You do what you can where you are. I had an international career and my husband and I thought we would have an amazing life going abroad, but my husband developed dementia and I became a carer – that’s why I set up the charity AdvoCare which protects the rights of people living in residential care facilities,’ Anne said.

People’s motives for travelling to developing countries to volunteer or work can differ from person to person. What is perhaps somewhat ironic is that by going away and offering help to people living in poverty, the volunteers are arguably gaining far more than they put in. Sometimes what can be disguised as a selfless act actually has dark intentions? Such as the ten members of The Baptists' Haitian Orphan Rescue Mission who illegally tried to adopt 33 children out of Haiti and into their religious organisation. However, with this example aside is volunteering or working in developing countries for personal gain such a bad thing if an impoverished community benefits? No, because as Sarah Griffith said, by gaining something from it you will always the best bits of yourself.