Volunteering: Its history and the Industry Today

Traveling for altruistic purposes easily dates 2000 years to the early missionaries. Religions kept something of a monopoly on the field until just forty years and, probably to the surprise of many, are still very active. The UK's oldest missionary society The Edinburgh Medical Missionary Society is still supporting an ophthalmic hospital in Nazareth, whilst many others, both large and small, continue to work around the world. Details of some societies that recruit medical personnel can be found in the overseas section of the NursingNetUK site. Many smaller societies use the organisation Christians Abroad as a clearing house for their vacancies.

Secular volunteers first started traveling overseas, in large numbers, following the establishment of VSO (Voluntary Service Overseas) during the late 1950s. That this timing coincided with Britain's hand over of many former colonies has not past without attention. During the early days of VSO many volunteers were straight out of school and were probably gaining as much, if not more, than their hosts. A decade later and VSO's policy changed to one of recruiting "skilled" volunteers who would normally spend two years overseas. VSO is now by far the largest recipient of funding from the Department for International Development's "British Volunteer Programme" budget line. The other recipients are CIIR/ICD, UNAIS and Skillshare Africa.

Despite it being thirty years since VSO stopped recruiting school leavers many people still think first of the organisation when the subject comes up.

During the 1970's new organisations started to appear, specifically to cater to young people. Then during the 1980's and early 90's we saw the development of a number of organisations specialising in responding to emergencies whilst others were established to support communities in Eastern Europe

So, as we enter a new decade, organisations can be dived into four main groups:

1) Short-term / Gap Year

With the rise in access to higher education, changing perceptions of careers and life paths combined with the continuing fall in the cost of international travel has resulted in this sector being dynamic, fast growing.

2) Skill-sharing

In the UK this sector is dominated by the 4 organisations that receive direct funding from the government:

• VSO
• CIIR/ICD
• UNAIS/International Service
• Skillshare International.

Others do exist but their operations tend to be much smaller as they need to find funding from a wider range of sources. Amongst the best known in this category is Health Unlimited (I previouslyhad Action HEalth listed but they have been absorbed into Skillshare Africa).

Some organisations do not support overseas programmes directly but as clearing houses for other agencies. These include REDR (Register of Engineers for Disaster Relief)and IHE (International Health Exchange). These two organisations have now merged, though both web-sites are still working. BESO (British Executive Services Overseas) use to provide more expereinced volunteers for short term consultancies but they have now been merged into VSO.

Many other countries around the world have their own government funded volunteer/skill sharing schemes. These include:

• Ireland
• Australia
• Canada
• USA
• New Zealand

(If anyone has web addresses for other organisations please email them to me and I'll add them to the list.)

VSO also recruits through offices in Canada, Holland and Portugal.

Despite popular myth the majority of the charities, involved in overseas development, do not operate volunteer programmes. Instead they have full-time employed staff, who increasingly, are recruited locally. Usually the only exception to this is in emergency situations when specialists might be recruited on short-term contracts (see below). However when this happens the organisations are usually looking for highly skilled individuals for positions that they have not been able to fill locally.

3) Emergency

Though originally the preserve of the International Committee of the Red Cross and a variety of UN agencies, a number of new organisations have entered the same field. Amongst the best known is the Nobel Prize winning Medicin Sans Frontier (MSF), an international organisation with affiliates in many parts of the world. A British agency, similar to MSF, is Merlin. This organisation, like charities such as OXFAM, British Red Cross and the Save the Children Fund, will normally use people who are already on their own "in-house" registers, turning to agencies such as REDR or advertisements in the national press (usually the Guardian) or specialist journals when they need to fill vacancies.

4) Eastern Europe

A large number of organisations were established between the mid-eighties and mid-nineties, to deal specifically with problems in the countries of Eastern Europe. Often established by individuals or small groups of people with no connection to the main "overseas aid" industry they have been active raising money, shipping supplies and providing volunteers.

I do not know of any central register of organisations operating in this region. If anyone knows of one please let me know and I'll add the details to this page.

In Conclusion

The need for "volunteers" in developing countries is still evolving. No countries really need 18 year old foreigners but the exchange of cultures and ideas that come from these visits can be beneficial for both hosts and visitors.

Long-term skilled volunteers are also changing. Newly qualified nurses and doctors, or other professionals, are now in far less demand as countries train their own citizens. Now it is the specialists, nurse tutors, computer programmers or business experts who are in demand.

In preparation for emergencies much effort is being put into the training and support of local specialists though, sadly, many countries will continue to need foreign assistance after natural (and man-made) disasters.

For those who are interested in this field I would strongly recommend against considering it as a career in its own right. Instead work at what interests you (i.e. health care, engineering or administration) and develop your skills and career in your home country. With professional qualifications and experience you can then go to organisations such as REDR and IHE, whose courses can help prepare you the special challenges you might face working overseas. With sound preparation, and up to-date skills and experience, you are far more likely to be of value for a short-term contract, or in an emergency situation.

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