Thursday 23 March 2017

Learn More About Short Term Volunteer Immersions

By Paul Brown


Basically, it is usually rare to find a person who would afford the time and the cost of being committed in volunteering for a long time. Basically, spending about six months to learn the local language while building relationships and working for sustainable development objective could be appropriate in terms of experience and impact. However, it might not be realistic for a person who is working or studying. However, to accommodate a challenging schedule for busy volunteers but passionate, short term volunteer immersions have become popular.

A number of people basically want to voluntarily give services although they lack the time. This is since they are unable to secure long breaks from their career despite their will to dedicate some time to some positive impact around the community and even other countries. Usually, volunteering opportunities exist for any individual having a willing heart to work.

Generally, there are projects of all kinds allowing passionate volunteers to offer their time whenever they are available. However, there are challenges that these short-term volunteers face. One of the frustrations faced by these volunteers is jetlag, which may include disruptive sleeping patterns, headaches, or even stomach ailments. For short-term volunteers, however, they have to fight through such symptoms sand begin the work immediately.

Another shortcoming of these volunteering programs is limited immersion and interaction. Basically, it can take about 2-3 days for the locals to actually agree with the fact that you are in their community. This means that it will take some time for the locals to interact with you freely. However, when they begin to freely interact, your time there will be over.

The other challenge relates to a lack of impact under such programs. Because some duration is generally needed before strangers can interact and fully mingle so that you create some personal impression, the phenomenon makes projects become ineffective if they are short term. For instance, teaching learners will need time to know the curriculum and to acclimatize to your work.

Another frustration one faces is the feeling of being hurried and rushed. Generally, long-term volunteering programs will involve sitting down and observing the environment you are in while learning its flow. In consequence, you could make some random acquaintances who eventually becomes a friend. For such short term programs nevertheless, little time is allotted to relaxations or even accomplishment. As a result, you will be left nursing feelings of being hurried or rushed.

Nevertheless, you can do several things to alleviate such frustration during a short-term volunteer program. For instance, you can come up with a strategy to deal with exhaustion, jetlag or illnesses. You may begin adjusting your sleep patterns some days before the trip, like taking a pill during the flight to quicken time zone adjustment.

Another means of alleviating such frustrations is to be proactive. Basically, sitting idly or just waiting for instructions wastes the time that is usually very limited. Nevertheless, you could also seek chances of being helpful and friendly. Again, you could spend some time to build relationships through talking to the locals and seeking for language lessons.




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