Volunteering abroad is an opportunity that brings hundreds of opportunities in a personal and professional way. In this article, we wanted to share with you the 5 main reasons to volunteer abroad, regarding our personal experience.
Meet new people
The first obvious but really important reason to volunteer abroad is that you will meet a lot of people from different roots and backgrounds, which is very enriching. They will teach you about their experiences, their stories. You will meet people with whom you will spend time for one day, several weeks, months, and even more. You will meet people that don't care about you and others that want you in their life. One of the most beautiful encounter I made during my volunteering experience in Armenia was with my coworker. We realized that we were living in the same building so we decided to go to work together everyday. We became really close friends, and she asked me to witness at her wedding. If someone had told me this before, I would have never believed in it. However, anything can happen, as long as we are open to meetings.
Improve your intercultural skills
Meeting new people from all around the world will helps you to have a better understanding of the situations that you will experiment, and the difficulties you will go through. Thanks to crossed point of views and sensibilities, you will change your look on life and will become a multifaceted, adaptable person. Travelling abroad make us become more open to the different possibilities around us. It's an update of our values and our beliefs. We are used to think and to act in such a way in our native country because it's part of our culture and our education. When we go out of this, it makes us understand that there is not only one right way to react in a specific situation.
Contribute to a better world
Voluntary service offers you the opportunity to be involved in social projects, citizenship projects, human rights projects; entrepreneurship projects, cultural projects, sustainable development projects...the possibilities are infinite. All these projects aim at contributing at a more inclusive, equal and just society. This involvement can be really rewarding to you. If you want to take part of it in your small way, volunteering will open to you many doors. You will have the opportunity to implement projects and activities thanks to the support of your welcoming organization and your mentor.
Practice your language skills
When you move abroad, most of the time you will have to speak in a foreign language (except if you live as a hermit or if you stay with people from you nationality, but I highly advice you not to act this way). You will have the opportunity to improve your language skills such as English which is very useful for work. If you have the chance to volunteer in a non- english speaking country, you may even have the opportunity to learn a new language. At first it is not that easy but if you have enough motivation, you will succeed to go through the language barrier. Also, there is no secret. The best way to improve is to speak and to meet local people.
Be prepared for the job market
Finally, the experience of volunteering abroad is really appreciated by the recruiters for many reasons such as we enumerated above. For example, having intercultural skills is a real advantage in the job market since it means that you are able to work in different working environments and you are used to think and to behave in an open way even if you're not in an environment that you know. Thanks to encounters, intercultural skills, volunteering experiences and language skills, you will gain confidence and experience, that can helps you to get the job of your dream.
You are convinced, and you want to know more about how you can start a volunteering adventure?
To get more information about volunteering, we advice you to have a look on the different possibilities that are offered to you, regarding your nationality and your age.
Several mobility programs exist : the civic service is dedicated to European citizens from 16 to 25 years old.
As for us, we decided to volunteer with the European Solidarity Corps (ESC), which is a mobility program for European citizens from 18 to 30.
If you want to know more about this program and the different opportunities in Europe:
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