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Are volunteer programsempowering orexploitative?

PRI's ThProducer Angilee ShahDecember 19, 2013 8:30 AM EST44

Credit: Akhtar Soomro/Reuters

Volunteers serve food to people at a Saylani Welfare Trust food distributioncentre in Karachi, Pakistan, in June, 2013. As part of a Tracking Charity seriesdiscussion we want to know, are volunteer programs empowering or

exploitative?

Giving time to a cause you believe in can be extremelyrewarding. As Demba Kandeh, a volunteer worker in theGambia, explained, Volunteering is a beautiful thing.But when do volunteer programs empower and when do theyexploit? Does building this kind of workforce benefitcommunities? Would essential services simply not be provided ifit weren't for volunteers, as several people told Amy Costello inher investigation of volunteer health workers in Senegal. Withhelp in part from the Global Voices community of bloggers, wefound perspectives from around the globe.Have you volunteered for a nonprofit organization? Share yourown experiences and follow the hashtag #TrackingCharity onTwitter to discuss.

Laura Morris, 28, an editor in Paris, spent five months as avolunteer for a small NGO in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and sevenmonths as a volunteer for an organization that provides care forthe elderly in London. Morris says she understood why theCambodian organization did not pay her she was the onlyforeigner there, and they could not have aorded the salary but she thinks that the London nonprofit simply took advantageof a tough job market and gave her work that should have beenperformed by a paid employee."I volunteered for it, so it was my decision to work with them,but I was also asked to do work that I absolutely should havebeen paid for, that was much higher than entry-level," Morrissays.

Demba Kandeh, 26, is a journalist in the West African nation ofThe Gambia who volunteers for Humanity First, an internationaldevelopment and relief organization. He believes it is

appropriate and necessary for small charities in poorcountries to rely on volunteer labor."Poor countries like the Gambia or small NGOs can't aord fullypaid sta for all the work that they really do. And all this work isreally beautiful, and the only way to carry on is throughvolunteers," Kandeh says.

Andrea Coleman, 66, is co-founder and CEO of Riders for Health,an international non-profit organization that managesambulances and other health care-related transportation inseven African countries. Her organization does not rely onvolunteers. She believes large NGOs should pay their workers."I can't think of a reason why international NGOs would recruitvolunteers and not pay them," Coleman says.Faisal Kapadia, 38, calls himself an "accidental relief worker."

He helpedstart thevolunteerorganizationSA Relief in2005 a er amassiveearthquakerockednorthern Pakistan. He says that using volunteers allows hisorganization to mobilize and make decisions quickly, withouthaving to wait for approval from a distant central oice."A volunteer structure adds a lot of flexibility," he says. "I feelthat a group of people working together in a relief situation ismuch better than a formalized structure because it reactsfaster."Jamal Badr,33, volunteerson theexecutivecommittee ofHemmatShabab, ayouth-focuseddevelopmentorganization that helps poor families in Yemen. Badr says hisorganization struggles to retain volunteers because it cannotprovide even simple perks like transportation or meals. He says

his charity appeals to volunteers by connecting with theircultural values."We talk about Islam, which encourages people to do volunteerwork." says Badr. "But we never tell people that we will paythem. We don't have money. This is the reality."EduardoLpezTherese, 64,volunteeredfor the PeruRed Cross forabout 30years,providingemergency relief and comfort to survivors of disasters. It is notjust charities that benefit from volunteer programs, he says.Some volunteers benefit from their work for the charities. LopezTherese says he has seen medical volunteers use the Red Crossto sign up new patients for their private clinics."I never thought about taking advantage of people whom wehelped," Lpez Therese says.

Marietta Le, 26, is a journalist who works for tltsz, aHungarian NGO that investigates government corruption. Theorganization relies on volunteers. She says volunteers providemore than free labor; they help spread the word of theorganization's eorts and they genuinely want to be part of theorganizations successes."You can involve more people in your work. It's a sort ofpromotion or advocacy for our work," she says. "Volunteers cansay they helped tltsz with a story that helped fightcorruption in Hungary."

Vera Weghmann, 28, volunteered for War on Want in London forsix months in 2012. She says that too many volunteer programsreplace entry-level jobs with unpaid volunteers and interns.This contributes to what she calls the "elitization of thenonprofit sector," creating an environment in which only peoplewith financial means can aord to gain the work experiencerequired to get a job."I'm not against volunteering in general," she says. "But I dothink we need to distinguish between volunteering which isvolunteering, and volunteering which is an abuse of unpaidlabor."

Angilee Shah is a journalist who covers international news and diversecommunities across the US. She is the social media manager at PublicRadio International.

In Development & Education and Human Needs part of Tracking Charity.Tagged: Paris London Phnom Penh Karachi Lima Africa Europe SouthAmerica Asia Gambia UK Cambodia Pakistan Peru Hungary DembahKandeh Humanity First Andrea Coleman Riders for Health Laura MorrisFaisal Kapadia SA Relief Jamal Badr Hemmat Shabab Eduardo LpezTherese Peru Red Cross Red Cross Marietta Le tltsz Vera WeghmannWar on Want volunteers volunteerism NGOs nonprofits Developmentinternships labor wages

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