Volunteering abroad

NAS94025 said:

I've been looking into volunteering abroad for a little while now

Hello there, this is a huge step to take and one that you need to consider in detail, especally being neurodivergent.

One of the first things I would recommend you have in place is to have an emergency reserve of cash in the bank to use if you ever need to get back to the UK in a worst case scenario. I used to keep £5k when I was working in Latin America so I could cover taxis, hotels, flights, bribes or whatever to get me out if the company went bust and I was stuck in somewhere aweful like Bogota (this was in the 1990s when it was under Escobars drug cartel control).

Also if you end up hurt of ill you may need emergency medical repatriation so having an insurance in place to cover this is important - being bedridden in a backwater town in a third world country is not something I would with for anyone else to have to experience.

Thats the worst bit out the way - hopefully you are still reading so now the decisions:

1 - what do you have to offer? Think about it, why would a company fly you out, give you accommodation and probably feed you and take care of your living costs unless you can offer something they cannot get locally. Do you have great IT skills, a medical degree, can create an Arc reactor from bits of an old missile etc?

Even if it is something secular like a Christian conversion camp in Africa somewhere, you need to know your scripture well enough to be useful as well as be abel to do a whole range of other tasks (cook, clean, drive etc) most likely.

2 - Can you speak the language? English is only going to get you very far if you are going to Australia, New Zealand, Candada ot the USA and they tend to have plenty of locals already who can do what you do.

Once you look at places that need voiunteers with lower skill sets (Africa, Ukraine possibly, Palestine (if you can get in) etc) then you will need to be passably trained in their languages.

3 - What are the limitations from your autism? This will actually work against you as the concerns over restrictive diets, sensory overloads, meltdowns, restrictive behaviours etc will need to be considered by any company. You may want to get a disclosue from your therapist (if you have one) or doctor explaining that you do not have any traits that are likely to interfere with your ability to handle the new and sometimes harsh environments.

4 - Safety. A bit of a touchy subject this one but I see from your profile that you are a 21 year old female which makes you a likely target for sexual harrassment in many environments where these companies operate. I would recommend making sure you are trained in at least some form of physical self defence at the minimum.

So with these thought through, what sort of work can you do? Some ideas are:

A - Cleaning water environments. Plastic pollution is a big issue you if you want a mostly English speaking environment then trying to get on a ship that handles this can get you doing something good for the environment and mix with a multicultural crew.

B - Natural disaster cleanups. Some places need help after events like wildfires, floods, landslides, volcanoes etc so if you are ok with very dirty environments, can stomach death and injury of others and can perform hard physical labour then this is a possibility.

C - Companies like the Red Cross often have humanitarian projects around the world but these are often in areas which have heartbreaking situations (famines, wars etc) so a strong constitution is required. I would look them up.

D - Feeling like a rebel? How about Greenpeace? Become an activist, take on whaling ships etc. Not for the faint hearted.

E - Got any medical experience? Try Doctors Without Borders. A strong constitution required also but at least you will be doing something to help.

F - Join a company that sends staff around the world. Maybe a courier company that sends you with the package (I nearly did this in the 90s) to take the destination to the door to make sure it gets there. If they tell you to swallow the package then the company may not be as legit as you thought though

That is a scattering of ideas and thoughts for you to consider - hopefully something sparks an idea for you.

I worked for a bank that sent me around Eastern Europe and Latin America sorting out IT issues for them - maybe develop a skill that works to this end and you not only get to travel in style but get paid a lot to do it.

NAS94025 said:

I've been looking into volunteering abroad for a little while now

Hello there, this is a huge step to take and one that you need to consider in detail, especally being neurodivergent.

One of the first things I would recommend you have in place is to have an emergency reserve of cash in the bank to use if you ever need to get back to the UK in a worst case scenario. I used to keep £5k when I was working in Latin America so I could cover taxis, hotels, flights, bribes or whatever to get me out if the company went bust and I was stuck in somewhere aweful like Bogota (this was in the 1990s when it was under Escobars drug cartel control).

Also if you end up hurt of ill you may need emergency medical repatriation so having an insurance in place to cover this is important - being bedridden in a backwater town in a third world country is not something I would with for anyone else to have to experience.

Thats the worst bit out the way - hopefully you are still reading so now the decisions:

1 - what do you have to offer? Think about it, why would a company fly you out, give you accommodation and probably feed you and take care of your living costs unless you can offer something they cannot get locally. Do you have great IT skills, a medical degree, can create an Arc reactor from bits of an old missile etc?

Even if it is something secular like a Christian conversion camp in Africa somewhere, you need to know your scripture well enough to be useful as well as be abel to do a whole range of other tasks (cook, clean, drive etc) most likely.

2 - Can you speak the language? English is only going to get you very far if you are going to Australia, New Zealand, Candada ot the USA and they tend to have plenty of locals already who can do what you do.

Once you look at places that need voiunteers with lower skill sets (Africa, Ukraine possibly, Palestine (if you can get in) etc) then you will need to be passably trained in their languages.

3 - What are the limitations from your autism? This will actually work against you as the concerns over restrictive diets, sensory overloads, meltdowns, restrictive behaviours etc will need to be considered by any company. You may want to get a disclosue from your therapist (if you have one) or doctor explaining that you do not have any traits that are likely to interfere with your ability to handle the new and sometimes harsh environments.

4 - Safety. A bit of a touchy subject this one but I see from your profile that you are a 21 year old female which makes you a likely target for sexual harrassment in many environments where these companies operate. I would recommend making sure you are trained in at least some form of physical self defence at the minimum.

So with these thought through, what sort of work can you do? Some ideas are:

A - Cleaning water environments. Plastic pollution is a big issue you if you want a mostly English speaking environment then trying to get on a ship that handles this can get you doing something good for the environment and mix with a multicultural crew.

B - Natural disaster cleanups. Some places need help after events like wildfires, floods, landslides, volcanoes etc so if you are ok with very dirty environments, can stomach death and injury of others and can perform hard physical labour then this is a possibility.

C - Companies like the Red Cross often have humanitarian projects around the world but these are often in areas which have heartbreaking situations (famines, wars etc) so a strong constitution is required. I would look them up.

D - Feeling like a rebel? How about Greenpeace? Become an activist, take on whaling ships etc. Not for the faint hearted.

E - Got any medical experience? Try Doctors Without Borders. A strong constitution required also but at least you will be doing something to help.

F - Join a company that sends staff around the world. Maybe a courier company that sends you with the package (I nearly did this in the 90s) to take the destination to the door to make sure it gets there. If they tell you to swallow the package then the company may not be as legit as you thought though

That is a scattering of ideas and thoughts for you to consider - hopefully something sparks an idea for you.

I worked for a bank that sent me around Eastern Europe and Latin America sorting out IT issues for them - maybe develop a skill that works to this end and you not only get to travel in style but get paid a lot to do it.

Thank you for your ideas. I've never actually properly thought out stuff such as potential sexual harassment or medical emergencies, which I will need to have more of a think about. I'll look around in terms of programmes, it's just that I don't know how autism will effect me abroad, as I've not done much travelling. Thank you for you message.