Volunteering Guidelines
Thank you for offering us your time and interest for volunteering in Vietnam. We have worked with many volunteers before, and we greatly appreciate the indispensable impact volunteers can have our sustainable development projects.
Many of our volunteer requests come from foreigners visiting Vietnam temporarily, and we adhere to uphold the internationally recognised guidelines on responsible travelling and volunteering. Whether you decide to volunteer with us or another organisation in a developing country, we urge you to consider your role in global development first by reading these guidelines.
Be aware that volunteering is a big responsibility.
Development is a very complex field of expertise, and our social workers have decades of professional and practical experience. Volunteers are usually new to this field - in addition to being in a new country, culture and context. We urge volunteers to do their research, prepare for the experience and learn before-hand:
- the rights-based approach to development
- the difference between development and charity
- the positive and negative impacts of orphanage volunteering
- the history, culture and traditions of your chosen country
- past experiences from volunteers in your chosen country
Consider volunteering like a new job.
NGOs have to run like professional businesses on a much, much smaller budget, so time and money is our most precious resource. We ask our volunteers to learn about their chosen organisation from independent research and consider:
- which specific skills can I bring to my chosen project?
- am I happy to volunteer off-site if it is in the best interest of the children?
- how do I personally ensure that I bring positive change?
- how do I plan to work independently?
Bring the right skills.
The very best volunteers are flexible volunteers who take time to understand where they can fit into our daily work. While reading to, playing with and hugging the children may make a tremendous impact on the volunteer, it does little to support the needs of the children. If you have a specific skill set that you can teach others (playing an instrument, decorating cakes, who knows) do let us know – perhaps our partners/we are looking for this. Please note that we can’t accept English-teaching as a specific skill unless you have professional experience in Vietnamese classrooms.
Agree not to perpetuate the sense of abandonment in children.
Like UNICEF, we are concerned about the emotional loss that the children may feel from exposure to a revolving door of short-term volunteers. Donor educator Saundra Schimmelpfennig writes about the trend of “hug-an-orphan vacations” that that although volunteers feel that interacting with orphans is a great way to give back, it can have harmful effects. “While at the orphanage, most volunteers seek to build emotional bonds with the children so they can feel they made a difference. Though well intended, this leads to a never-ending round of abandonment”.
Many of our volunteer requests come from foreigners visiting Vietnam temporarily, and we adhere to uphold the internationally recognised guidelines on responsible travelling and volunteering. Whether you decide to volunteer with us or another organisation in a developing country, we urge you to consider your role in global development first by reading these guidelines.
Be aware that volunteering is a big responsibility.
Development is a very complex field of expertise, and our social workers have decades of professional and practical experience. Volunteers are usually new to this field - in addition to being in a new country, culture and context. We urge volunteers to do their research, prepare for the experience and learn before-hand:
- the rights-based approach to development
- the difference between development and charity
- the positive and negative impacts of orphanage volunteering
- the history, culture and traditions of your chosen country
- past experiences from volunteers in your chosen country
Consider volunteering like a new job.
NGOs have to run like professional businesses on a much, much smaller budget, so time and money is our most precious resource. We ask our volunteers to learn about their chosen organisation from independent research and consider:
- which specific skills can I bring to my chosen project?
- am I happy to volunteer off-site if it is in the best interest of the children?
- how do I personally ensure that I bring positive change?
- how do I plan to work independently?
Bring the right skills.
The very best volunteers are flexible volunteers who take time to understand where they can fit into our daily work. While reading to, playing with and hugging the children may make a tremendous impact on the volunteer, it does little to support the needs of the children. If you have a specific skill set that you can teach others (playing an instrument, decorating cakes, who knows) do let us know – perhaps our partners/we are looking for this. Please note that we can’t accept English-teaching as a specific skill unless you have professional experience in Vietnamese classrooms.
Agree not to perpetuate the sense of abandonment in children.
Like UNICEF, we are concerned about the emotional loss that the children may feel from exposure to a revolving door of short-term volunteers. Donor educator Saundra Schimmelpfennig writes about the trend of “hug-an-orphan vacations” that that although volunteers feel that interacting with orphans is a great way to give back, it can have harmful effects. “While at the orphanage, most volunteers seek to build emotional bonds with the children so they can feel they made a difference. Though well intended, this leads to a never-ending round of abandonment”.
Volunteering opportunities
Throughout the year, we have two kinds of opportunities for volunteering with our projects.
1. MENTORING
Capacity building, staff development and skill-sharing are some of our most important elements of development, and through our mentoring scheme you could be our next best resource. We work with a number of social workers, teachers and counsellors who rarely have opportunities for professional development and cross-cultural communication is a great way to enhance both their and your skills.
Requirements:
- above 25 years old
- a qualification in the area in which you offer your support (e.g. teaching, social work, PR, marketing, counselling, medical health or other appropriate education)
- a minimum requirement of two weeks’ commitment on-site (or depending on project size), although planning with our country coordinator may start more than 1 month before your arrival date.
Responsibilities:
- working with our coordinators to define a specific area or task in which your skills can benefit our current needs.
- gathering contextual information about your skill in Vietnam
- meeting with your mentee and volunteer translator to set mutual expectations and outcome
- executing the mentoring in a respectful, responsible and culturally aware manner
- submitting a short report over key impact and future suggestions
2. EVENT ORGANISING
There is no way around it - the backbone of every non-profit organisation is fundraising. We aim to run a professional project on a very small budget, and the higher our budget, the better service we can offer our beneficiaries.
Surprisingly to some, it is also some of the most rewarding volunteering work you can do. If you have limited time but really want to make an impact, this is the way to do it. As you fundraise, you spread awareness about our challenges, educate people about Vietnam and collect funds for recreational activities for the children. You gain invaluable PR experience and even though you might not know, you know a lot about fundraising already if you know how to use social media.
Requirements:
- above 18 years
- interest/knowledge of fundraising, communications and social media
- proven interest in learning about the project and the country
- ability to work independently, think creatively and adjust to new challenges
- a minimum requirement of four weeks’ commitment on-site – please add 1-2 weeks to coordinate and research before your arrival.
Responsibilities:
- setting a reasonable fundraising goal with our coordinator (e.g. new clothes for all beneficiaries, a trip to the zoo with breakfast and lunch, a museum trip, x months supply of rice)
- learning about fundraising (online, face-to-face, cash donations, in-kind donations)
- planning and submitting your fundraising strategy in cooperation with our coordinator (location, audience, budget, marketing, activities, donation size, volunteers, reporting)
- working with our children and social workers to plan how your funds will be spent
- executing your fundraising activity in an informative, responsible and efficient manner
- collecting and accounting for funds
- overseeing the expenditure of collected funds, taking photos and reporting to donors
GENERAL VOLUNTEERING RESPONSIBILITIES
The Shelter Collection is able to provide:
- resources and information about life in Vietnam so volunteer can arrange their own stay.
- a reading compendium for the situation of child abuse in Vietnam
- introduction meeting and follow-up consultations in Vietnam
- on-site support for emergencies
Our volunteers:
- are personally responsible and liable for all costs incurred during the stay such as arranging and/or paying for flights, visa, transport, insurance, accommodation, language schools or jobs
- pledge to submit their experiences to our Volunteer Advice compendium
- pledge to joining our Ambassador Network after ending their stay
AMBASSADOR NETWORK
Awareness-raising is an incredibly important part of our work, and the only way to allow us to grow our number of projects and beneficiaries. Ambassadors are official spokespeople who share our mission to support children in Vietnam.
Role description:
- gain knowledge about Vietnam and the situation of child abuse, so they can share specific insight with potential donors and ambassadors.
- spread our news to their contacts by sharing and spreading our social media updates, forwarding our newsletters and having a donation request and our website in email signatures
- recruiting donors and other ambassadors b holding events or proposing our cause to other event organisers or fundraisers in their local community
1. MENTORING
Capacity building, staff development and skill-sharing are some of our most important elements of development, and through our mentoring scheme you could be our next best resource. We work with a number of social workers, teachers and counsellors who rarely have opportunities for professional development and cross-cultural communication is a great way to enhance both their and your skills.
Requirements:
- above 25 years old
- a qualification in the area in which you offer your support (e.g. teaching, social work, PR, marketing, counselling, medical health or other appropriate education)
- a minimum requirement of two weeks’ commitment on-site (or depending on project size), although planning with our country coordinator may start more than 1 month before your arrival date.
Responsibilities:
- working with our coordinators to define a specific area or task in which your skills can benefit our current needs.
- gathering contextual information about your skill in Vietnam
- meeting with your mentee and volunteer translator to set mutual expectations and outcome
- executing the mentoring in a respectful, responsible and culturally aware manner
- submitting a short report over key impact and future suggestions
2. EVENT ORGANISING
There is no way around it - the backbone of every non-profit organisation is fundraising. We aim to run a professional project on a very small budget, and the higher our budget, the better service we can offer our beneficiaries.
Surprisingly to some, it is also some of the most rewarding volunteering work you can do. If you have limited time but really want to make an impact, this is the way to do it. As you fundraise, you spread awareness about our challenges, educate people about Vietnam and collect funds for recreational activities for the children. You gain invaluable PR experience and even though you might not know, you know a lot about fundraising already if you know how to use social media.
Requirements:
- above 18 years
- interest/knowledge of fundraising, communications and social media
- proven interest in learning about the project and the country
- ability to work independently, think creatively and adjust to new challenges
- a minimum requirement of four weeks’ commitment on-site – please add 1-2 weeks to coordinate and research before your arrival.
Responsibilities:
- setting a reasonable fundraising goal with our coordinator (e.g. new clothes for all beneficiaries, a trip to the zoo with breakfast and lunch, a museum trip, x months supply of rice)
- learning about fundraising (online, face-to-face, cash donations, in-kind donations)
- planning and submitting your fundraising strategy in cooperation with our coordinator (location, audience, budget, marketing, activities, donation size, volunteers, reporting)
- working with our children and social workers to plan how your funds will be spent
- executing your fundraising activity in an informative, responsible and efficient manner
- collecting and accounting for funds
- overseeing the expenditure of collected funds, taking photos and reporting to donors
GENERAL VOLUNTEERING RESPONSIBILITIES
The Shelter Collection is able to provide:
- resources and information about life in Vietnam so volunteer can arrange their own stay.
- a reading compendium for the situation of child abuse in Vietnam
- introduction meeting and follow-up consultations in Vietnam
- on-site support for emergencies
Our volunteers:
- are personally responsible and liable for all costs incurred during the stay such as arranging and/or paying for flights, visa, transport, insurance, accommodation, language schools or jobs
- pledge to submit their experiences to our Volunteer Advice compendium
- pledge to joining our Ambassador Network after ending their stay
AMBASSADOR NETWORK
Awareness-raising is an incredibly important part of our work, and the only way to allow us to grow our number of projects and beneficiaries. Ambassadors are official spokespeople who share our mission to support children in Vietnam.
Role description:
- gain knowledge about Vietnam and the situation of child abuse, so they can share specific insight with potential donors and ambassadors.
- spread our news to their contacts by sharing and spreading our social media updates, forwarding our newsletters and having a donation request and our website in email signatures
- recruiting donors and other ambassadors b holding events or proposing our cause to other event organisers or fundraisers in their local community