Ensuring Your Health and Safety While Volunteering Abroad

When you are flying halfway across the world for a volunteering abroad experience, it is only natural that you should feel a little nervous about your health and safety. It’s new, it’s huge, and often, our volunteers have not previously been to their chosen country, or even travelled alone.

Health and safety isn’t just about those situations we catastrophise about – it also encompasses things like your dietary needs, medical conditions, and overall comfort during your time abroad.

So how do you know you are being well looked after? How do you know Vocational Impact has your back?

The Serious Stuff

Serious stuff out of the way first: we always start off with suggesting that you read the Foreign Travel Advice from your country’s government. Although it can look a little bit doom and gloom, it is to ensure you are aware of any risks and have yourself covered. Be sure to have a good read through of this information before you go.

Pre-Departure

Once you have registered with us and are getting ready to go, we send you a variety of documents, a questionnaire, and get you in touch with the team and other volunteers. This helps us cover all bases and any essential information that we need to know about you, and you need to know about us! We also ask that you purchase travel insurance before you go, so you are covered for all of your activities. 

Food & Catering:

Our caterers in-country are excited to make you local dishes to try. However, if you have any dietary requirements, they are more than happy to accommodate! Within the questionnaire you can let us know whatever you need to. Veggie, vegan, allergies, intolerances, or religious beliefs – you let us know and we’ll let them know! We take dietary requirements very seriously not only for comfort, but for faith and safety too. 

Medical Conditions:

In the aforementioned questionnaire, we also ask you if you have any medical conditions we should know about and if you have any medications you need to bring. This of course is absolutely vital. Once again we will make the in-country team aware of this and ensure they know what to do should anything happen or should you need any provisions or alterations. We have had many volunteers over the years with many requirements and again it is vital to your wellbeing that we know – so don’t be embarrassed or afraid to ask! 

Vaccinations:

Another one of our requirements is that you contact a travel clinic to see which vaccinations you will need before you travel. Not only is it a matter of your own safety, but some countries WILL NOT let you in without certain vaccinations. For example, Ghana requires you to have a yellow fever certificate before entry.

Other than that, the vaccines you may need will vary person to person, but a good guide is Travel Health Pro. It is used by the UK government and allows you to select your desired country to see what you may need. However, it is always best to speak to a travel doctor to be sure that they know of any individual requirements you may need and talk you through any other health and hygiene concerns and advice. Many GPs can provide travel vaccines but not all – so have a look for specialised clinics near to you.

Essential Information:

We also start sending you plenty of information about the country you are visiting. On one hand, this involves preliminary reading for your programmes subject matter and any cultural differences to be ready for to make sure you feel comfortable when you arrive. On the other hand, we have a wealth of health and safety documents for you to read. We have health and safety, risk assessments, insurance documents, codes of conduct… We appreciate that this is a lot to familiarise yourself with – but it is absolutely vital for us, our team on the ground and most importantly you! It ensures we are all on the same page and are all well covered with what to expect from one another. If you are reading all of this information and have any questions or concerns, we are only at the other end of a phone.  

Other Volunteers:

Before you go, we pop you in a group chat with any other volunteers that will be on your programme or in the same country as you at the same time. Also in the group chat will be the in-country volunteer coordinator team who will be looking after you. This chat is intended to allow you to get to know the folks you will be with, ask any questions of the team before you go, and generally put your mind at ease. It helps to get a little familiar with everyone so that when you’re then in the deep end, it’s a little less deep. Our in-country teams are all amazing, helpful and friendly and want you to have a good time. And the other volunteers are in the same boat as you! 

Final Preparation:

We also make sure we arrange a call with you to have a talk through any final details we need to before you go. It’s another chance for us to be sure we all have the correct information, and that you feel comfortable and have all of your questions answered. 

So! Flights booked, vaccines had, friends made… of course, during any of this pre-departure period you are always, always more than welcome to drop us an email, message or book a call if you need anything at all or have anything you want to talk through. 

In-Country Support

Transport:

So you’ve landed safely in your chosen country, grabbed your bags and you’re ready to go. On your way out of the airport, you will be met by one of our in-country support team. We will have sent you a picture of them beforehand so you know who you’re looking for, and before you go we will send you a t-shirt with our logo on it so they can spot you too! Then, they will take you to your accommodation so you don’t need to worry about how you’re going to travel from the airport.

Once you’re on your programme and you’ve started volunteering – your programme related transport will also be organised by us. To and from your programme and accommodation (and any other programme related travel) is included in your programme cost, and organised with trusted local providers.

For transport and travels in your spare time – the in-country support team can help you to organise any trips you wish to go on. Although this transport isn’t included, they will help you choose the most suitable and trusted ways to get you where you wish to go. 

Accommodation:

One of the most common questions we get from our volunteers is regarding where they will be staying. While the accommodation of course varies slightly between our programmes, we always house you with trusted partners. From hotels to homestays to specific volunteer apartments – there will always be a secure, safe haven for you. Each accommodation is specifically vetted and chosen by us. Accommodation is also staffed and secured while you are there, so the team is only a stones throw away. 

The Team:

Speaking of the team, there are multiple people available to you should you need anything at all.

There is your professional team – who will be training and supporting you through the programme subject matter while you gain work experience.

Then there is the in-country volunteer coordinator team, who are available to you 24/7 for anything outside of the programme work.

On top of this, our team in the UK, who have helped you organise your trip, are also just at the other end of a phone if you need anything sorting whatsoever.

All three of these teams are in constant communications with each other to not only ensure you are having a great experience, but to be sure you are comfortable and any concerns are being answered.

Wellbeing:

We appreciate that joining one of our programmes can be incredibly challenging. It is a real world experience in fields such as criminology, law, psychology and medicine – and so you may come face to face with some situations that may test you. And so, our teams always have an open ear. If there is anything you are struggling to cope with, remember they have all been here before as well. Our team wants you to learn but also to feel comfortable and have the best possible experience, and so they will absolutely ensure that for you. We encourage you to keep them updated about how you are getting on and always reach out should you need anything. Your wellbeing is absolutely paramount. 

What Do The Volunteers Say?

“In terms of safety, everything was perfect and I would say I definitely felt safe!” 

“I don’t think I felt uncomfortable at all. I talked to staff members who really helped me out.”

“Big Linda and Moses responded and sorted out any situations amazingly. Little Linda and Nimrod were also super lovely.”

“Monica and Seth were very good at communicating with us and resolving any issues we had.”

“Everyone always had an open ear.”

“Dalene and Mbali helped with any troubles.”

“I communicated with Monica and Vocational Impact and they provided great support when I needed.”

“Very friendly, always ready to help.”

“I felt it was very easy to communicate with Abigail. She was super open minded and able to help us with any of our needs.”

“I felt I could talk to everyone easily.”

“It was very easy to talk to anyone if I needed anything as everyone is so kind and welcoming.”

“I want to thank the staff out there so much for being so amazing, especially Rebecca and Albert at the hotel – the staff helped me tremendously.”

“I was able to communicate my needs to the staff, and I felt supported throughout my placement.” 

“From the very beginning, the staff were approachable and open to any concerns or requests. Whether it was related to our work, accommodation, or personal needs, they were always willing to listen and provide the necessary support.”

So, you can rest assured that when you join one of our programmes, your health and safety is covered from all angles. But if you want to know even more, you can find further information on our Health and Safety  page.

Volunteer programmes made for students & Graduates

Planning your international volunteering placement can seem daunting but we’ll be with you every step of the way.

We’re a small charity that picks its partner projects carefully. This means we can tailor our programmes to fit your skills and goals.

The best way to get started is to fill out our enquiry form. We’ll send you all the information you need to plan your very own volunteer placement.

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