Exploring the power of volunteerism: impact, benefits, and opportunities

Volunteerism, or volunteer trips, is one of those opportunities that teaches the importance of giving, but at the same time shows how much you can receive while giving. It’s something that goes beyond interest and money, it is all about what you choose to do and who you choose to do it for, and it’s mainly based on the idea of helping. 

And while you help, you get so much in exchange, but not only on a material level. What you get really changes your life and helps you grow and develop your personality. That’s why it’s so good and so important.

Everybody should try volunteerism once in their life. It’s not always something that people talk about, like in schools or universities, because lots of times they only talk about studying and then finding a job to make money. But there is so much more than money in this life, and there are some experiences that can be as educative as studying, or sometimes even more.

If you are interested in volunteerism and want to know more about it, you are in the right place. Keep reading this article and discover this amazing world.

The impact of volunteerism on local communities

Volunteerism is very important for the local communities. If you think about some poor countries in the world, sometimes all the help they receive is from volunteers, and it’s all they have. That’s sad, but the good thing is that some people choose to dedicate themselves to helping local communities who really need it, without just thinking about getting money back, but because they really care and want to do it.

That’s the amazing thing about volunteerism: people really care about what they are doing and really care about who they are helping, the only reason that moves them is basically love. Love for the other, love for what they are doing, love to help. In a world that is becoming more and more materialistic, this concept is very important and we have to defend it.

Lots of local communities all over the world only keep existing and living thanks to volunteerism. It’s something good for them but even for all the volunteers who choose to go and help them. If you choose to do this experience, it will be life-changing. 

You will learn a lot about a community, you will leave a good social impact on the planet and you will become part of something bigger. Moreover, the feeling of helping someone is one of the most rewarding feelings you can have.

From the concept of helping local communities through volunteerism, a new concept started: voluntourism. It is just the union of “volunteerism” and “tourism” and it means when people travel and go to countries with the goal of volunteering. This is one of the best ways to travel nowadays. 

These kinds of volunteers are basically travelers who decide to help abroad and in exchange, they get free accommodation and sometimes free board. This way of traveling is becoming more and more common and that’s why some platforms which make it easy for travelers were born. 

Worldpackers is the best platform to volunteer abroad during your travels. You can choose a country and look at all the volunteering opportunities there, apply and start your adventure. It’s very easy and lots of travelers and backpackers use it every day. 

Worldpackers has a lot of opportunities to help local communities and it always verifies its hosts. If you want to make a difference during your travels and try some voluntourism, have a look at Worldpackers website.

The benefits of volunteer work for the individual

Volunteerism not only helps local communities and people, but it also helps the individual and has a lot of benefits for you. First of all, it’s something that makes you grow like anything else. If you want to learn more about the world, other people, other cultures, and even more about your limits, volunteerism can really help you.

Volunteerism can teach you more than school, in a way. Because at school you only read things in a book, but with volunteerism, you come into action and experience things in first person. That’s why it would be very good for people to try a volunteering experience after studying, before going to work. It can teach you a lot and prepare you for your future real job.

It also can help you to understand who you are and what you really want to do in your life. For example, if you have a volunteering experience with children, or with animals, maybe you will discover that this is what you want to do in life, every day. And you could choose your university or your next studies accordingly. Can you see how it is important?

Engaging youth in volunteer opportunities

It is very important to engage young people in volunteerism because it can really change their life and help them grow. 

In some schools, they don’t even talk about volunteerism and they only engage students in their careers and important jobs, but in order to understand what you want to do when you grow up, you need to try different options, otherwise, you risk to become an unhappy adult and find a job you will hate in the end.

Before finding the best job, it would be good for young people to try some volunteering experience. They could learn about helping communities and making a difference, having a good social impact, and they could find out the field in which they want to work and operate for the rest of their life. They could understand that doing what you love and helping each other can be more important than simply making money.

The future of volunteerism: trends and developments

In the future, volunteerism will probably grow a lot and become a more common thing among young and even old people. Students will have more and more volunteering experiences and even old retired people are starting to get closer to this world and choosing volunteerism to spend their free days.

Local communities around the world really count on volunteers to survive, so it’s essential to keep spreading this great practice and get people to know it. Even permaculture and social projects really rely on volunteers and they play an important role in these fields.

And what about the travel world? Volunteering during travels is becoming more and more popular among backpackers who want to save money on accommodation by helping local communities and projects in the countries they visit.

The future for volunteerism is very positive and maybe it could be one of the things that will change the world for a better way.

And what about you? Would you like to start doing your part in the world of volunteering? You can start volunteering abroad right now and Worldpackers can help you. You just need to subscribe to one of the plans and then you can start as soon as you like! 

Maybe you could like some more articles from the Worldpackers community:

• How to volunteer abroad using Worldpackers
• Learn how to become a volunteer in seven steps
• What you need to know before having a Volunteer experience