Making sure you’re fit to volunteer – check list

Before actually getting on the plane and starting to get sweaty and dirty, while back home, there are a few stuff you want to make sure you have (or you are) to maximize your volunteering experience and to prevent foreseeable problems as soon as possible.

First up, money.

By dictionary.com, the definition of volunteer is:
1. a person who voluntarily offered himself or herself for a service or undertaking.
2. a person who performs a service willingly and without pay.

Well, that’s great. But when it comes to conservation volunteering (or really any kind of abroad volunteering through gap-year companies and so on) especially in Africa – not only are you giving out your time, but also your money. Sometimes, a lot of it. Sadly volunteering can get extremely expensive if not chosen correctly- and particularly if you’re taking the more half tourist approach; volunteering projects that are half work half play, including safaris, riding, traveling to markets and so on. So you should prepare your Paypal or credit card and bear in mind you might be spending probably between $1000-$2000 more than you have anticipated. That is excluding pocket money, and if you’re staying in the country after or before the volunteer work to do some touring – then that should also be calculated.

Next, fitness.

When doing this kind of articles I try to keep it as neutral and professional and non-personal as possible, but for this one, I’m going to have to make an exception. Last time I went volunteering I was underweight. I knew it, but it wasn’t severe and I didn’t think it would matter that much. Well, it did. It cost me a lot of friction with the staff regarding food just so I can sustain the weight I had when I arrived. The first few days were extremely physically demanding and I could feel my body not working well. I was underweight and about 70% not fit enough to join the program that I have.

Before going, remember that in physical long hours volunteering program, the food is usually 3 times a day, but it’s definitely not the food you’re used to. It might sometimes be stuff you don’t like, or maybe too little and especially if it’s a field volunteering like I did – you’ll probably cook the things on the spot which might make it even more challenging.
Physical fitness and being in a normal weight classification is important while volunteering. The last thing you want or need is to faint in the middle of a game reserve in Africa, or having to go to an emergency room in South America. Do these things before, make sure to exercise a bit, make sure that if you lose 5 pounds (2.5 kilograms) it won’t destroy or seriously damage your ability to continue the volunteering.

Last one, Mental preparation.

While volunteering in a different country, being away from home, encountering new religious, opinions and cultures and just meeting new people – can cause some people some stress, anxiety or simple awkwardness. Be sure to consider these things before you go, contemplating about different scenarios and how you would respond. While not doing what your instructor told you correctly, being cut by a tree, getting lost in the city, or having a crush on a fellow volunteer. Don’t do it to stress yourself out. Use that method as a way to prepare and pre-handling things that might happen. It’s like arriving in a mathematics exam and first writing down every single formula you remember. You might not need them all, or at all- but it’s good to have them there just in case.