Volunteering at third-world communities has been a trend among the youth from the developing countries. There are some underlying reasons for this and I believe that the local communities gain more benefits than the volunteers themselves.
Perhaps experience is the main contribution to this phenomenon. People who volunteer tend to seek for the valuable skills and knowledge. In addition, they can get the opportunities to form some interpersonal relationships, which might be a huge advantage for their future career. Furthermore, as a volunteer leader, a young person would gain the adequacy to express one’s idea and connect with people who have the same perspectives to bring it into reality. Finally, young volunteering can be attributable to fulfillment. Volunteers seem to enjoy the feeling that they are to some extent making the contribution to help poor people. Besides, the bonding activities bring a lot of and create a cozy atmosphere between the well-intended participations and local people.
Turning to the positive effects on the host communities. Firstly, the developing countries receive the intense amount of human resource to support the local projects. For example, they can be deployed to constructing house and schools for the poor people or in rural areas. Furthermore, volunteering plays a pivotal role in the recovery effort in the response to natural disasters such as tsunamis, floods, and droughts. For instance, the 2004 Indian tsunami and earthquake attract a large number of volunteers to support the host organizations and government. Finally, voluntary activities can reduce stereotypes, increase appreciation of the local culture and on the worldwide level, the education activities accelerate the globalization process.
In conclusion, although the growing number of young volunteers is attributable to the great advantages they would gain for their life, I firmly believe that the host communities benefit more from this phenomenon.