The Global Volunteer: Part One – The Decision!
by This article is the first in a series about the experience of being a volunteer in a developing country. The writer and her husband are embarking on a year as volunteers in the tiny Pacific Nation, Vanuatu. This story is about making the decision to go. Following stories will be about settling in and the work of volunteers.
Many governments in developed nations send volunteers to developing communities in countries that used to be known as “third world”. The work of overseas volunteers continues to be a huge contributor through programs such as the American Peace Corps and Australian Volunteers International, CUSO, VSO and others. 
Volunteers are drawn from across a range of ages and professional backgrounds and most volunteers will tell you the experience has been life altering. Once the decision has been made to become a volunteer there can be a huge gap between that decision and actually finding yourself in the field. That gap is really all about preparing for the experience.
My husband and I became volunteers in our early fifties. Disillusioned with living the rat race and having realised the Australian dream of home ownership and a family, we decided to pack it all in and throw our hat into the ring for Australian Volunteers International. Our children thought we were fabulously adventurous and our friends commenced wondering about our sanity. many people asked us what we would do “if it didn’t work out”. Clearly we had a streak of madness and would surely be jeopardising our retirement and our professional lives. We just didn’t see it from this perspective. For us it was about throwing caution to the wind for the sake of an adventure and we were energised by the decision and
once made couldn’t wait for it all to happen.
We applied for a number of postings and a few weeks later we were both contacted and offered positions in 2 different countries – Oh dear! Now that would have been too big an adventure and so we had to make a decision which position and which country to accept. Vanuatu or Papua New Guinea? An idyllic Pacific island or a troubled country with many security concerns. The decision was an easy one in the end and I gave up my posting to a University in PNG in favour of my husband’s posting to a secondary school in Vanuatu.
Decisions have ramifications! There were aging parents to consider, children who although adult were still very much dependent on us for support and encouragement and friendships that had been forged over many years that are precious at any stage in life. There was a business to be wound up, resignation from a 35 year career, a house and a dog that needed care. Our financial position, although far from rocky, was certainly not so firm that we could throw all caution to the wind.
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