Volunteering With Another Person

2 comments | April 18th, 2007 | Trackback

Plenty of people travel with a friend or partner and want to volunteer together. Is it a good idea? During my five month trip to India, I traveled and (in some of my volunteer time) volunteered with my then-boyfriend. While volunteering in general need not be conjoined with travel…that’s frequently the focus of this Logue so that will be the focus here.

The pros?
It’s just practical. Lots of people don’t like traveling alone and why separate just to volunteer? Also, and especially for a couple, volunteering together can be a bonding experience – both the ups and downs give you shared experiences. It can give you quite the insight to see how your partner responds to challenges in a totally new situation. When you are volunteering, you can’t just move on to the next place as you might when traveling; you have to deal with the challenge somehow.

The cons?
It may be difficult to find a situation that suits you both or suits you both equally. Compromise is a good thing in many aspects of life, including in relationships – but make sure it doesn’t affect the organization negatively. If one person is doing exactly what s/he wants and the other only compromising, things can get off balance in the relationship or the volunteer situation.

If there is a larger group of volunteers who function as a group, other people may have a harder time interacting with two people who already know each other. Similarly, volunteering with a person you already know may mean that you have more limited contact with others – volunteers and locals.

Overall though, each situation will be unique. If you’re interested in volunteering with another person, it’s often a very real possibility, especially with shorter-term volunteer positions. Take the time to consider the pros and cons specific to your own situation.