Safety and Support
Check out and research the organisation that you wish to go with.
Ask if you can be put in touch with people who have been on their projects before. If possible try to speak to someone who has volunteered with the organisation in person rather than trusting testimonials.
Look at insurance very carefully. Will you need your own travel insurance, does their insurance cover you for the kind of work that you will be doing?
Are you covered for both baggage and health insurance? Consider whether or not the organisation is able to take health and safety responsibility for the volunteers? What would happen if you needed to get back to the UK – is repatriation included in the insurance? Does the organisation have contingency plans for a crisis? Is there an evacuation plan?
Is there in-country support for the volunteers?
What arrangements have been made for volunteer food and accommodation? Has a risk assessment been carried out?
Spend some time researching the country that you want to go to, check out the political situation, climate etc. Does the FCO approve of travel to this country? You can consult the Foreign office advice regarding safety in your chosen destination online. For stays overseas of more than 4 weeks people are advised to register with their embassy.
Ensure that individuals medication provision is considerede.g. you would be advised to take adequate supplies of a prescription with you, including things like contact lenses and solution or a spare pair of glasses. You may also wish to take a first aid kit and have a written card in the local language for ongoing conditions e.g. epilepsy, allergies or asthma. Will there be adequate facilities to store medication? E.g. diabetics often need to store their insulin in a refrigerator.
Consider these issues particularly carefully if wishing to travel with a disability as access and medical treatment will often be significantly impaired overseas.
Although it is sometimes difficult to assess, look to see if the organisation is linked to other reputable companies or has travel or government endorsements. Consider how long the organisation has been running and how many people they send overseas. Consider how and why the organisation was set up and what sort of organisation it is (e.g. NGO, charity, profit making company).
From a universities point of view a volunteer coordinator is normally able to give advice on general information resources and issues to consider but we cannot do adequate health and safety checks or maintain a relationship with all of the different organisations to offer endorsements about any specific organisation.