Pay to volunteer

As a Zoology student, I can tell you two things for sure. One, I am interested and intrigued by animals and two I would love to get some hands on experience with them. Today's discussion(although will probably be more of a rant), regards the recent situation some of my fellow students and myself found ourselves into. Most students tend to be really enthusiastic about their degree. They tend to be happy that they are doing something interesting and want to contribute. Some students want to volunteer spare time to help animals, participate in research or do something relevant to their degree. A search on the internet will reveal a lot of organizations willing to take you everywhere. The return is a commodity most students can't afford. Money.

Firstly, I want to say that I am not going to rant about these organizations. They need funding and money to keep things going and so they will ask for money. What I want to point out though is that the amounts asked are ridiculous. Let's take an example. John(random name) is in his first year Zoology. He loves animals and would really like to volunteer as this will teach him skills related to his degree and get him much needed experience for his CV. He doesn't have a lot of free time so decides to devote an entire month of summer holidays to do this. He does a brief internet search and finds a brilliant program in Africa to study lions. Now John, like many students doesn't have a lot of money. He gets by and can put some money aside to buy his tickets and food. However the organization asks for $4000 in order for John to join them for a month in Africa. John can start fund raising and working double shifts but in the end of the day some money are going to come out of his pocket. At least the cash deposit which most organizations ask for. This is my main problem and a problem I see other students having. They want to get out there and are willing to lose some money in the process but paying the organization to volunteer for them is a step too far for most. Some students will be lucky enough to fund raise enough. Others not so much.

When you ask such amounts out of students to volunteer for something they want to do, then you chop down their wings. If a student still wants to volunteer, then he will have to find something local which will probably limit them or won't give them experience. I would like to think that most students(especially the more enthusiastic ones) would jump at an opportunity to spend their entire summer working with animals if the only thing they had to pay for, was food, tickets and their own expenses. I know I would. With that in mind students have the potential to be an incredible work force that will do good where it's needed.

Of course it's not really the organizations fault is it? They require funds to keep them going and make up for the services they provide(housing, security etc). I don't know exactly where their funds go and I don't have a counter suggestion for this. Apart from perhaps a government trust, set up to “reward”students who actively volunteer, by paying the fees that volunteer organizations require. Or perhaps an addition to an organization's budget when volunteers are included.

Which leads us to my second point. Last year I volunteered at a wolf sanctuary(I will write about that experience soon enough) and the owner was kind enough not to ask for any money at all. All I paid for was my travel and food expenses. However one of the great advice the owner gave me was that working for a sanctuary or a zoo really doesn't reflect the fact that I am interested in field research. Although I gained some skills, it doesn't compare to field research. So since September, I have been emailing researchers, universities, government agencies and organizations trying to find some sort of field related position. A lot of the above don't have need for volunteers or interns. Why? Aside from insurances, dangerous work etc I can't see why governments can't encourage research institutes to take volunteers or trainees. Graduates are rejected from job applications because they lack experience.Trying to gain experience on your own initiative can be quite costly and hence that leads to lack of experience, hence no job. Fund raising could work but again you are relying to people around you being able to give you money and let's face it, the way things are going people will think twice before giving John here some money to go help animals in Africa. Naturally governments don't really have money to spare for students to pay for students volunteering abroad but why not? In the future, the governments of such countries will have more experienced individuals who will probably be better and more efficient at their jobs. It will allow for people to realize what some aspects of their degree really are about and whether they want to do it or not and will definitely aid conservation,research or welfare efforts.

Universities should be the main drivers of this in my opinion. Universities that include undergraduate students in their research will have more rounder graduates who know what they are doing, will be more experienced and more employable. They will also benefit because their academics or researchers will be available for other projects/conferences etc while the student can take some of the more”menial” tasks. Students will gain experience, get their hands dirty and will feel more involved in the University's activities.

Unfortunately I cannot see the other side of the coin and I must admit to that. I don't know the logistics or bureaucracy behind having volunteers working for you and neither do I know if the volunteer organizations actually make money by charging potential volunteers. I am just discussing the situation students like myself are in at this present moment where either very few positions can be found or they charge an amount a lot of students consider at least three months worth of money.