Volunteer Works. Volunteering In A Foreign Land: Avoiding Cultural Missteps

By Danita Brisson

Volunteering abroad is a local concern with global consequences. Fortunately, fellow Atención News columnist and lifelong volunteer Doreen Cumberford shares her “hard won personal wisdom from a life lived across borders” to help expats sidestep the problems they may experience while volunteering in a foreign land.

“Most of our intercultural problems come from our very hierarchical attitudes and low context culture,” Doreen explains. In simple terms, conflicts arise from the disparity between the cultural expectations of volunteers and those they would serve.

In high context cultures, people communicate through nonverbal cues, team efforts and long-term relationships are valued. The wellbeing of the whole is more important than the individual; think Japan, China and México. In low context cultures such as the northern US, Canada and Scandinavia, direct language is used, the focus is on what needs to be done and by whom, and individuality is rewarded. It’s clear how noble intentions might be perceived as overstepping boundaries.

“A lot of relationships between countries are negotiated and navigated by volunteers, so volunteerism is critical for world peace,” says Doreen. Her career with the Diplomatic Corps of the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, began with a mission to Cameroon, Africa. “At our embassy, part of the job was delivering aid to the Cameroonians but in a way that they were getting education (about British culture). The big agencies nowadays are being very targeted because (foreign aid) has become politicized and weaponized. In the past it was used as a tool of healing. Things are very different out in the world now,” Doreen adds.

The institutionalized volunteerism Doreen practiced with the Diplomatic Corps, and voluntourism, the billion-dollar industry whereby private citizens pay for the opportunity to travel abroad and provide free labor during their annual vacations, are two subsets of global philanthropy. Both are highly structured, organized and financed. Both provide at least basic orientations to prepare participants for the potential culture shock awaiting them. But what about the folks who simply relocate and then decide to volunteer? They tiptoe around the challenges of cross-cultural interactions armed with only their good intentions. Doreen has this advice for them. The tightrope that expats walk between intention and impact can be stabilized by first learning about a country’s culture, customs, politics, and receptivity.

“Before I went to Cameroon  I learned the language, read about the history and studied Embassy Post Reports. I learned about the big picture of the culture as well as local beliefs. But don’t expect that’s how everybody behaves. We have to learn to come along side another culture, walk behind them, follow them and pay attention to the little things they do,” she adds.

Beyond her Diplomatic experience, Doreen has also volunteered abroad in conjunction with her husband’s career in the oil industry.

A long-term residency in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, gave her the time to develop new skills while supporting the local community.

“Volunteering as an accompanying spouse was great. I volunteered as editor of the yearbook for the international school from 2005 to 2011 and learned how to lay out books with photographs and be the school photographer. Eventually I graduated to writing my own books and am now working on my third.”

A two-year period in Japan offered different lessons and opportunities. “The concept of volunteering depends on the receptivity of the culture you’re involved in. There has to be an alignment between the beliefs and values of the two cultures for it to work. We come in wanting to use our organizational skills, our executive skills and our higher thinking.

My volunteerism in Japan was negligible because that is a high context culture, very self-sufficient. So instead, I studied the language and ikebana (Japanese flower arranging), and I volunteered with the expat theater group.” Sometimes we must accept that our best intentions aren’t wanted or appreciated.

Doreen is happy with her volunteer life in San Miguel because: “It’s accessible for several reasons. Expats have been here since the 1930s so there’s a cultural intelligence built over many decades. There’s a trust and history with organizations that have been here for years, like Rotary. And finally, both cultures have learned how to talk to one another. Most expats have identity issues trying to determine ‘Who am I supposed to be here?’ Volunteerism builds a sense of belonging, which is critical to knowing who you are and why you’re here.” That’s a step in the right direction.

Doreen Cumberford, Transitionscoach, author and host ofThe Nomadic Diaries podcast available at www.nomadicdiariespodcast.com