FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I find more information about a placement?

If you have read the whole page about an organisation and still have questions we recommend you check out the website of the organisation directly.

My friend volunteered in Bali last year, why is that foundation not on your website?

This could have several reasons:

1) They work directly with children without a proper screening beforehand.

2) They are not created for the community per se but with the volunteers needs in mind.

3) We haven’t heard from them before – feel free to send us suggestions and tips of organizations! We love to hear about organizations that contribute to Bali’s well-being! You can contact us via Facebook or the contact form.

I found a charity on your website I would love to volunteer at. Can you help me get in contact with them?

No, we don’t mediate between volunteers and organizations. What we do is provide information needed for you to contact them yourself. On each page you will find all the information you need to contact them yourself. If you are unsure on how to go about contacting them consider writing them an email with your motivation and experiences. Make sure to include your CV and let them know you are learning a bit of basic Indonesian as well. You will definitely score some points with that one! Learn Indonesian Online is our sister website, and Volunteer Guide fans receive a discount. Check here for more information.

What is wrong with volunteering with orphans abroad?

Before we start let’s start by saying that we love children and that we care for their well-being.

There are two ways to explain it. Firstly you can ask yourself the question: would you be allowed to visit your local orphanage? If so, under what conditions?

Secondly, orphanages are institutions. In a lot of countries around the world people try not to institutionalize children because it is the opposite of what we humans need: loving care, traditions, family, tribe, belonging etc. Without going in too much detail here. The orphan ‘industry’ has become just that. For years it has been profitable for organizations in third world countries to collect or ‘buy’ orphans that actually have family members, but can’t or don’t want to support them (the money offered to them on the spot is very tempting and it is often too difficult to get their children back once they have changed their minds). So here the children are in this orphanage (without actually being an orphan), which is already a sad thing and then every 2 weeks another (not local) volunteer comes and gives them presents and loves them and gives them all, only to leave and be replaced by someone else.

These children that are already vulnerable to having attachment problems are now exposed to even more of that and even child abuse by volunteers that haven’t been screened properly. We know it’s really sad! It breaks our hearts really! One of the important things you can do to stop this is by spreading awareness, and NOT funding or contributing to this. That is why we do NOT list any orphanages on the website and only provide teaching placements where the organizations ask for degrees and screenings at forehand.

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