Matt receives his 60th birthday cake from the CEO of TLM in West Timor. Travel for Matt Stone has a deeper meaning since he began using his skills and experience to empower people in developing countries.
By Matt Stone
AFTER a recent one-month volunteering assignment in PNG, someone asked me why I volunteered. My off-handed responses – “It keeps me off the streets” and “It's fun to travel” – probably didn't give the response the question deserved.
That question did start me thinking about the rationale (if that's not bringing too much sensibility into a rather emotive subject) behind why I do it. I kick-started my thinking using good old Google, which advised me that it gives me a healthy boost to my self-confidence, self-esteem and something about life satisfaction. Not only that, but I am apparently doing good for others and obtaining a sense of accomplishment. Naturally, I am now feeling pretty damn good about myself.
I don't see myself as being particularly shy or low in self-esteem, so it must be that life satisfaction thing. Google advised that life satisfaction is “the way persons evaluate their lives and how they feel about where they are going in the future. It is a measure of well-being and may be assessed in terms of mood, satisfaction with relations with others and with achieved goals, self-concepts, and self-perceived ability to cope with daily life.”
Now I'm not so sure if I should still be feeling good about myself or somewhat ashamed – surely someone in the 60-plus age bracket should have worked out a way to deal with daily life long ago. So, while a huge fan of facts and research, I was now somewhat confused.
Having accepted Google has failed (or foiled) me, I revert to a glass or two of wine and a relaxed chat with my wife and life partner, Liane, who is also a volunteer (yes, likely applies to her being my wife, too).
Without labouring on how we arrived at these conclusions, we decided people who volunteer in any capacity have probably been influenced by who they are and what they have been. My parents were diplomats, so I was brought up in a family that travelled internationally and mixed with, and learnt to respect, various nationalities and cultures. My work background was in human resources, so I spent most of my time with people. I always enjoyed team sports, have a pretty easy-going personality and don't take life too seriously.
These all link to my desire to do volunteering assignments around our region, the Asia Pacific. Living with and around the people at a grass roots level in any country provides an experience beyond normal holiday travel. Even on a one-month assignment you can learn so much about who they are, how tough their lives can be and their desire to better themselves when, and if, an opportunity arises. Equally, working at a business level and/or with not-for-profit organisations provides another insight into the economic highs and lows of business in each place.
Working in the corporate world in Melbourne, then running a small business near Wonthaggi, and doing some consulting work, had already provided me with great life satisfaction, but using my skills and experience to assist (and at the risk of slipping into volunteer jargon, empower) others to improve their own, their family's, community's and fellow countryperson's lives has provided a deeper, more meaningful sense of satisfaction. Being fortunate to afford both the time and money to undertake volunteer assignments leaves me with little choice but to do so.
While any number of organisations provide volunteering opportunities, many actually charge you for the pleasure of working for nothing. In Liane's and my own case, we do most of our assignments through a group called Australian Business Volunteers (ABV) which used to be fully funded through Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Sadly, this is no longer the case since the Abbott government decision to radically reduce our foreign aid involvement. So ABV now operates by obtaining “local commercial sponsorships and partnerships” and sharing the costs with the country where each assignment occurs – a far more difficult and time-consuming process.
ABV tends to attract “more mature” (read older) people who have often retired but still have an enormous wealth of knowledge and experience. Once you have been accepted as a potential volunteer (application form, interviews, cultural awareness assessment) you are entered into their database. All assignments are posted on the ABV site and if there is one that suits your skill set and availability, you submit an expression of interest. ABV selects two/three preferred candidates and sends their details to the overseas organisation to make a final choice.
The costs incurred for each assignment include pre-departure training by ABV, extensive medicals, return airfares, accommodation and a small allowance. The volunteer pays nothing but is not paid.
Assignments vary in length from one to 18 months. For those of six months and more, financial assistance can be provided if a partner wishes to join their spouse. Although most of the assignments are for one, some involve two or more volunteers. We have been fortunate enough to have completed several assignments together. We have very similar skill sets across HR and small business, so ABV gets two of us and saves on accommodation costs.
The assignments vary enormously. We have completed assignments in PNG, Bougainville, Samoa, Cambodia, West Timor and the Philippines in the fields of small business training and mentoring, human resources, administration, tourism and marketing. Businesses have included stores, resorts, government departments, food outlets, accommodation houses, printers, beer sellers, INGOs and NGOs and industry bodies.
In West Timor we worked in a church-sponsored, micro-finance organisation called TLM that filled a desperate need because the banks refuse to lend to “the poor” and loan sharks are all too willing to do so – at 25 per cent monthly cumulative interest! In a society where people don’t understand the very Western idea of saving (they live for the moment), a $100 loan to help at significant events such as weddings, school fees, funerals and christenings is culturally very, very important.
Our roles were to establish both business and HR policies and procedures, create extensive training programs for staff and customers (an interesting challenge as many were illiterate and certainly spoke no English) and design a new performance appraisal system, including recognition and reward frameworks. That assignment was three years ago and we still keep in touch with the CEO.
Volunteering, for us, gets in your blood …. we're hooked! Perhaps volunteering does keep me off the streets and it is fun to travel, but do I really need a reason to do it?
Matt and Liane leave at the end of February for an assignment in Cambodia.
COMMENTS
February 7, 2016
Matt Stone’s article is a refreshing look at how he and his wife Liane became volunteers abroad and how it has enriched not only the lives of the people they are helping but also their own. An inspiration to others to do something similar.
Meryl Tobin, Grantville
AFTER a recent one-month volunteering assignment in PNG, someone asked me why I volunteered. My off-handed responses – “It keeps me off the streets” and “It's fun to travel” – probably didn't give the response the question deserved.
That question did start me thinking about the rationale (if that's not bringing too much sensibility into a rather emotive subject) behind why I do it. I kick-started my thinking using good old Google, which advised me that it gives me a healthy boost to my self-confidence, self-esteem and something about life satisfaction. Not only that, but I am apparently doing good for others and obtaining a sense of accomplishment. Naturally, I am now feeling pretty damn good about myself.
I don't see myself as being particularly shy or low in self-esteem, so it must be that life satisfaction thing. Google advised that life satisfaction is “the way persons evaluate their lives and how they feel about where they are going in the future. It is a measure of well-being and may be assessed in terms of mood, satisfaction with relations with others and with achieved goals, self-concepts, and self-perceived ability to cope with daily life.”
Now I'm not so sure if I should still be feeling good about myself or somewhat ashamed – surely someone in the 60-plus age bracket should have worked out a way to deal with daily life long ago. So, while a huge fan of facts and research, I was now somewhat confused.
Having accepted Google has failed (or foiled) me, I revert to a glass or two of wine and a relaxed chat with my wife and life partner, Liane, who is also a volunteer (yes, likely applies to her being my wife, too).
Without labouring on how we arrived at these conclusions, we decided people who volunteer in any capacity have probably been influenced by who they are and what they have been. My parents were diplomats, so I was brought up in a family that travelled internationally and mixed with, and learnt to respect, various nationalities and cultures. My work background was in human resources, so I spent most of my time with people. I always enjoyed team sports, have a pretty easy-going personality and don't take life too seriously.
These all link to my desire to do volunteering assignments around our region, the Asia Pacific. Living with and around the people at a grass roots level in any country provides an experience beyond normal holiday travel. Even on a one-month assignment you can learn so much about who they are, how tough their lives can be and their desire to better themselves when, and if, an opportunity arises. Equally, working at a business level and/or with not-for-profit organisations provides another insight into the economic highs and lows of business in each place.
Working in the corporate world in Melbourne, then running a small business near Wonthaggi, and doing some consulting work, had already provided me with great life satisfaction, but using my skills and experience to assist (and at the risk of slipping into volunteer jargon, empower) others to improve their own, their family's, community's and fellow countryperson's lives has provided a deeper, more meaningful sense of satisfaction. Being fortunate to afford both the time and money to undertake volunteer assignments leaves me with little choice but to do so.
While any number of organisations provide volunteering opportunities, many actually charge you for the pleasure of working for nothing. In Liane's and my own case, we do most of our assignments through a group called Australian Business Volunteers (ABV) which used to be fully funded through Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Sadly, this is no longer the case since the Abbott government decision to radically reduce our foreign aid involvement. So ABV now operates by obtaining “local commercial sponsorships and partnerships” and sharing the costs with the country where each assignment occurs – a far more difficult and time-consuming process.
ABV tends to attract “more mature” (read older) people who have often retired but still have an enormous wealth of knowledge and experience. Once you have been accepted as a potential volunteer (application form, interviews, cultural awareness assessment) you are entered into their database. All assignments are posted on the ABV site and if there is one that suits your skill set and availability, you submit an expression of interest. ABV selects two/three preferred candidates and sends their details to the overseas organisation to make a final choice.
The costs incurred for each assignment include pre-departure training by ABV, extensive medicals, return airfares, accommodation and a small allowance. The volunteer pays nothing but is not paid.
Assignments vary in length from one to 18 months. For those of six months and more, financial assistance can be provided if a partner wishes to join their spouse. Although most of the assignments are for one, some involve two or more volunteers. We have been fortunate enough to have completed several assignments together. We have very similar skill sets across HR and small business, so ABV gets two of us and saves on accommodation costs.
The assignments vary enormously. We have completed assignments in PNG, Bougainville, Samoa, Cambodia, West Timor and the Philippines in the fields of small business training and mentoring, human resources, administration, tourism and marketing. Businesses have included stores, resorts, government departments, food outlets, accommodation houses, printers, beer sellers, INGOs and NGOs and industry bodies.
In West Timor we worked in a church-sponsored, micro-finance organisation called TLM that filled a desperate need because the banks refuse to lend to “the poor” and loan sharks are all too willing to do so – at 25 per cent monthly cumulative interest! In a society where people don’t understand the very Western idea of saving (they live for the moment), a $100 loan to help at significant events such as weddings, school fees, funerals and christenings is culturally very, very important.
Our roles were to establish both business and HR policies and procedures, create extensive training programs for staff and customers (an interesting challenge as many were illiterate and certainly spoke no English) and design a new performance appraisal system, including recognition and reward frameworks. That assignment was three years ago and we still keep in touch with the CEO.
Volunteering, for us, gets in your blood …. we're hooked! Perhaps volunteering does keep me off the streets and it is fun to travel, but do I really need a reason to do it?
Matt and Liane leave at the end of February for an assignment in Cambodia.
COMMENTS
February 7, 2016
Matt Stone’s article is a refreshing look at how he and his wife Liane became volunteers abroad and how it has enriched not only the lives of the people they are helping but also their own. An inspiration to others to do something similar.
Meryl Tobin, Grantville