{"id":1620,"date":"2010-08-24T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-08-24T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/TravelWithPaulie.com\/blog\/?p=482"},"modified":"2011-11-23T00:47:33","modified_gmt":"2011-11-23T00:47:33","slug":"volunteer-or-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paulgoodchild.me\/blog\/volunteer-or-work\/","title":{"rendered":"To volunteer, or to work?"},"content":{"rendered":"

That’s the question I’m facing just now.\u00a0 Should I continue with the goal of travel + volunteering, or are there better options out there in the world of social and community contribution?\u00a0 I’m beginning to come around to the idea that there is and that it might suit me better to try it out.\u00a0 More specifically I’m referring to working for much larger organisations that are government-sponsored (at least in-part) so that I can receive a salary and some of the extra benefits that come along with it.<\/p>\n

Sure, I can continue to work and live here off of my savings for a while, but the longer I spent here in MaeSot (Thailand), increasingly I have come to realise that most people don’t<\/em> do that.\u00a0 Instead they manage to avail of work that provides them compensation enough to live on, and other benefits besides.<\/p>\n

I think what I’m proposing is to put my volunteering\/meaningful travel on hold for a while, and try my hand at ‘meaningful work’.\u00a0 Now what am talking about this time, you may ask?\u00a0 Well let’s find out…<\/p>\n

Meaningful Work – isn’t that what we all do?<\/h2>\n

This is entirely subjective.\u00a0 What counts as meaningful work to one person, may be nonsense to another, since we assign meaning to things in our lives independently of others.\u00a0 That’s the theory at least.\u00a0 In practice we typically unconsciously adopt the meanings that other people tell us.\u00a0 But that’s a discussion for another time. For now I’ll just say that my definition of meaningful work is that which contributes to a cause that is far greater than myself.\u00a0 It is working to assist in raising the standard of living for those who do not have the resources to do it alone.\u00a0 Meaningful work is not what I was doing up until when I left Japan, whereby I simply laboured to earn a salary that would sustain the lifestyle I was living while simply lining the pockets of my superiors.\u00a0 If you find meaning in that, fair enough, but it’s not what I’m down with any longer.<\/p>\n

It’s basically the same as meaningful travel<\/a> but with less travel (I assume) and I’d receive financial benefits that would allow me to live – i.e. enough for food and shelter and a little bit for fun.\u00a0 So that’s what<\/em> it is, but where would I find it, and why am I so concerned about this as to write an article on it?<\/p>\n

Where to find meaningful work?<\/h2>\n

Everywhere it seems.\u00a0 Taking Maesot as an example, there are bucket loads of NGOs and organisations working here to sort out the problems facing the refugees.\u00a0 Most people I have met here are involved with an organisation of one sort or another.\u00a0 Very rarely do I meet truly independent volunteers – in fact, I’ve only met 3 in the past 2.5 months.\u00a0 Most people are earning a salary from the work they do here and while it’s unlikely they work solely for the salary they earn, they receive something none-the-less.\u00a0 I need now to reach out to some of the groups here with a view to finding a position within one of them.\u00a0 There’s only one issue with that…<\/p>\n

… I like my independence.<\/p>\n

Do I really want to go back to working in a position where I must endure politics, egos and bureaucracy?\u00a0 I don’t think so.\u00a0 Do I also want to pigeon-holed into position of IT geek where I’ll be fixing virus-ridden desktops for the next 6 months?\u00a0 Hmmm, I think not.<\/p>\n

Of course, I know the only answer to address these concerns is to find the right<\/em> job – not to take any position just because it’s there, but rather one that fits the bill.\u00a0 Simple.<\/p>\n

Why?<\/h2>\n

Why is this question arising now, and why shouldn’t I just continue to work as a volunteer?<\/p>\n

There are several reasons for this.<\/p>\n