New years resolutions (2 Viewers)

[nerdasdasd]

please do actual volunteering and not voluntourism where you go overseas and teach some poor people english in a country that doesn't speak fucking english or something completely fake like that



Yeah I was going to point one that they clash but I wasn't sure which ones did

And I think they are separated so that there would be a Business Dean's List and a Law Dean's List but I wouldn't know for sure since I'm so fucking far from both

How is that by any means fake ?

 

[Crobat]

How is that by any means fake ?

because you are not making any difference except to your CV

 

[RishBonjour99]

How is that by any means fake ?

A particular 'society' pops up - will not name, but basically involves going to India for volunteering purposes to 'teach' kids etc - many of their programs are implemented in an unsustainable fashion. For example, in a remote village where sometimes electricity is scarce, why in the world would you need a 'learning hub' with all out tablets and interactive learning programs for kids? That is simply unnecessary and a waste of money - the moment the project is over, that dies, and you are left at where you started.

On the other hand, the kids that go, get it on their CV and can bs during interviews. Moreover, the organisation can advertise and attract more kids (typically past private school students) 'oh look, we provide interactive learning hubs - look how happy the kids are!'

There are many that genuinely do try use their brains and do something useful.

 

[fizzbylightning]

please do actual volunteering and not voluntourism where you go overseas and teach some poor people english in a country that doesn't speak fucking english or something completely fake like that



Yeah I was going to point one that they clash but I wasn't sure which ones did

And I think they are separated so that there would be a Business Dean's List and a Law Dean's List but I wouldn't know for sure since I'm so fucking far from both

Lolol I completely lost it when I read this even though I have no idea what you are talking about

 

[fizzbylightning]

A particular 'society' pops up - will not name, but basically involves going to India for volunteering purposes to 'teach' kids etc - many of their programs are implemented in an unsustainable fashion. For example, in a remote village where sometimes electricity is scarce, why in the world would you need a 'learning hub' with all out tablets and interactive learning programs for kids? That is simply unnecessary and a waste of money - the moment the project is over, that dies, and you are left at where you started.

On the other hand, the kids that go, get it on their CV and can bs during interviews. Moreover, the organisation can advertise and attract more kids (typically past private school students) 'oh look, we provide interactive learning hubs - look how happy the kids are!'

There are many that genuinely do try use their brains and do something useful.

I always wanted to do grassroots medicine but those fees that you have to fund the trip can get ridiculous.

 

[fizzbylightning]

1) study consistently. right now its like 4 hours on day then 0 hours for the rest of the week
2) go to uni info/open days
3) get a job >< so poor right now
4) do some volunteering
5) control my infatuations

I did no study in year 10 :-( good on you for starting good habits (or rather, endeavouring to) early but I guess you gotta do what you gotta do to get into med! Good luck!

 

[Queenroot]

I applied for some volunteering, I hope I get it

 

[Carrotsticks]

please do actual volunteering and not voluntourism where you go overseas and teach some poor people english in a country that doesn't speak fucking english or something completely fake like that

I take offence to this.

I recently returned from Vietnam, where the country's current situation with an increasing tourism industry creates a scenario where knowing even the most basic of English can get you through a pool of applicants.

There are many 'charity' restaurants in various cities, often owned by Westerners, where they train up homeless people to be waiters/waitresses/cooks. The fact that it provides such a service to the community, combined with it being owned and run by Westerners, naturally makes them quite popular amongst Western tourists.

Now, how many homeless people are there out there in Vietnam? What is it that makes the current waiters/waitresses/cooks at these restaurants so special, such that they acquired that position? It is often the fact that they know some basic English. Many of these people learned their English from such volunteering services, or were inspired from it to continue further. It's a sad fact that those not knowing English are essentially doomed to unemployment like that, but you can only help a finite number of people.

This is the case with many job positions in Vietnam that are the least bit related to tourism. I've spoken to many of the locals, expats, restaurant proprietors and tour guides, and I sadly hear the same story.

It's easy to dismiss teaching English overseas as 'fake volunteering', as the effects are not immediately obvious. But I'm just letting you know this for your information because based on what I do know now, it seems that such services can really go a long way.

Note: This is not to say that there aren't English teaching volunteering services out there that I feel are barely able to use the title 'volunteer'.

 

[Crobat]

A particular 'society' pops up - will not name, but basically involves going to India for volunteering purposes to 'teach' kids etc - many of their programs are implemented in an unsustainable fashion. For example, in a remote village where sometimes electricity is scarce, why in the world would you need a 'learning hub' with all out tablets and interactive learning programs for kids? That is simply unnecessary and a waste of money - the moment the project is over, that dies, and you are left at where you started.

On the other hand, the kids that go, get it on their CV and can bs during interviews. Moreover, the organisation can advertise and attract more kids (typically past private school students) 'oh look, we provide interactive learning hubs - look how happy the kids are!'

There are many that genuinely do try use their brains and do something useful.

A lot of the time voluntourists become more of a burden than help to the locals who now have to correct the work of or make up with their time the damage/slopiness of unqualified teenagers. This article for example explains just one of the ways unqualified, particularly high school students, voluntourists become more of a detriment that help. There are many others like it, especially in teaching English overseas in countries where the native language isn't even English so essentially they go over there, shove Western culture down a developing nation's neck, and achieve nothing because once they leave, the people they taught English haven't actually gained any skills that will help them better their situation because their issues are systemic, i.e. corruption, dictatorships, religious extremists, lack of medicine, etc.

Voluntourists have their heart in the right place, but it's long been a case of the voluntourist getting a CV pad and the locals getting next to nothing out of it.

If you are going to volunteer anywhere given how unqualified most high schoolers are, do it in Australia at a homeless shelter, legal centre, or refugee centre where the work you can do will actually benefit someone.

 

[Crobat]

I take offence to this.

I recently returned from Vietnam, where the country's current situation with an increasing tourism industry creates a scenario where knowing even the most basic of English can get you through a pool of applicants.

There are many 'charity' restaurants in various cities, often owned by Westerners, where they train up homeless people to be waiters/waitresses/cooks. The fact that it provides such a service to the community, combined with it being owned and run by Westerners, naturally makes them quite popular amongst Western tourists.

Now, how many homeless people are there out there in Vietnam? What is it that makes the current waiters/waitresses/cooks at these restaurants so special, such that they acquired that position? It is often the fact that they know some basic English. Many of these people learned their English from such volunteering services, or were inspired from it to continue further. It's a sad fact that those not knowing English are essentially doomed to unemployment like that, but you can only help a finite number of people.

This is the case with many job positions in Vietnam that are the least bit related to tourism. I've spoken to many of the locals, expats, restaurant proprietors and tour guides, and I sadly hear the same story.

It's easy to dismiss teaching English overseas as 'fake volunteering', as the effects are not immediately obvious. But I'm just letting you know this for your information because based on what I do know now, it seems that such services can really go a long way.

Note: This is not to say that there aren't English teaching volunteering services out there that I feel are barely able to use the title 'volunteer'.

I'm not denying that there are some benefits, especially in South East Asia where the Western occupation from the Vietnam War era for example has left such a heavy footprint that knowing English would help, but the vast majority of the time it's simple a case of someone getting an extra talking point on their CV rather than doing any good. The debate on voluntourism is quite extensive and not something I want to get into on a thread about new years resolutions, but I'm a strong negative to it despite the fact that there are some good that can be done.

EDIT: Also those charity restaurants are some of the few that seek to give people in poverty with employable skills. Any organisation that seeks to do that is of course more legitimate than others that simply "teach English" in any country the 'volunteer' wants.

 

[Crobat]

To those looking to volunteer overseas:

This article - Giving Back: A Special Report on Volunteer Vacations - provides a great breakdown of the dangers of voluntourism but also a list of organisations you can trust if you want to do legitimate good overseas.

 

[Sy123]

- Study some theology
- Study some philosophy
- Join debating society
- Study well for UMAT
- Read books on all of the above
- Have more healthier eating habits
- Have more healthier sleeping habits
- if I get P's before holidays end, join soccer team again

 

[Futureunswmedstudent]

I applied for some volunteering, I hope I get it

What did you apply for?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[obliviousninja]

Enactus yallah cuz ~

Inb4 crobat talks shit. Like the time when he lold after i told him i got an interview for it

 

[Crobat]

Enactus yallah cuz ~

Inb4 crobat talks shit. Like the time when he lold after i told him i got an interview for it

mate you need everything you can have on that CV

 

[obliviousninja]

mate you need everything you can have on that CV

Don't hate, appreciate

 

[RishBonjour99]

Enactus yallah cuz ~

Inb4 crobat talks shit. Like the time when he lold after i told him i got an interview for it

didn't get into 180?

 

[obliviousninja]

didn't get into 180?

Hahahahahahaahah. Lost it.

Okay adding that to my resolutions

 

[anomalousdecay]

Get a job.

Train hard before soccer this year.

Be proud of my soccer effort this year.

WAM 75+

Make something cool at home with my collection of electrics and motors.

EDIT: lose weight to what I think is tangible to my situations.

Did everything up here and instead of making something cool at home I made it outside of home at uni and took it to Melbourne and such.

Overall I did all of these pretty well I guess. There's been a lot of bonuses on the side which I should have added to my resolutions then but I have acquired them any way regardless of my resolutions list being really crappy lol.

Tbh I don't think I have a list for next year other than repeat what I am currently doing.

Will add a proper list down later.

 

[anomalousdecay]

I take offence to this.

Tbh I think Crobat was more referring to people who say that they spend a lot of money just to travel to a country and do some simple service for one or two days then come back home (as in not an actual holiday or by the whim or anything so they make it seem like all they do is volunteer).

I've seen someone do that in a group interview (they said they were going to go to South America to cook some simple foods for people there then come back after a few days) and it sounded really wanky. Of course they missed the fine details about how it was a planned holiday and really their holiday was not about the volunteering at all which was pretty obvious to everyone.

And of course, the money the person spent on the travel there would have been better off being donated to the charity organising the event rather than taking yourself there and helping over something simple like that (there had to have been some sort of context).

However there are a lot of really great voluntourist activities out there that do have a great benefit to others in that country which is brilliant.