You must provide a room for volunteers in your project if you wish to take part in our program. A clean and simple, light-filled room with a bed and mattress is sufficient for most volunteers. Be aware that they do need a space in which they can have their own privacy. The room should have a lock on the door so they can leave their valuables there without worry.

By providing quarters for the volunteer to stay in, you will be able to collect a contribution from the volunteer for their accommodation. If you do not have a suitable room available, you will have to organize for the volunteer to either stay with a family in the area or to rent a building for the volunteers. You would not be able to collect the accommodation contribution in this case obviously.

Duty Allocation:

You must specify a duty for the volunteer to be in charge of. 

• Clearly state the work the volunteers will be doing at your project.
• State whether it´s pure volunteer work or they get pay.

Example  of volunteer work include:

-Office work - using the computer etc.

-Helping kids with their homework - put them in charge of children who are struggling with their studies, especially assigning them one-on-one attention. For educational projects, we have found volunteers work very well as teacher's assistants and concentrating on children who have literacy difficulties.

-Running kindergarten classes, preparing classroom materials and libraries.

-Put them as assistants in a fundraising drive.

-Get them to take especial care of the younger children, help with changing diapers, washing clothes and checking they keep their bedrooms neat and tidy.

-Helping the disable etc.

Communication:

Upon receiving the volunteer's application it's very important that you reply to them immediately. We will provide participating projects with a manual to help you organize your placements and sample letters as well as a simple database to organize your bookings. We require that you regularly keep in touch with us also to inform when you have vacancies so we can keep the website accurate with regard to placements. We also use this information to best determine where to place volunteers who are open to being placed in several projects.

Encouragement:

Provide constant feedback and encouragement to the volunteer. They need to know if they are doing what you want and remember… they are in a foreign culture so be as supportive and understanding as you can. Explain to them your culture and basic social niceties - how to greet people, how to behave in certain situations. Teach them some phrases in the local language which will endear them to the public...

Often the first week that the volunteer is staying with you will be one of adjustment and settling in. For some, it may be the first time they have travelled overseas, in which case, there is always likely to be a period of culture shock and uncertainty. Be as supportive as you can during this time.

Religion:

HT subscribes to universal ideals in that we support the physical, mental and spiritual growth of all peoples, however, we do not allow that the volunteer program be used as a platform for indoctrination. If your project has a particular doctrine which you adhere to or religious leanings please ensure that these beliefs will rather encourage you to respect the volunteer, regardless of their religion and particular beliefs.

It is not appropriate that you ask volunteers to take part in your religious meetings or programs or ask them to take or teach religious classes. They will respect your beliefs and the manner in which the children are being raised, and will be open-minded in this respect. They will also be expected to behave as good examples whilst at your project.

Responsibility:

Safety: While the volunteer is staying at your project, you must accept all reasonable responsibility to ensure their safety and well-being. They need to be shown around to enable them to get acquainted with the area and places where they will be working. Send a local person to accompany them when they go out of the compound until they are confident to go out alone without getting lost. Be sure that the volunteer understands which areas of the city may be dangerous and how to dress accordingly so that they don't attract attention. You should schedule the hours together with the volunteer which they would be expected to be involved in duties. Outside of these times, make them aware of the hours which you expect them to return at night if they do go out.

Pleasure trips: If the volunteer will travel for periods of time away from the project site, in an activity unrelated to that of your orphanage, you will not be responsible during these periods.

Health:

 Should a volunteer fall ill whilst in your care, please ensure that they can get good quality medical treatment from a registered doctor.

Financial Transparency:

 Because volunteers pay money for their food and accommodation and usually give a donation,  on arrival to the project, they like to be kept informed of how their money is being utilized. That is, financial transparency is a must. We have had some problems in the past with directors not informing, or giving odd information to the volunteers as to how the money is being utilized and the volunteers have become suspicious and warned other volunteers. Trust and goodwill can be generated quickly if you share with your volunteer the financial situation of your project and involve them in the fundraising issues. But you will need to have professional accounting measures in place if you involve them in fundraising, so that they can see that funds that they may help raise are being utilized properly. If you don't feel that you can share this information with your volunteers, then you are probably not ready to take volunteers from us There is no need to take this process any further.

Refunds:

 If a volunteer comes to your project and is unhappy and wants or needs to leave early, you are required to give them a refund of their money that they gave when they arrived minus the expenses they have incurred during their stay with you. For this reason, it is important not to spend the volunteer’s full donation until after they have left.

Registration:

You will need to send us evidence of your registration in your country (NGO registration or Social Welfare department registration). You will need to be registered because sometimes volunteers require an invitation letter from the project in order to gain visas from the embassy abroad.