Effects of Globalization on Volunteering

Geographically, globalization abolishes the geographical barriers through technologically empowered means of transport and communication. There is an integration of a wider range of places with intensified social and economic relations. Additionally, globalization affects social life due to the exchange of cultural values. Globalization affects most activities across the world, as people can perform tasks from far places that have an impact on the way people live and relate. With its numerous effects, globalization has played a great role in international volunteerism, both positively and negatively. However, instead of focusing on volunteering activities, most volunteers tend to focus on their own satisfaction and explorations. Despite the negative aspects of some volunteering, we must acknowledge the positive effects that globalization has had on volunteerism. Globalization has enabled volunteerism to bring international development in developing countries.

Volunteerism requires pooling of funds through fund drives and donations. It is required that the volunteers represent the people that send them and ensure that they complete the assignments given to them. For instance, it is possible to learn about a problem in different countries and organize volunteering activities that can address the problem. At the same time, it becomes possible to account for the activities that volunteers engage in while undertaking their mission. Through globalization, donors can demand evidence of how the volunteering activities benefited the local community. The challenge with this evidence often on websites is that it is unilateral. It only depicts how the locals benefit from the volunteering programs without acknowledging any benefits from the target community. There is more globalized thinking on global issues. Online campaigns have greater impacts today than traditional ways of volunteering.

The challenge with this is the possible negative influence that globalization may have on both cultures. Not all ideas that the volunteers exchange with the target community are useful. With globalization, the target community benefits by receiving new technology and new forms of communication. The volunteers also get to learn how they can solve problems related to poverty and development globally. The perspectives of the volunteers open up for them to understand how social, economic, and political factors affect global communities. Volunteers also tend to benefit from the international social capital by creating friendship and association with people from other countries. These connections can be useful to the volunteers, home communities, and host organizations in terms of access to resources and professional support. The social connections can offer career guidance in the international arena (McBride 4).

The volunteers may opt to sponsor poor children to receive a quality education or offer medical support to extreme cases. However, this also has its challenges due to some issues that may arise from volunteering. For instance, issues of failure of accountability of funds may bring discord among volunteers. In other cases, there may be an issue of lack of consultation of the host community. This may lead to failure to address the real problems the community faces and instead create new problems that do not exist. Lough, Benjamin J. et al. The impact of international service on the development of volunteers’ intercultural relations.  Social science research 46 (2014): 48-58. McBride, Amanda Moore.