Should University Students be Required to do Overseas Volunteer Work?
The world is becoming internationalized rapidly these days. Now it is clear that there are developed (rich) countries and developing (poor) countries in the same world. Some of the developing countries need developed countries’ help, especially that of young people. Aoyama Gakuin University is one of the universities that have a volunteer circle. Although there must be some danger circumstances in poor countries, university students should actively join the overseas volunteer work because their help is needed.
One thing students can expect is attack, stealing or robbery by native people. People in poor countries tend to be starved for food and expensive things and sometimes get aggressive to attack and rob volunteers. Especially in a country at war, attack is so dangerous that volunteers are killed or held hostage. According to an online article, it reported, “In August, Mr. Kazuya Ito, a Japanese volunteer worker, was kidnapped and killed in eastern Afghanistan” (The Japan Times Online, 2008). Volunteers may get closer in their volunteer group, and then they can be careless. At that moment, natives easily attack the group and take their belongings. If students are planning to visit a developing country to do volunteer work, they must know well about the country and during their stay there, they must watch their belongings every moment.
Another negative thing is diseases. The climate can cause serious diseases. What’s worse, most developing countries are unsanitary. Because volunteers don’t get used to those situations, they easily contract bad diseases such as cholera and dysentery. There is no facility and treatment tool, so the possibility that the diseases kill volunteers is extremely high.
In contrast, overseas volunteer work gives students great experience and they can learn a lot of things from it. There are two important points. One of them is “to find opportunities that reflect your interests, call on your skills and capabilities, go with your lifestyle, and suit your personality” (ABC News, 2007). Students can learn something in their own ways and the experience they can have will be a part of you after finishing volunteer works. Any experience will greatly improve them. Students will be able to make use of what they got in their volunteer works in different fields someday. The other important thing is learning the culture of the country. By learning it, they can break stereotypes of the country and find good points. It leads to making a good relationship between the students’ country and the country they visit. This can be the first step for world peace that is needed in this complex world.
Overseas volunteer work gives another lesson to students. The lesson is that nothing is so precious as life. However poor the people are, however dirty the people are, even if the country is at war, there is nothing more important than one life. It also can lead to a good relationship because no one tries to beat other countries if he or she knows the importance of life.
Overseas volunteer work has both good points and bad points. It would be bad and dangerous if volunteers are careless. On the contrary, it can be good because they can understand the essential things for their lives. Although bad things can be expected, university students should do overseas volunteer work.
Works Cited:
“Afghanistan in Trouble.” The Japan Times Online. 16 Dec. 2008.
Wine, Bill. “Volunteers Gain While They Give Health Article.” ABC News. 17 Oct. 2007.
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