I’ve volunteered throughout my life as I consider it a valuable thing. It began with tutoring classmates, helping out at soup kitchens, and later, making soup at large-scale events and festivals. In the last decade, volunteering has expanded into a robust industry—as sites like WWOOF, HelpX and WorkAway attest—and many young adults do it to bulk up their CV’s by gaining personal and professional skills and, of course, there’s travel.
Volunteering in your 50s, as Dennis and I did in Portugal, is slightly different. For us, volunteering was more about stepping outside our routine, shaking up our mid-life sensibilities before they fossilised. We also wanted to learn more about Portugal, discover if living in the countryside would suit us, and to be of service.
That’s the point of volunteering, right?
Well, yes…and no. That depends on who the volunteer is. Like anything in life, volunteering attracts all types: from spiritual types who expect volunteering to be like yoga summer camp, to more independent, minimalist travellers who want to immerse themselves in nature. Volunteering also draws those in transition, exploring new ground or escaping old traumas, those seeking short-term experiences (or distractions), like students killing time before classes start again, or those wanting something long-term, making a move into an alternative way of life.
Beginnings are tough
We found volunteers by placing an ad on Facebook, which garnered 600 responses—many were just a thumbs up…nice, but useless. We wrote to about 30, called the 15 people who actually responded, Skyping them to get a feel for their personalities, and give them the low down on what off-grid living really means. We further whittled this down to 7-8 who were either in Portugal or willing to travel and with whom we felt a good click.
We knew there would be a learning curve ahead, but you have to start somewhere…
Initially, I found hosting volunteers chaotic. There were many unexpected triggers, which revolved around food, doing the dishes, broken tools, and the WiFi. Also, many of our volunteers' interests didn't align with our project, which made it more difficult to connect.
One of the biggest issues was the WiFi. For about 3 weeks, everything seemed to revolve around it. We have it, just the signal isn’t strong enough to download a Netflix series, but it’s do-able if one or two people use it. A few volunteers left within a few days because of this, which brought me to tears. It was the combination of weeks of meeting people who weren’t quite the right fit, and the constant need for WiFi, which isn’t synonymous with off-grid living.
I kept thinking we live in this beautiful, remote little valley surrounded by forest, a place that offers peace and the spaciousness to access it, which is a rare thing. Visitors either see and appreciate it or they don't--and my learning process was realising I had no control over it.
Finally, it's a click
In retrospect, we were lucky because what didn’t fit fell away quickly. After a few weeks of getting it 'wrong', we started learning and getting things right. We got more organised, became more direct in our communication, and I stepped more fully into the leadership role hosting requires. There was less experimenting, seeing how new volunteers would react, and more telling them what I wanted right away, exploring if our needs and expectations fit. I went from making rules to extending an invitation to my world and vision.
At this point Tessa arrived, a creative, free-spirited young artist, Dutch, who is self-reflective, curious, willing to work, and thoroughly enjoys our way of life. It’s as if we have known her for years. She’s the kind of volunteer who contributes to the joy of being here, while helping us to move closer to our vision in the 3D.
And yesterday, Theo, a soft-spoken French acrobat, joined us for a few weeks. We met him last year while volunteering at Gravito, a retreat centre owned by our friends. Theo is a bit like Tessa, covered in tattoos, quirky, and a nature lover who gazes dreamily at sunsets. They both belong to the “Church of the Shoeless,” walking barefoot in 38 degrees, eager to experience Gaia through their feet.
They both seem to fit and so, we grow with them.
The Positives of Volunteering
The first is obvious: volunteering is about helping others. In the Western world, we have been brought up idealising self-sufficiency, but this concept is actually false. Just look around you: everything you see involves the efforts of thousands of people, such as transporting a pineapple from South America to a European supermarket.
In central Portugal, we discovered many pioneering individuals taking on ambitious projects that are much too big to do alone. Projects such as reforesting, rewilding nature to combat monoculture, rebuilding ruins, or bringing life into bleak, desolate villages. Supporting hardworking people who are actively working on their dreams feels good. You might help them finish projects that are physically challenging, tend the garden that feeds them, or clear a dense patch of forest to prevent future fires. The payback is heartfelt thanks and appreciation.
Volunteering is also a fantastic antidote to selfishness, which is growing in our society. The online world is geared towards instant gratification, narcissism, and constant reward. We are constantly being manipulated and nudged into this kind of behaviour, which is leading to countless social ills. As Forbes puts it, “In the game of clicks, shares and likes, malicious behavior in the form of spreading misinformation for profit,” is polarising and undermining our values.
But when you consciously give your time to a bigger cause, you learn that other people matter, too, as do their ideas. Appreciating new ideas creates a well-balanced person who values others and their contribution to the whole.
Finally, volunteering creates opportunities for connection. So many people feel isolated these days. They might be surrounded by millions of people in large cities, but there’s little connection on a deeper, more intimate level. We have been primed for superficiality in so many walks of life. We buy books with beautiful covers, watch movies with sculpted actors, and place excessive emphasis on physical appearance over true connection.
But volunteering you can get involved, engage with people all walks of life (ages, backgrounds and beliefs) and share their stories. It’s not about liking everyone you meet, but learning about the crazy cast of characters that exist and therefore, growing.
By meeting so many different types of people, I’ve started learning how to silence my judgments, recognising the value in our differences. Real connection helps us remove the masks we wear, meeting the raw essence, the wonderful and imperfect human being that lies beneath.
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