August 23, 2025 • 22 mins
If you want a different perspective on life—and a way to make a real contribution—Timor-Leste is a remarkable place to volunteer.
I spent a year living in Dili, the capital, volunteering with a local NGO, a government department, and supporting several small businesses. It was an unforgettable and deeply rewarding experience. Volunteering in a country very different from your own isn't always easy, and it's not for everyone, but it can be genuinely life-changing.
This episode draws from my own experience, and from conversations with locals, expats, and other volunteers.
I answer 1. Why Volunteer in Timor-Leste? 2. Which organisation to volunteer through? 3. Which organisations to volunteer with? 4. Advice for those considering volunteering 5. Impact and Legacy – What Difference Can You Actually Make? 6. Reverse Culture Shock – Coming Home Can Be Harder Than Leaving
More information on volunteering in Timor-Leste - https://exploringtimor.com/discover-what-you-can-do-in-timor-leste/#volunteer
Website - www.exploringtimor.com
TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@exploringtimor
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jonty (00:06):
Bondi.
Welcome to exploring Tim Este,the podcast that talks about
Southeast Asia's best kepttravel secret.
I'm your host Jte, and I'llshare firsthand insights, expert
interviews and practical traveltips.
Whether you're a traveler, acultural lover, or just curious
about places rarely covered inthe mainstream.
You're in the right place.
Let's explore two more.
Less day.
(00:31):
If you're looking for adifferent perspective on life
and a way to make a realcontribution, Timor Lesser is a
remarkable place to volunteer.
I spent a year living in Dilithe capital, volunteering with a
local NGO a governmentdepartment, and supported
several local small businesses.
It was an unforgettable anddeeply rewarding experience.
Volunteering in a country verydifferent from your own isn't
(00:52):
always easy, and it isn't foreveryone, but it can be a
genuinely life-changingexperience.
This episode draws on my ownexperience and from
conversations with locals,expats, and other volunteers.
I'm gonna break it into sixquestions to answer.
Number one, why volunteer inTimor-Leste two, which
organization to volunteerthrough?
(01:12):
three, which organization tovolunteer with?
Four.
Advise for those consideringvolunteering.
Five.
Impact and legacy.
What difference can you actuallymake?
And six, reverse culture shock.
Coming home can be harder thanleaving.
So number one, why volunteer inTimor less day?
Tim Oeste is one of the youngestcountries in the world and still
(01:34):
developing its institutions,systems and infrastructure.
There are many opportunities forskill volunteers to make a
meaningful contribution,especially in areas like
education, health, agriculture,governance, and community
development.
Volunteering assignments varywidely.
Some last a few months, othersseveral years.
Increasingly there are remote orhybrid options available, so you
(01:55):
can support from overseas orspend some time in Timor and
spend time at home.
Depending on the organization,you may receive support with
travel, insurance,accommodation, and living costs,
or be expected to self-fund andorganize everything yourself.
Regardless of the model.
Volunteering and team will giveyou a new perspective, challenge
your assumptions, and allow youto play a small part in the
(02:16):
country building its future.
Number two, which organizationto volunteer through.
So you can volunteer directly inTimor-Leste, but it's probably
gonna be quite hard.
There's lots of logistics andbureaucracy and things to
manage.
So most people who arevolunteering will do it through
an organization and they willpartner with a local
organization.
(02:37):
Now many governments backvolunteer programs funded by
their foreign affairsdepartments to promote soft
power.
And those are good organizationsthat generally well established
with a track record forvolunteering but they do tend to
require you to be a citizen ofthe country if the organizations
are government funded.
Now, this is an exhaustive list,but it's quite a long list of
various organizations that canhelp support you with
(02:59):
volunteering in Timor less day.
So to start with, the PeaceCorps, this is for American
citizens only.
Now all the positions are basedoutside of Dili, generally in
remote rural locations, witharound half the roles focused on
teaching English and the otherhalf on community economic
development and youthdevelopment.
They spent a few months learninglocal language tetin Although
(03:19):
some places, they don't actuallyspeak Tetin, they have their own
language as well.
Local dialect, and thevolunteers will be living with
local family.
So this is very much at theextreme end, of volunteering
that you're in a remote, localcommunity where pretty much
nobody is like to speak muchEnglish peace Corps have been
operating in Timor Less daysince 2002.
Volunteers do two year postingsin country as standard They have
(03:42):
about 40 volunteers in countryand they bring people in once a
year.
As a cohort, you have to besolo.
So generally most Peace Corpsvolunteers are fresh out of
university Some people later inlife do it, but generally it's
one of the kinda youngervolunteer communities.
They do have quite a lot ofrules.
They are not allowed to drive acar or a motorbike in
(04:03):
Timor-Leste or a scooter, butthey are allowed to ride
bicycles, which I feel would befar more dangerous of riding a
scooter.
Slightly different modelcompared to some of the other
volunteer organizations.
But Peace Corps have anexcellent reputation.
They have a lot of support fortheir volunteers both people in
country.
And they also have a regionalbase in Bangkok that supports
the Southeast Asian region nowfor New Zealanders like myself,
(04:26):
who are either citizens orpermanent residents, volunteer
service abroad is theorganization to go for.
They've been operating in Timor,Este also since 2002, and they
have assignments for specificroles to apply for, which are
typically 12 months.
But the length varies and thereare some hybrid roles available.
The vast majority of their rolesare in Dili, although they are
(04:46):
starting to have more rolesoutside of the capital.
They have staff base in NewZealand and also in-country
staff who provide extensivesupport and company partners can
come with volunteers.
Volunteer service abroad isaimed typically at people later
in their career.
They may have retired or lookingfor a a me career break, they
typically have between six and12 volunteers in country and VSA
(05:09):
will cover accommodation,insurance, medical flights, and
electricity.
And also you get a monthlyexpense allowance.
So it shouldn't cost youanything to be in country.
Obviously you're not earning asalary, but all your costs are
covered.
Now Australia has a similarorganization called Australia
Volunteers International, A VI.
And they have a similar model interms of specific roles to apply
(05:31):
for they're aimed again atpeople later in their kind of
careers.
Their roles are typically nineto 15 months in duration, and
they again, also have a mixtureof in-country and hybrid
opportunities, and most of theirroles are in dili.
And you may be able to bringaccomp partners and they also
have a similar number to NewZealand in terms of volunteers.
In country, they get the highestexpense allowance, but they also
(05:52):
have to organize pretty mucheverything themselves, so they
have to organize their ownaccommodation.
Whereas VSA will organizeaccommodation on behalf of their
volunteers, and Peace Corps willorganize things as well on
behalf of their volunteers.
Now for Japanese, there's theJapanese International
Cooperation Agency, and theydeploy what they call Japanese
overseas cooperation volunteers,so JOCV.
(06:15):
And those typically are skillprofessionals between the ages
of 20 and 39, so probablycomparable, maybe or slightly
older than Peace Corps, butyounger than VSA and a VI.
And they're doing two yearassignments and they've been in
Timor Lesso since 2010 and up to2023, they'd had 129 volunteers
in the country over the previous13 years.
(06:35):
So that's 10 a year on average.
And they focus on agriculture,tourism, health and social
welfare and education andsports.
And most of their volunteers aredilly based.
There a surprising number ofKoreans in Timor-Leste.
It's on the same time zone, andthe Korea International
Cooperation Agency, Quaker theyoperate a thing called World
(06:57):
Friends Career.
This is for Korean citizensonly, and they've been in Timor
since 2005, and they havevolunteers in Dili and other
municipalities and typicallyhave one to two year
assignments.
United Nations volunteers isopen to any nationality.
And this is the UN's GlobalVolunteer Program, which runs
under the un DP UN DevelopmentProgram, and that's designed to
(07:20):
bolster peace and developmentacross 130 countries globally.
And their assignments arebetween six and 24 months long.
They also are paid.
Now you don't get what you wouldget if you were doing the job as
a job, but you certainly get alot more than you if you are
volunteering for some of theother organizations.
So UN volunteers is an optionand it's seen as a bit of a
(07:40):
gateway into other UNorganizations, if that's of
interest.
Now in Australia there's also anorganization called Palms
Australia, which is anindependent NGO, and unlike the
others, the volunteers areusually based outside of Dili.
It's been in Timor less, say,since 2002.
They advertise specific roles,which are typically one to three
years long, and you are expectedto do either more self-funding
(08:03):
or there'll be less covered.
Again, as a charity the otherorganizations are generally
government funded between sortof 19, a hundred percent from
governments, so they can be alittle bit more generous.
There may also be someopportunities with local NGOs.
Few of the better known ones areMalo Timor, who do health sector
capacity building blue ventures,which focus on marine
(08:24):
conservation.
The A Lola Foundation, which wasset up by the wife of the
current Prime Minister, and thatfocuses on women's rights and
maternal health.
PERMA Tower, which issustainable agriculture, and
CNC, which is a Timor CoffeeCooperative, and they sometimes
look for volunteers to assistwith marketing or training.
Also, Timor-Leste is a veryreligious country.
(08:46):
98% of the population areCatholic, and so there are a
number of religious.
Organizations like CatholicRelief Services or Jesuit
refugee service, or SallySessions of Don Basco who also
may provide opportunities forpeople to volunteer in Timor.
So that was an overview of someof the organizations you can
volunteer through who will helpsupport you volunteering a team
(09:06):
or less day, but they don'tvolunteer generally with them.
Apart from those last local NGOsI mentioned, they will connect
you with local communities orlocal organizations to volunteer
with.
And those local communities andlocal organizations are driving
the kind of roles that they'reseeking.
So the idea is that most ofthose organizations will have a
(09:28):
partner organization.
So for example, VSA, the NewZealand organization that I was,
volunteering through, they had apartnership with Ham Nasaa,
which was a local Timorese, NGOand Ham Nasaa needed certain
skillset.
And so they developed aassignment description jointly,
and then VSA would thenadvertise that.
I applied from New Zealand forthe role and then got that role
(09:50):
in Timor.
So that's the way it shouldwork, it's based on local needs
as to what they want rather thanbeing imposed from externally.
So it's important to think aboutthe organization you are
ultimately gonna volunteerbecause that will actually make
quite a big difference to yourexperience in Timor less estate.
So consider who your partnerorganization could be.
Some options are there'sinternational NGOs, which would
(10:15):
be like Oxfam.
UN agencies.
Unicef.
Local NGOs, ham, nasa.
You could have a governmentdepartment, the Ministry of
tourism, or local communities,organizations, or schools.
So there's quite a variety ofdifferent organizations you may
be working with.
Now here are six things that youshould consider when you're
thinking about the kind oforganization that you want to
(10:36):
volunteer with.
And you should ask thesequestions of the volunteering
organization to find out whatthe situation is.
'cause it's all very specific tothe role and the opportunity.
So number one is language.
So English is widely used ininternational and un settings.
Tetin is the main language inlocal NGOs, schools and
government departments.
(10:58):
So that will have an impact onyour duration, which is point
number two.
So how long do you wannavolunteer for?
Generally, the longer thebetter.
'cause you get to build therelationships and you get to.
Be more useful because they knowwhat you can do and you know
where the needs are now.
At least six months, I'd say isthe minimum for making a
meaningful impact.
A year is great.
(11:18):
Two years even better dependingon obviously how you are finding
the situation.
But from a partner organizationperspective, they see quite a
lot of volunteers.
And if they're getting quite alot of churn of volunteers,
that's not necessarily the bestthing for the organization.
It might be a good thing for thevolunteers because it's quite
experienced being in Timor, butfor organizations they tend to
like a longer placement.
(11:38):
And so when it comes tolanguage, if English is your
primary language and you haven'treally got very good language
skills, then you might be bestin an organization if you're
gonna be there for a shorterperiod where they speak English
predominantly.
If you are good at picking uplanguages, and I'd say Tetin is
a relatively straightforwardlanguage, that's something you
can consider.
But if you are in a local NGOschool the day-to-day language
(12:00):
may be tetin.
So it's quite a bit of a bar toapproach at the beginning.
That's where the likes of PeaceCorps and some of the other
volunteer organizations, theywill provide language learning
training for you because it isimportant to speak the local
language.
Question number three to ask isaround capacity versus
capability building.
So are you providing hands-on.
Help, which is building theircapacity or supporting their
(12:23):
capacity, or are you mentoringothers, which is around
capability.
Capacity is good for a shortperiod, but when you leave, you
obviously take that capacitywith you.
Whereas the idea around buildingcapability is it lasts beyond
your time in the organization.
So ideally, it's very muchfocused on capability building.
From my perspective, I feel thata combination of the two is the
(12:46):
ideal because you can help buildcapability through some of the
capacity work you do.
And it is, depends on thesituation you're in, it can be
quite hard to just do mentoringall the time.
It's quite nice to actually getyour hands dirty and do some of
the doing as well.
But that's something to considerabout the role you're taking on
and how much of a focus there ison the capacity, which is
filling a gap versus thecapability which is building the
(13:09):
capability of the organization.
Question number four to ask isaround the partner organization,
their past experience withvolunteers.
So has the organization workedwith volunteers before?
The organizations I work with,they haven't.
I had a huge amount ofexperience with volunteers and
so there was a bit of a learningcurve where some of my friends
were in organizations wherethey've had a number of
volunteers over the years andthey definitely had an easier
(13:31):
induction process.
And then people just have abetter idea about what
volunteers can do.
So that's a good question toask.
Question number five is you arefit and they should be done
really by the volunteeringorganization, which is do your
skills and experience match therole and local context?
So do you have what they need tohelp?
Now, often they might ask forrelatively high levels of skill,
(13:51):
but when you get there on theground, you'll find that you're
gonna be doing some pretty basicstuff just given the level of
maturity in a lot oforganizations in Timor.
So you've gotta be willing tomaybe do the big picture
strategic stuff, but also dosome of the practical hands-on
work.
Is adds valuable in terms ofbuilding capacity and capability
in your partner organization?
Final question number six is whois your key contact?
(14:13):
So will you have a mentor or acounterpart you can work with on
the ground?
The assignments that tend to gowell, you have a very highly
motivated and committed partnerperson on the ground who you
work with on a day-to-day basis,and you're really upskilling and
working closely with.
The ones that don't tend to goso well are the ones where there
isn't a clear accountability orsomebody that you're
(14:33):
specifically working with thatyou can get a bit lost in the
organization.
Now section number four is someadvice for those considering
volunteering.
So I've got five pieces ofadvice around this.
Number one, be clear why you arevolunteering.
It's not a holiday and it willbe tough at times.
Number two is the recruitmentand deployment process can take
a long time.
It obviously depends on theorganization situation, but
(14:55):
it'll allow at least six months.
So consider how that fits withyour life plans and any
decisions that you need to make.
Consideration number three isorganizations do a good job of
preparing you for the reality ofthe assignments, but it's one
thing to read, hear aboutsomething and another to
actually experience it.
Certainly my experience withVSA, we did a very thorough
briefing session in New Zealandbefore we went to Timor and
(15:17):
there's a lot of information,but it's not until you're on the
ground that really the sightsand smells and the noises and
it's a different kind ofexperience.
So yes, you can prepare to adegree.
But ultimately you just have toembrace what happens.
'cause it is what it isconsidering Ocean number four,
if you're going with a partner,which.
Some organizations allow andsome don't consider what they
(15:39):
will do if you're not bothvolunteering full-time.
Although I have to say, if youjust doing the shopping and
washing and life admin in Timorcan feel like a full-time job at
times.
It is useful to have if you in apartnership, to have one of you
with a little bit of capacity todo some of that life admin.
Although there is a number ofexpats in Dili, it's not a
massive hub, and so you shouldconsider what your partner may
(16:02):
do if you might be busy andfully committed, engaged, doing
the volunteering.
But if a partners sitting aroundat home bored, then that's not
necessarily gonna work out forthe pair finally, just be aware
that everything takes longer andis harder to do in a developing
country.
So patience is required.
Section five, impact and legacy.
What difference can you actuallymake?
So when people ask aboutvolunteering, the question of
(16:24):
impact always comes up, andthat's rightly so.
there's a lot of discussion indevelopment circles about
volunteerism or the idea thatpeople flying in to help without
understanding the context.
The last thing you want to do isfeel like you did more harm than
good.
So what does meaningfulrespectful impact look like?
So first of all, you need tounderstand your role.
You are not there to fixanything.
(16:45):
You're not there to save anyone.
You're there to support, listen,and share skills, ideally in a
way that continues after youleave.
So impact could look liketraining somebody in the
organization so they can buildtheir skills and experience
going forward.
Helping building a system or atoolkit that gets left behind
that's useful to theorganization, contributing to
long-term goals, even if yourpart feels small at the time,
(17:08):
being present.
So reliable, respectful, andbeing patient and legacy is
subtle but real.
So you may not be able to builda school or transform an entire
organization, but you might helpa colleague feel more confident.
You might show a different wayof solving your problem.
You might open a door forsomeone.
And just as much Timor less daywill leave a legacy for you in
how you see the world, how yourelate to others, and how you
(17:30):
define what matters.
Other ways to leave a positivelegacy include handover
documentation for yourreplacement.
I know when I was in myvolunteer organization, they'd
had a previous volunteer, butthey'd lost.
All the materials that volunteerworked on.
So that's a real shame and awaste of some of their time and
resource.
So making sure that what you dowill last, you can continue to
(17:51):
offer mentoring or supportremotely.
So this is one of the things I'mdoing with this podcast is I've
now left team or less day, butI'm still keen to contribute and
support team or less day as atourism destination.
And you can also share yourexperiences to inspire others.
Advocate for Timor-Leste, orraise awareness of the country's
needs and strengths.
I'm sure my friends and familywould have known very little
(18:12):
about Timor-Leste and now theyprobably feel they know quite a
lot about Timor-Leste.
Have you heard about me talkabout it for the last couple of
years?
So in short, you can make adifference, but it starts with
humility, listening, and along-term mindset.
And finally, something worthconsidering before you volunteer
is what's gonna happen after youvolunteer.
So reverse culture shock cominghome can actually be harder than
leaving.
(18:33):
One of the things that oftensurprises volunteers is that
returning home can be moreemotionally jarring than
arriving in Timor less day.
it's called reverse cultureshock, When you first arrive in
Timor, things are unfamiliar.
They're sometimes frustrating,often beautiful, but you expect
the experience.
You should be in the mindsetthat you're doing this thing and
you're prepared to adapt.
(18:53):
And after a while you shouldfind your rhythm and you might
even start to feel at home.
And then at the end of yourassignment, however long that
lasts.
Most people come back to theirhome countries and it can be a
bit disconcerting.
You may feel a little bit of aplace in terms of your friends
and family haven't had thatexperience.
It's quite hard for them torelate to that experience if
they haven't.
(19:13):
Visited countries like that orgone through a similar
experience themselves, you maybe struggling to reconcile the
privilege and abundance at homewith the hardship and resilience
you saw in Timor.
So I certainly find in NewZealand life is very
comfortable.
It is very easy compared to lifein Timor.
Timor, life was hard.
It was easier for me as avolunteer with the support
(19:34):
networks that I had, but it wasstill harder than anywhere else
I've lived.
And what I had was, nowhere nearas hard as what the locals have
to go through.
It is give you a very differentperspective on things and that
can be quite challenging your,your values and your perception
of things you may miss, the paceof life, the community feel, or
the sense of purpose you hadwhile volunteering.
(19:55):
So again, life New Zealand isgreat, but it's definitely not
as exhilarating as life inDilly.
Every day there was something, Ijust walk along the streets and
there was something interestingor exciting or just that caught
your eye, whereas I don't getthat same kind of feeling at
home.
And it may make you questionwhat comes next.
So personally, professionally,or philosophically.
(20:15):
As I said, coming back to NewZealand was quite a jolt.
You want to tell people aboutyour experience, but actually
most people are not thatinterested.
It's similar if you've done lotsof traveling that you'll find
that.
You think this is this amazingtravel experience.
I wanna share this with others.
And most people, they can'trelate to it.
It's not something thatparticularly interests them.
So that's, you just have toaccept that's the case and move
(20:37):
on and not force your keyboardstories or people.
There will be some people whoare interested and obviously you
typically out volunteering withother people who've also left
Timor.
And so you can share experienceswith them.
And there are still people backin Timor that I stay in touch
with.
So a few bits of advice just tofinish with.
So give yourself some time sowhen you get back, don't just
jump into the next thing, buthave a little bit of time to
(20:57):
reflect on the experience you'vebeen through and think about
what you're gonna do, goingforward.
Stay connected with other returnvolunteers.
There's often alumni networksthat exist.
Personally I found it veryhelpful to write, a diary and I
also write a blog.
Jt travels.com is my blog andI've written a number of posts
there about life and Timor lessday.
And it's a good way of kind ofprocessing the feelings that I
(21:20):
had in country.
And then if volunteering, sparksomething in you consider what
other roles you may be able todo.
So there might be roles ininternational development or
community work or cross-culturalengagement, and that could be in
your own country.
So you can, volunteer at home orlook for other volunteer
opportunities overseas.
And that's certainly somethingthat I've been looking for is
I've had this amazing experiencein Timor it's hard to go back
(21:42):
you can't repeat things, but youcan maybe do something which
gives a similar life experience.
So hopefully this podcast hasbeen useful for anybody
considering volunteering inTimor less day.
Thank you so much for listening to exploring Timor
Less Day.
If you've enjoyed today'sepisode, please consider leaving
a rating or review.
It really helps more peoplediscover the show.
If you have any questions orfeedback, I'd love to hear from
(22:04):
you.
Drop me an email at exploringTimor lessDay@gmail.com.
Until next time, or Bodo ADEs.
Bondi.
Welcome to exploring Tim Este,the podcast that talks about
Southeast Asia's best kepttravel secret.
I'm your host Jte, and I'llshare firsthand insights, expert
interviews and practical traveltips.
Whether you're a traveler, acultural lover, or just curious
about places rarely covered inthe mainstream.
You're in the right place.
Let's explore two more.
Less day.
(00:31):
If you're looking for adifferent perspective on life
and a way to make a realcontribution, Timor Lesser is a
remarkable place to volunteer.
I spent a year living in Dilithe capital, volunteering with a
local NGO a governmentdepartment, and supported
several local small businesses.
It was an unforgettable anddeeply rewarding experience.
Volunteering in a country verydifferent from your own isn't
(00:52):
always easy, and it isn't foreveryone, but it can be a
genuinely life-changingexperience.
This episode draws on my ownexperience and from
conversations with locals,expats, and other volunteers.
I'm gonna break it into sixquestions to answer.
Number one, why volunteer inTimor-Leste two, which
organization to volunteerthrough?
(01:12):
three, which organization tovolunteer with?
Four.
Advise for those consideringvolunteering.
Five.
Impact and legacy.
What difference can you actuallymake?
And six, reverse culture shock.
Coming home can be harder thanleaving.
So number one, why volunteer inTimor less day?
Tim Oeste is one of the youngestcountries in the world and still
(01:34):
developing its institutions,systems and infrastructure.
There are many opportunities forskill volunteers to make a
meaningful contribution,especially in areas like
education, health, agriculture,governance, and community
development.
Volunteering assignments varywidely.
Some last a few months, othersseveral years.
Increasingly there are remote orhybrid options available, so you
(01:55):
can support from overseas orspend some time in Timor and
spend time at home.
Depending on the organization,you may receive support with
travel, insurance,accommodation, and living costs,
or be expected to self-fund andorganize everything yourself.
Regardless of the model.
Volunteering and team will giveyou a new perspective, challenge
your assumptions, and allow youto play a small part in the
(02:16):
country building its future.
Number two, which organizationto volunteer through.
So you can volunteer directly inTimor-Leste, but it's probably
gonna be quite hard.
There's lots of logistics andbureaucracy and things to
manage.
So most people who arevolunteering will do it through
an organization and they willpartner with a local
organization.
(02:37):
Now many governments backvolunteer programs funded by
their foreign affairsdepartments to promote soft
power.
And those are good organizationsthat generally well established
with a track record forvolunteering but they do tend to
require you to be a citizen ofthe country if the organizations
are government funded.
Now, this is an exhaustive list,but it's quite a long list of
various organizations that canhelp support you with
(02:59):
volunteering in Timor less day.
So to start with, the PeaceCorps, this is for American
citizens only.
Now all the positions are basedoutside of Dili, generally in
remote rural locations, witharound half the roles focused on
teaching English and the otherhalf on community economic
development and youthdevelopment.
They spent a few months learninglocal language tetin Although
(03:19):
some places, they don't actuallyspeak Tetin, they have their own
language as well.
Local dialect, and thevolunteers will be living with
local family.
So this is very much at theextreme end, of volunteering
that you're in a remote, localcommunity where pretty much
nobody is like to speak muchEnglish peace Corps have been
operating in Timor Less daysince 2002.
Volunteers do two year postingsin country as standard They have
(03:42):
about 40 volunteers in countryand they bring people in once a
year.
As a cohort, you have to besolo.
So generally most Peace Corpsvolunteers are fresh out of
university Some people later inlife do it, but generally it's
one of the kinda youngervolunteer communities.
They do have quite a lot ofrules.
They are not allowed to drive acar or a motorbike in
(04:03):
Timor-Leste or a scooter, butthey are allowed to ride
bicycles, which I feel would befar more dangerous of riding a
scooter.
Slightly different modelcompared to some of the other
volunteer organizations.
But Peace Corps have anexcellent reputation.
They have a lot of support fortheir volunteers both people in
country.
And they also have a regionalbase in Bangkok that supports
the Southeast Asian region nowfor New Zealanders like myself,
(04:26):
who are either citizens orpermanent residents, volunteer
service abroad is theorganization to go for.
They've been operating in Timor,Este also since 2002, and they
have assignments for specificroles to apply for, which are
typically 12 months.
But the length varies and thereare some hybrid roles available.
The vast majority of their rolesare in Dili, although they are
(04:46):
starting to have more rolesoutside of the capital.
They have staff base in NewZealand and also in-country
staff who provide extensivesupport and company partners can
come with volunteers.
Volunteer service abroad isaimed typically at people later
in their career.
They may have retired or lookingfor a a me career break, they
typically have between six and12 volunteers in country and VSA
(05:09):
will cover accommodation,insurance, medical flights, and
electricity.
And also you get a monthlyexpense allowance.
So it shouldn't cost youanything to be in country.
Obviously you're not earning asalary, but all your costs are
covered.
Now Australia has a similarorganization called Australia
Volunteers International, A VI.
And they have a similar model interms of specific roles to apply
(05:31):
for they're aimed again atpeople later in their kind of
careers.
Their roles are typically nineto 15 months in duration, and
they again, also have a mixtureof in-country and hybrid
opportunities, and most of theirroles are in dili.
And you may be able to bringaccomp partners and they also
have a similar number to NewZealand in terms of volunteers.
In country, they get the highestexpense allowance, but they also
(05:52):
have to organize pretty mucheverything themselves, so they
have to organize their ownaccommodation.
Whereas VSA will organizeaccommodation on behalf of their
volunteers, and Peace Corps willorganize things as well on
behalf of their volunteers.
Now for Japanese, there's theJapanese International
Cooperation Agency, and theydeploy what they call Japanese
overseas cooperation volunteers,so JOCV.
(06:15):
And those typically are skillprofessionals between the ages
of 20 and 39, so probablycomparable, maybe or slightly
older than Peace Corps, butyounger than VSA and a VI.
And they're doing two yearassignments and they've been in
Timor Lesso since 2010 and up to2023, they'd had 129 volunteers
in the country over the previous13 years.
(06:35):
So that's 10 a year on average.
And they focus on agriculture,tourism, health and social
welfare and education andsports.
And most of their volunteers aredilly based.
There a surprising number ofKoreans in Timor-Leste.
It's on the same time zone, andthe Korea International
Cooperation Agency, Quaker theyoperate a thing called World
(06:57):
Friends Career.
This is for Korean citizensonly, and they've been in Timor
since 2005, and they havevolunteers in Dili and other
municipalities and typicallyhave one to two year
assignments.
United Nations volunteers isopen to any nationality.
And this is the UN's GlobalVolunteer Program, which runs
under the un DP UN DevelopmentProgram, and that's designed to
(07:20):
bolster peace and developmentacross 130 countries globally.
And their assignments arebetween six and 24 months long.
They also are paid.
Now you don't get what you wouldget if you were doing the job as
a job, but you certainly get alot more than you if you are
volunteering for some of theother organizations.
So UN volunteers is an optionand it's seen as a bit of a
(07:40):
gateway into other UNorganizations, if that's of
interest.
Now in Australia there's also anorganization called Palms
Australia, which is anindependent NGO, and unlike the
others, the volunteers areusually based outside of Dili.
It's been in Timor less, say,since 2002.
They advertise specific roles,which are typically one to three
years long, and you are expectedto do either more self-funding
(08:03):
or there'll be less covered.
Again, as a charity the otherorganizations are generally
government funded between sortof 19, a hundred percent from
governments, so they can be alittle bit more generous.
There may also be someopportunities with local NGOs.
Few of the better known ones areMalo Timor, who do health sector
capacity building blue ventures,which focus on marine
(08:24):
conservation.
The A Lola Foundation, which wasset up by the wife of the
current Prime Minister, and thatfocuses on women's rights and
maternal health.
PERMA Tower, which issustainable agriculture, and
CNC, which is a Timor CoffeeCooperative, and they sometimes
look for volunteers to assistwith marketing or training.
Also, Timor-Leste is a veryreligious country.
(08:46):
98% of the population areCatholic, and so there are a
number of religious.
Organizations like CatholicRelief Services or Jesuit
refugee service, or SallySessions of Don Basco who also
may provide opportunities forpeople to volunteer in Timor.
So that was an overview of someof the organizations you can
volunteer through who will helpsupport you volunteering a team
(09:06):
or less day, but they don'tvolunteer generally with them.
Apart from those last local NGOsI mentioned, they will connect
you with local communities orlocal organizations to volunteer
with.
And those local communities andlocal organizations are driving
the kind of roles that they'reseeking.
So the idea is that most ofthose organizations will have a
(09:28):
partner organization.
So for example, VSA, the NewZealand organization that I was,
volunteering through, they had apartnership with Ham Nasaa,
which was a local Timorese, NGOand Ham Nasaa needed certain
skillset.
And so they developed aassignment description jointly,
and then VSA would thenadvertise that.
I applied from New Zealand forthe role and then got that role
(09:50):
in Timor.
So that's the way it shouldwork, it's based on local needs
as to what they want rather thanbeing imposed from externally.
So it's important to think aboutthe organization you are
ultimately gonna volunteerbecause that will actually make
quite a big difference to yourexperience in Timor less estate.
So consider who your partnerorganization could be.
Some options are there'sinternational NGOs, which would
(10:15):
be like Oxfam.
UN agencies.
Unicef.
Local NGOs, ham, nasa.
You could have a governmentdepartment, the Ministry of
tourism, or local communities,organizations, or schools.
So there's quite a variety ofdifferent organizations you may
be working with.
Now here are six things that youshould consider when you're
thinking about the kind oforganization that you want to
(10:36):
volunteer with.
And you should ask thesequestions of the volunteering
organization to find out whatthe situation is.
'cause it's all very specific tothe role and the opportunity.
So number one is language.
So English is widely used ininternational and un settings.
Tetin is the main language inlocal NGOs, schools and
government departments.
(10:58):
So that will have an impact onyour duration, which is point
number two.
So how long do you wannavolunteer for?
Generally, the longer thebetter.
'cause you get to build therelationships and you get to.
Be more useful because they knowwhat you can do and you know
where the needs are now.
At least six months, I'd say isthe minimum for making a
meaningful impact.
A year is great.
(11:18):
Two years even better dependingon obviously how you are finding
the situation.
But from a partner organizationperspective, they see quite a
lot of volunteers.
And if they're getting quite alot of churn of volunteers,
that's not necessarily the bestthing for the organization.
It might be a good thing for thevolunteers because it's quite
experienced being in Timor, butfor organizations they tend to
like a longer placement.
(11:38):
And so when it comes tolanguage, if English is your
primary language and you haven'treally got very good language
skills, then you might be bestin an organization if you're
gonna be there for a shorterperiod where they speak English
predominantly.
If you are good at picking uplanguages, and I'd say Tetin is
a relatively straightforwardlanguage, that's something you
can consider.
But if you are in a local NGOschool the day-to-day language
(12:00):
may be tetin.
So it's quite a bit of a bar toapproach at the beginning.
That's where the likes of PeaceCorps and some of the other
volunteer organizations, theywill provide language learning
training for you because it isimportant to speak the local
language.
Question number three to ask isaround capacity versus
capability building.
So are you providing hands-on.
Help, which is building theircapacity or supporting their
(12:23):
capacity, or are you mentoringothers, which is around
capability.
Capacity is good for a shortperiod, but when you leave, you
obviously take that capacitywith you.
Whereas the idea around buildingcapability is it lasts beyond
your time in the organization.
So ideally, it's very muchfocused on capability building.
From my perspective, I feel thata combination of the two is the
(12:46):
ideal because you can help buildcapability through some of the
capacity work you do.
And it is, depends on thesituation you're in, it can be
quite hard to just do mentoringall the time.
It's quite nice to actually getyour hands dirty and do some of
the doing as well.
But that's something to considerabout the role you're taking on
and how much of a focus there ison the capacity, which is
filling a gap versus thecapability which is building the
(13:09):
capability of the organization.
Question number four to ask isaround the partner organization,
their past experience withvolunteers.
So has the organization workedwith volunteers before?
The organizations I work with,they haven't.
I had a huge amount ofexperience with volunteers and
so there was a bit of a learningcurve where some of my friends
were in organizations wherethey've had a number of
volunteers over the years andthey definitely had an easier
(13:31):
induction process.
And then people just have abetter idea about what
volunteers can do.
So that's a good question toask.
Question number five is you arefit and they should be done
really by the volunteeringorganization, which is do your
skills and experience match therole and local context?
So do you have what they need tohelp?
Now, often they might ask forrelatively high levels of skill,
(13:51):
but when you get there on theground, you'll find that you're
gonna be doing some pretty basicstuff just given the level of
maturity in a lot oforganizations in Timor.
So you've gotta be willing tomaybe do the big picture
strategic stuff, but also dosome of the practical hands-on
work.
Is adds valuable in terms ofbuilding capacity and capability
in your partner organization?
Final question number six is whois your key contact?
(14:13):
So will you have a mentor or acounterpart you can work with on
the ground?
The assignments that tend to gowell, you have a very highly
motivated and committed partnerperson on the ground who you
work with on a day-to-day basis,and you're really upskilling and
working closely with.
The ones that don't tend to goso well are the ones where there
isn't a clear accountability orsomebody that you're
(14:33):
specifically working with thatyou can get a bit lost in the
organization.
Now section number four is someadvice for those considering
volunteering.
So I've got five pieces ofadvice around this.
Number one, be clear why you arevolunteering.
It's not a holiday and it willbe tough at times.
Number two is the recruitmentand deployment process can take
a long time.
It obviously depends on theorganization situation, but
(14:55):
it'll allow at least six months.
So consider how that fits withyour life plans and any
decisions that you need to make.
Consideration number three isorganizations do a good job of
preparing you for the reality ofthe assignments, but it's one
thing to read, hear aboutsomething and another to
actually experience it.
Certainly my experience withVSA, we did a very thorough
briefing session in New Zealandbefore we went to Timor and
(15:17):
there's a lot of information,but it's not until you're on the
ground that really the sightsand smells and the noises and
it's a different kind ofexperience.
So yes, you can prepare to adegree.
But ultimately you just have toembrace what happens.
'cause it is what it isconsidering Ocean number four,
if you're going with a partner,which.
Some organizations allow andsome don't consider what they
(15:39):
will do if you're not bothvolunteering full-time.
Although I have to say, if youjust doing the shopping and
washing and life admin in Timorcan feel like a full-time job at
times.
It is useful to have if you in apartnership, to have one of you
with a little bit of capacity todo some of that life admin.
Although there is a number ofexpats in Dili, it's not a
massive hub, and so you shouldconsider what your partner may
(16:02):
do if you might be busy andfully committed, engaged, doing
the volunteering.
But if a partners sitting aroundat home bored, then that's not
necessarily gonna work out forthe pair finally, just be aware
that everything takes longer andis harder to do in a developing
country.
So patience is required.
Section five, impact and legacy.
What difference can you actuallymake?
So when people ask aboutvolunteering, the question of
(16:24):
impact always comes up, andthat's rightly so.
there's a lot of discussion indevelopment circles about
volunteerism or the idea thatpeople flying in to help without
understanding the context.
The last thing you want to do isfeel like you did more harm than
good.
So what does meaningfulrespectful impact look like?
So first of all, you need tounderstand your role.
You are not there to fixanything.
(16:45):
You're not there to save anyone.
You're there to support, listen,and share skills, ideally in a
way that continues after youleave.
So impact could look liketraining somebody in the
organization so they can buildtheir skills and experience
going forward.
Helping building a system or atoolkit that gets left behind
that's useful to theorganization, contributing to
long-term goals, even if yourpart feels small at the time,
(17:08):
being present.
So reliable, respectful, andbeing patient and legacy is
subtle but real.
So you may not be able to builda school or transform an entire
organization, but you might helpa colleague feel more confident.
You might show a different wayof solving your problem.
You might open a door forsomeone.
And just as much Timor less daywill leave a legacy for you in
how you see the world, how yourelate to others, and how you
(17:30):
define what matters.
Other ways to leave a positivelegacy include handover
documentation for yourreplacement.
I know when I was in myvolunteer organization, they'd
had a previous volunteer, butthey'd lost.
All the materials that volunteerworked on.
So that's a real shame and awaste of some of their time and
resource.
So making sure that what you dowill last, you can continue to
(17:51):
offer mentoring or supportremotely.
So this is one of the things I'mdoing with this podcast is I've
now left team or less day, butI'm still keen to contribute and
support team or less day as atourism destination.
And you can also share yourexperiences to inspire others.
Advocate for Timor-Leste, orraise awareness of the country's
needs and strengths.
I'm sure my friends and familywould have known very little
(18:12):
about Timor-Leste and now theyprobably feel they know quite a
lot about Timor-Leste.
Have you heard about me talkabout it for the last couple of
years?
So in short, you can make adifference, but it starts with
humility, listening, and along-term mindset.
And finally, something worthconsidering before you volunteer
is what's gonna happen after youvolunteer.
So reverse culture shock cominghome can actually be harder than
leaving.
(18:33):
One of the things that oftensurprises volunteers is that
returning home can be moreemotionally jarring than
arriving in Timor less day.
it's called reverse cultureshock, When you first arrive in
Timor, things are unfamiliar.
They're sometimes frustrating,often beautiful, but you expect
the experience.
You should be in the mindsetthat you're doing this thing and
you're prepared to adapt.
(18:53):
And after a while you shouldfind your rhythm and you might
even start to feel at home.
And then at the end of yourassignment, however long that
lasts.
Most people come back to theirhome countries and it can be a
bit disconcerting.
You may feel a little bit of aplace in terms of your friends
and family haven't had thatexperience.
It's quite hard for them torelate to that experience if
they haven't.
(19:13):
Visited countries like that orgone through a similar
experience themselves, you maybe struggling to reconcile the
privilege and abundance at homewith the hardship and resilience
you saw in Timor.
So I certainly find in NewZealand life is very
comfortable.
It is very easy compared to lifein Timor.
Timor, life was hard.
It was easier for me as avolunteer with the support
(19:34):
networks that I had, but it wasstill harder than anywhere else
I've lived.
And what I had was, nowhere nearas hard as what the locals have
to go through.
It is give you a very differentperspective on things and that
can be quite challenging your,your values and your perception
of things you may miss, the paceof life, the community feel, or
the sense of purpose you hadwhile volunteering.
(19:55):
So again, life New Zealand isgreat, but it's definitely not
as exhilarating as life inDilly.
Every day there was something, Ijust walk along the streets and
there was something interestingor exciting or just that caught
your eye, whereas I don't getthat same kind of feeling at
home.
And it may make you questionwhat comes next.
So personally, professionally,or philosophically.
(20:15):
As I said, coming back to NewZealand was quite a jolt.
You want to tell people aboutyour experience, but actually
most people are not thatinterested.
It's similar if you've done lotsof traveling that you'll find
that.
You think this is this amazingtravel experience.
I wanna share this with others.
And most people, they can'trelate to it.
It's not something thatparticularly interests them.
So that's, you just have toaccept that's the case and move
(20:37):
on and not force your keyboardstories or people.
There will be some people whoare interested and obviously you
typically out volunteering withother people who've also left
Timor.
And so you can share experienceswith them.
And there are still people backin Timor that I stay in touch
with.
So a few bits of advice just tofinish with.
So give yourself some time sowhen you get back, don't just
jump into the next thing, buthave a little bit of time to
(20:57):
reflect on the experience you'vebeen through and think about
what you're gonna do, goingforward.
Stay connected with other returnvolunteers.
There's often alumni networksthat exist.
Personally I found it veryhelpful to write, a diary and I
also write a blog.
Jt travels.com is my blog andI've written a number of posts
there about life and Timor lessday.
And it's a good way of kind ofprocessing the feelings that I
(21:20):
had in country.
And then if volunteering, sparksomething in you consider what
other roles you may be able todo.
So there might be roles ininternational development or
community work or cross-culturalengagement, and that could be in
your own country.
So you can, volunteer at home orlook for other volunteer
opportunities overseas.
And that's certainly somethingthat I've been looking for is
I've had this amazing experiencein Timor it's hard to go back
(21:42):
you can't repeat things, but youcan maybe do something which
gives a similar life experience.
So hopefully this podcast hasbeen useful for anybody
considering volunteering inTimor less day.
Thank you so much for listening to exploring Timor
Less Day.
If you've enjoyed today'sepisode, please consider leaving
a rating or review.
It really helps more peoplediscover the show.
If you have any questions orfeedback, I'd love to hear from
(22:04):
you.
Drop me an email at exploringTimor lessDay@gmail.com.
Until next time, or Bodo ADEs.
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