Torben Lindberg/ International Federation, Bangladesh 1998

Chapter 7 - summary
Habit of the heart: volunteering in disasters

"Too much help made a mess here," explained one spontaneous helper who drove to Golcuk, Turkey, following 1999's massive earthquake which killed 17,000 people. Hoping to bring relief, thousands of 'volunteers' created a 20-mile traffic jam obstructing rescue vehicles and equipment. Four years earlier, an earthquake destroyed much of Kobe in Japan – killing 6,400. The quake prompted over 1 million Japanese to spontaneously volunteer.

Do disaster volunteers do more harm than good? Kobe's volunteers organized themselves. But the flood of Turkish helpers overwhelmed emergency services. Coordinating volunteers is a key challenge in rapid-onset disasters.

Some experts call these disorganized crowds 'spontaneous helpers' – they only become volunteers when organized. Either way, successful disaster response depends on agencies and authorities integrating them quickly into a coordinated strategy.

Rita Chick of the American Red Cross (ARC) says it's essential to match these volunteers with needs in affected areas. This means efficient communication between volunteer managers and damage-assessment teams.

During disasters, Chick sets up an intake centre to interview potential volunteers in three minutes, gathering information on their availability and preferences. They then receive training before being sent out.

Simply organizing volunteers isn't enough – local knowledge and training are crucial. Following Hurricane Mitch, some first-time foreign volunteers, lacking language skills or training, were a burden. Local students proved far more useful and saved many lives.

Local volunteers, however, are often themselves victims of disaster. Organizations should support them and their families. In Bangladesh, for example, river erosion recently made 132 volunteers homeless. Claims of helping the most vulnerable will ring hollow if the very people needed to deliver the care are ignored when disaster strikes. The efficiency of an organization depends on the well-being of its members.

Some local Red Cross volunteers responding to recent disasters in Latin America found themselves more vulnerable than those they were helping. Yet they were denied food and plastic sheeting for their homes. Says one delegate: "Because they are volunteers they are treated as second-class victims."

As emergencies become more protracted, does the spirit of volunteering come under threat from excessive payments? Volunteer 'allowances' during disasters are often equivalent to a daily wage – for the poorest, volunteering is a job.

Bekele Mekonnen, 18, joined the Ethiopian Red Cross three years ago, did a first-aid course and volunteers for ambulance duty. He works most evenings and gets US$ 4 a month in 'expenses'. Last year, Bekele took part in a relief operation, and was temporarily paid US$ 1.20 a day. "It's called a 'lunch allowance'," says the International Federation's head of delegation, "but in reality it is more than the country's average wage… All the volunteers involved in relief operations in Ethiopia are paid. It is a very difficult, physical job. They sometimes work 12-15 hours a day."

Richard Allen, a specialist in volunteering, says: "By calling these people 'volunteers', it both devalues the work of real volunteers who do things without expecting pay, and also (potentially) disregards labour laws, such as minimum wage requirements, disciplinary procedures, termination payments."

A sound principle is that a volunteer should neither gain nor lose out financially. This means reimbursement of 'out-of-pocket' expenses. But such expenses are not clearly defined.

Words like 'allowance' may prove misleading. United Nations and American Peace Corps volunteers receive an 'honorarium' often higher than the average local wage – up to US$ 2,700 per month.

Levels of volunteer reimbursement vary enormously. But, says Allen, "Label the work that is done and not the people. Work that is paid is paid employment or casual labour. Work that is not paid is volunteering. One person can do both paid work and volunteering work at different times."

Successful disaster response depends on good volunteer management systems, which should include identification, recruitment, retention, involvement and recognition. At least three steps are needed before recruiting volunteers: understand exactly why an organization needs volunteers; design meaningful volunteer assignments; and elaborate a recruitment strategy.

The period between disasters is ideal to recruit and train volunteers. The ARC has initiated regional intervention teams, for which volunteers are trained and available at 24-48 hours' notice. And each ARC chapter keeps a volunteers database, detailing their training and experience. In a major disaster, ARC headquarters can appeal to its 2,000 chapters for volunteers with specific skills.

Volunteer management doesn't come free. But research suggests that investing in volunteers can provide up to eight times the return in services to the community. Volunteers are attracted by needs and maintained by work and responsibility. When the disaster is over, they leave. To retain volunteers, organizations must recruit them to other, more permanent tasks. Attracting volunteers means showing people a pressing need and how they can make a difference. Retaining them requires ongoing training, strong supervision, feedback and recognition.

To attract and motivate youth volunteers, the Jamaica Red Cross organizes rallies, exchange programmes and summer camps. Volunteers learn first aid and gain respect among classmates. Of the 50,000 Red Cross volunteers in the Caribbean, 65 per cent are under 18.

Some volunteers may be spiritually or morally inspired to participate in something larger than themselves. Others volunteer hoping to access food and relief first.

In Bangladesh and the Caribbean, thousands volunteer for disaster preparedness programmes – partly to survive annual cyclones and floods. But they also take pride in their role as a disaster-squad member or first-aid provider.

Survival, pride, peer recognition, training, spiritual solace. Motivation to volunteer is often linked to 'reciprocity' – contributing one thing while hoping to get something else back.

So is 'charitable' volunteering – where the organization defines needs and volunteers deliver services to the less fortunate – adequate to combat today's disasters? Or is a combination of volunteer effort and community self-help more sustainable?

The idea that volunteering is about richer people helping the poor is out of date. In Bangladesh, volunteering means communities taking responsibility for everything from micro-finance to disaster prevention. Volunteering is a means of building 'social capital'. Volunteer organizations can contribute by training leaders within communities to manage risk and become agents of their own development.

Henry Dunant, founder of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, dreamt 120 years ago of forming cohorts of caregivers. At its peak, over 200 million joined the Movement. But during the 1990s, this figure halved, partly due to the end of 'compulsory volunteering' in the former Soviet Union, better counting, changes in lifestyles and more organizations competing for volunteers.

But poor volunteer management is also a factor. Many agencies view volunteers as a way to save money rather than expand action. A better understanding of what motivates volunteers and a greater investment in their management are required.

Volunteer networks offer an opportunity to invest more, not less, in tackling the root causes of suffering and disaster. Governments must ensure that volunteers' efforts are at the centre of disaster management. But volunteers have limits – a largely unpaid workforce cannot pick up the tab as the effects of disasters deepen and donor pockets become ever-shallower.

This chapter was written by Jean Milligan, a freelance writer based in Geneva.