Volunteers Asking to do Prohibited Activities

Due to liability and volunteer safety, there are some activities that we ask volunteers not to undertake and will never be included in our project itinerary; if they injured themselves under our care, the finger would be pointed at the organisation! These include activities such as:

• Horse Riding
• Rock Jumps / Waterfall Jumps
• Jumping off Boats or Trucks
• Travelling at Sea or by River without a Life Jacket

If a volunteer asks if they can do one of the above activities in the village:

1. Advise the reasons as to why we kindly ask that they are to be avoided. 
2. If the volunteer persists, please ask them to provide you with a ‘verbal waiver’ saying they are undertaking the activity at their own risk. 
3. If, however, a volunteer directly ignores advice given by a leader over an extremely dangerous situation, disciplinary action can be taken depending on the severity of the break of the volunteer code of conduct. 

NB: If you are unsure whether the activity would be deemed inappropriate, discuss as a leadership team and call the Project Coordinator for advice.

With other activities that may be considered potentially dangerous (common examples being spearfishing at night, climbing peaks, visiting another village, etc.), there is to an extent leaders’ discretion around the viability of the volunteer undertaking that activity. The main question to consider when deciding on whether an activity is viable or not is ‘does it impact volunteer/community participation on the project in any way?’

If a volunteer asks to leave the village to visit a town to do some shopping (often for food), this may not be appropriate. Some reasons why can be explained as:

1. We generally recommend that volunteers only undertake activities that are accessible to all. If volunteers start doing activities (even with their host family) that others cannot do, this creates a disparity in project experience.
2. Buying items from town for the family may sound like a harmless and thoughtful act but it can trigger expectations from other families in the village for their volunteers. Questions may be asked as to why they are not receiving the same.
3. We ask that families prepare food as they would day to day and volunteers will be happy with it and eat it. If a volunteer returns with bags of ‘western’ food, this is not a good gesture of appreciation for the food the family is providing and could cause a sense of shame. 

NB: In the case of someone with pre-existing, disclosed and relevant health complications prior to project taking on an activity without leader supervision, the leader should have a conversation with the volunteer/family regarding the situation.