By Frances Currie | On Saturday, May 24th, I had the opportunity to attend a volunteer preparation seminar hosted by SCI Austria at their 4lthangrund location in Vienna. While many of the participants were volunteers preparing for upcoming summer workcamps, I joined the seminar as part of my first day as a summer intern with SCI Austria. Additionally, volunteers currently taking part in the European Solidarity Corps Camp, RenOffice Empowerment, Solidarity and Community Development, an opportunity currently happening in Vienna, also participated. This brought in a number of youth from all over the world to the day’s events.
Overall, the seminar was designed to prepare volunteers not only logistically, but also educationally, for the work they will be doing. It focused on the bigger picture of global volunteering, spotlighting how colonial histories have shaped modern “voluntourism,” and how we, as volunteers, can work to avoid reproducing colonial dynamics in our own efforts.
World Café
My personal favorite workshop of the day was a “World Café” style discussion, where we were split up into small groups and rotated through a series of questions on the nature of volunteering. Some of the questions I can remember off the top of my head are:
- What does it mean to be a volunteer?
- Why did you decide to volunteer?
- How is volunteering political? How can volunteering be a form of activism?
- How can/should organizations ensure that volunteer work is ethical, inclusive, and effective?
At the end of the workshop, we discussed our answers with the group at large. I was struck by how well thought out everyone’s answers were regarding why they decided to volunteer. For one person, volunteering fulfilled them spiritually and helped them find their way when they were lost. Moreover, for another, volunteering was a way to be useful to the community and meet new people. In fact, I could tell that everyone in attendance was very passionate about the work that they were doing.
Furthermore, I greatly appreciated the discussion about the ethics of volunteer work, as this has always been a topic of great importance to me. The idea that help is always needed and the assumption that we know the best ways to give help are rooted in colonial mindsets. Additionally, I appreciated how SCI Austria encouraged us to challenge colonial thinking and reflect on our own positionality, especially given the international context within which SCI operates.
Decolonial Tour of Vienna
In the afternoon, after we demolished at least fifteen pizzas, we went on a decolonial tour of the district surrounding SCI Austria’s 4lthangrund location. The tour revealed how colonialism has shaped Austria itself (despite the country’s claim that it never had any colonies—something we discovered was also false). Throughout the tour, we were asked to examine the urban landscape around us through a new lens, uncovering histories of racism and colonialism that are often overlooked in mainstream narratives typically explored on tours.
Overall, this preparation seminar provided a fascinating introduction to SCI, Vienna’s history, and the global legacies of colonialism on volunteering, remembrance, and urban landscapes. I’m grateful to SCI Austria for creating a safe space for volunteers and community members to have these conversations. Furthermore, I strongly encourage others to participate in future seminars and workcamps whenever possible.
To discover more about SCI Austria’s international and European projects, visit https://www.sciaustria.org/projekte/ or follow us on Instagram (@sci_austria).
