Paid Volunteering Jobs

[Butters]

I'm looking at volunteering at retreats in exotic places, mainly Thailand and some others, to get a place to stay in exchange for labor. I much prefer to offer my tech skills than some general work like gardering or cooking. 

It ties in with my life purpose as well so it's perfect. 

But some of these are paid opportunities. Like today I saw one that asks a $45 a day contribution and you still expected to work 30 hours a week for free. Even the Ram Das ashram in Portugal here charge you $450 contribution in order to volunteer for 40 days. 

Do you believe this to be ethical? It feels like my time is not only being valued low but negative? Yes you are paying for this 'good cause' but cmon 😐

Edited yesterday at 06:40 PM by Butters

[Jowblob]

Perhaps the reason you're finding these things is because you're not valuing and loving yourself enough, sounds like you're doing Spiritual bypassing "looking for volunteer work"  and seeing some volunteer work examples where you even have to pay to work there. 

Edited yesterday at 07:54 PM by Jowblob

[Butters]

4 minutes ago, Jowblob said:

Perhaps the reason you're finding these things is because you're not valuing and loving yourself enough, sounds like you're doing Spiritual bypassing "looking for volunteer work"  and seeing some volunteer work examples where you even have to pay to work there. 

No. I am currently living as a digital nomad, so I have to pay for my stay. If I can live at a retreat, who is already my audience and the niche I wanna grow into, then that's great. Especially if there's extra time to work on other clients. 

So helping them with their tech is like an apprenticeship, while also saving on living cost. 

Yet still maybe you're right. How can I test if you're right? 

[Butters]

@Jowblob let me see if I can be honest here. If I had good income and the clients that I want, where would I live? Would I live at these retreats volunteering or would I stay at a nice apartment and build a social circle? I'd do the latter! So maybe you are right and I came up with the volunteering out of a reaction to not having money staying at hostels. 

So now what do I do? I don't think it's a bad idea though, as they offer a place to stay, an apprenticeship learning about their operations, and a sense of purpose and community. It motivates me more to apply for those positions than it does finding remote clients. 

Edited yesterday at 08:12 PM by Butters

[Jowblob]

15 hours ago, Butters said:

@Jowblob let me see if I can be honest here. If I had good income and the clients that I want, where would I live? Would I live at these retreats volunteering or would I stay at a nice apartment and build a social circle? I'd do the latter! So maybe you are right and I came up with the volunteering out of a reaction to not having money staying at hostels. 

So now what do I do? I don't think it's a bad idea though, as they offer a place to stay, an apprenticeship learning about their operations, and a sense of purpose and community. It motivates me more to apply for those positions than it does finding remote clients. 

Express yourself however you want

[Hojo]

Thats a job