Our principles

1. Usefulness of the program for everyone involved

It is a concern for us that everyone involved will benefit from our programs:

a) When selecting volunteering and internship projects, it is important for us that

• the projects have a true and sustainable impact on the situation of humans and/or the environment in developing countries

• the work of volunteers is of realistic use for the projects

• the projects are being carried out following  ethical and environmental guidelines, and that the projects are being directed  by or employ local people

• the person in charge of the project is experienced in his or her duty and will be a valuable contact person for the volunteers/interns. Volunteers/interns will be introduced to their work in an adequate way and will be guided during their work. However, we have to mention that after an introduction, it is also expected from volunteers and interns to be able to work independently, which means there will not be a tutor standing next to you and instructing you  about every little detail. Often, you will be given a task or an aim to reach that you will be in charge of implementing. Such a degree of independence should not scare you, but rather motivate you, because it is the most effective way for you to learn and achieve something. The project leaders and our coordinators will always be there to assist you with doubts and questions.

• the volunteers/interns are being integrated into the projects as full team members and it is possible for them to make contacts with other individuals who work on the projects, so they can learn from them and thereby get a worthwhile technical and personal compensation for their effort.

• the projects and organisations are interested in mutual intercultural learning

b) When selecting volunteers/interns and planning their placement into projects it is important for us that

• placement individuals and projects will fit in the best way possible. We try to reach this by analysing CVs, by communicating with applicants, and by being in permanent and close contact with the persons in charge of the projects as well as current and former World Unite! participants

• the placement individuals have an appropriate attitude about their stay abroad and their project work (please read our article about the „right“ attitude).

• we try to achieve a seamless rotation from one volunteer / intern to the next one. Placements which only take place once can be pointless if the work initiated by one volunteer/intern won’t be followed up or accomplished by the next one.

• through our trouble-free package travel, accommodation, formalities and flow of information will be as smooth as possible, so that volunteers/interns can dedicate themselves entirely on their project work, and that the participant will get an appropriate cultural orientation about his or her host country.

c) When selecting partners for homestay, host families, travel and transfers it is important for us that:

• the safety and well-being of the travelers are guaranteed

• the guest can learn as much as possible from the hosts and that the host is also tolerant towards potential peculiarities of the guest

• all parties involved are concerned about environmental issues

• by accepting to have you as a guest staying in their family, local people will have an additional income which might ensure their financial independence. The money you pay to your host family for instance will often be used for the education of the family’s children. 

2. Transparency, Honesty and Dialogue

We oblige ourselves to be transparent and honest to all partners involved and not to intentionally detain any relevant information to anyone. 

We want all participants to be happy with our services and we are searching the dialogue. Only happy participants will be of benefit for the projects and will result in world-of-mouth recommendation, guaranteeing the continuous support for charitable projects whose positive outcome is our concern.  

However, a service such as World Unite! includes many people - yourself, the people in charge and further staff at the organization where you will be volunteering or doing your internship,  host families and providers of accommodation, further locals you will meet, and ourselves with all of our staff. All this takes place across several continents where cultural differences are obvious, and we use languages which aren't our mother tongues. For this reason, it is almost impossible that during your stay there won't be any misunderstandings or situations which might be different from what you expected. In this case it is important that you keep a positive attitude and that you talk with us - we will listen to you, mediate and help you. 

Marketing

Our presentation of all projects has the goal to give clear information, allowing potential participantsto find a placement which suits them. When selecting pictures and texts we try to portrait people with dignity. This includes that we avoid using images and texts which give the impression of superiority of the developed world over developing countries, or which have the aim to create pity. We bind ourselves not to intentionally use false claims about the usefulness or sense of certain programs, or to state that we, our participans or the projects themselves can “change the world”.

We try to facilitate that participants can easily get in touch and communicate with each other. With a short text and some images on our website only, it is normally not possible to present a volunteering/internship activity in a way which gives you the full picture. Therefore, we want to encourage all our participants to share their experiences, for instance through reports, pictures or videos that they can publish on our Facebook Page.

As everything in life, our offer "World Unite!" is subject to permanent and continuous learning and improvement. Only with your feedback we can try to reach perfection.

3. Safety, Health and Well-being 

The safety, health and well-being of all participants are central aspects of our programs. When selecting projects it is important for us that during the actual project work, on the transportation to work and at the place of accommodation potential sources of danger will be minimised, both for the participants of our programs and for everyone else involved. Our trouble-free package will inform you about possible safety and health risks, about the recommended vaccinations and about travel health insurance. Our local coordinator will show a medical centre to everyone arriving, will check the proper condition of the accommodation, and will keep in touch with all participants during the whole duration of their stay. Additionally the local coordinator will be reachable 24 h by phone in cases of emergency. In that way we try to minimise all health and safety risks. However we have to clarify that as a matter of fact every participant is responsible for his or her own personal safety, and health and that responsible behaviour forms the basis for safety and health. We have summarised basic information concerning the topics of health and safety in tropical developing countries here.

4. Cost consciousness

We know that many of the participants travel on limited financial ressources.  At the same time, many projects into which we place participants have financial difficulties and it is not our concept tto financially profit from their charitable commitment.

Therefore we offer placements into charitable project free of charge. For additional services, such as our trouble-free package and for the arrangement of internship placements we keep the rates as low as they will just cover our operational costs and guarantee the continuation of our programs.

Due to financial constraints of many charitable organizations in developing countries we also consider it inappropriate to spend disproportional amounts of money for anything which is not of direct use for the charitable projects in the host countries. 

We try to organise ourselves as efficient as possible and we only make use of low-cost online presentation and word-of-mouth recommendation. We don’t have expensive glossy brochures, office rents at expensive inner city locations and other luxuries. We pass over the cost advantage of this to you.

5. Responsible travel

We prefer to work with such local coordinators and providers of transportation who have a clear understanding of the importance of responsible behaviour towards the environment and local population and who comport accordingly. Part of this is for instance to plan transportation in the most efficient and petrol-saving way possible and to ensure that as much of your money will stay in your host country, contributing to its development by involving local people in a fair way.

At the same time we want to encourage the participants of our programs to inform themselves about responsible travel and to choose such additional travel and tourism providers who are committed to responsible travel.

6. Political and religious independence

World Unite! is not close to any particular political or religious ideology. We avoid cooperation with organizations which are characterised by politically or religiously motivated singularity. 

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