I'm not sure if this is strictly volunteering, but I worked as an unpaid intern for a human rights organization. The diversity there was incredible. I worked with people from five different continents, several different religious beliefs, and vastly different upbringings. Even though I went to a fairly diverse school (racially speaking, at least), growing up in the suburbs tends to have a homogenizing effect on the people you meet.
The work itself really opened my eyes too. I came in with the idea that human rights was basically stuff like no torture, no war crimes, freedom of religion/expression, etc. But when I worked there I learned about the idea of social and economic rights, which in a nutshell is the idea that the human rights abuses I mentioned above are often linked to a lack of social or economic progress among certain groups, and that poverty was in a way a form of economic repression that paved the way for other human rights abuses. I'm still not sure to what extent I believe all of that is true, but I never would have thought about it if I hadn't worked there.
I filled out their application online, and they accepted me (though they oddly didn't interview me, while all of the other interns were interviewed). It probably helped that I had been fairly involved with one of the issues they worked on.
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I'm not sure if this is strictly volunteering, but I worked as an unpaid intern for a human rights organization. The diversity there was incredible. I worked with people from five different continents, several different religious beliefs, and vastly different upbringings. Even though I went to a fairly diverse school (racially speaking, at least), growing up in the suburbs tends to have a homogenizing effect on the people you meet.
The work itself really opened my eyes too. I came in with the idea that human rights was basically stuff like no torture, no war crimes, freedom of religion/expression, etc. But when I worked there I learned about the idea of social and economic rights, which in a nutshell is the idea that the human rights abuses I mentioned above are often linked to a lack of social or economic progress among certain groups, and that poverty was in a way a form of economic repression that paved the way for other human rights abuses. I'm still not sure to what extent I believe all of that is true, but I never would have thought about it if I hadn't worked there.
May I ask how did you get the opportunity to work there?
I filled out their application online, and they accepted me (though they oddly didn't interview me, while all of the other interns were interviewed). It probably helped that I had been fairly involved with one of the issues they worked on.