Volunteering General Info
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Volunteer Opportunities: Summer 2011 |
For the eighth consecutive summer, beginning on Sunday, June 5th, 2011, No More Deaths volunteers will engage in a season of direct action in the US–Mexico borderlands, where people continue to suffer and die in migration unnecessarily and in unacceptable numbers. We will mobilize as humanitarian-aid and human-rights workers in the Arizona desert in challenge to a lethal and cruel policy that places migrants systematically on the receiving end of violence.
Apply at the bottom of the page to volunteer. We encourage you to apply at least six weeks in advance for the eleven day program. Listed below are the dates that we will process applications - if you have not heard back from us by the nearest date after your application, please contact us at volunteer at nomoredeaths dot org.
April 28th
May 8th
May 18th
May 28th
June 7th
June 17th
June 27th
July 7th
July 17th
July 27th
August 6th
August 16th
August 26th
September 5th
Eligibility
We invite people of conscience everywhere to join in this effort. Participation requires no special skills or background—though we'll use them if you have them!—only a commitment to putting one's beliefs into practice. If you are willing and able to tolerate a degree of emotional intensity, stress, and physical discomfort for the sake of something you believe in, and physically able to work hard under the hot sun, we urge you to join us this summer.
Per No More Deaths policy, summer volunteers must be at least 18 years old. Exceptions may be made for 16 or 17-year-olds accompanied by a legal guardian.
Safety
Volunteering with No More Deaths is not risk-free. The places around the world where humanitarian-aid work is done are typically unsafe or at least uncomfortable places. The Arizona–Sonora border region is no exception. The dangers this region poses to humanitarian-aid workers are relatively minor in comparison to other global trouble spots. They are also nothing compared to the dangers that people in migration face. Still, they are very real. The border region is an increasingly lawless and increasingly militarized zone—a paradox familiar in other parts of the world as well.
Apart from that, our work can be very stressful, we meet people who have suffered and are suffering greatly, and the potential for secondary trauma is high. We ask that you carefully consider your mental and physical capacity to work in this environment before you apply to join us. It is of great importance that we be able to focus all our efforts on providing direct assistance to those in need.
Legality
We are very clear about the legal parameters of our work in the desert, and cover them extensively in training. We do not do anything illegal. Unfortunately, this does not mean we are immune from legal threats and challenges. You should carefully consider your willingness to accept the legal risk. Individuals in more vulnerable legal situations to begin with—non-U.S. citizens, for example—need to weigh this particularly carefully.
Schedule options
OPTION 1, FULL-TIME VOLUNTEERING: Applicants are asked to commit to completing an eleven-day program beginning on a Sunday and ending the second Thursday. For full-time volunteering, you must submit your application at least four weeks before the date you plan to be trained. The schedule for volunteer placements includes a one-day (Saturday) mandatory training session before beginning work, one day dedicated to attending and learning about Operation Steamline, departure for the field on Tuesday morning, site orientation and field-specific training on Tuesday, desert work from Wednesday through Tuesday, and a return to Tucson the following Wednesday followed by an extensive and mandatory debrief session that ends Thursday evening. More detailed schedule information will be sent to volunteers before they arrive.
For your travel plans, you should arrange to arrive in Tucson Saturday night or early Sunday morning. Overnight housing is provided. We recommend arriving at the training site by eleven am on Sunday. Following final debriefing, you should plan to leave Tucson Thursday night or Friday morning.
OPTION 2, SHORT-TERM VOLUNTEERING: This option is especially designed for returning volunteers and/or residents of southern Arizona for whom Option 1 is not feasible due to work or other obligations. We ask you to sign up to get trained on a Sunday by emailing volunteer at nomoredeaths dot org. The "week" begins by departing from Tucson on Wednesday afternoon and returning on Monday evening.
Just like full-time volunteers, we also ask you to attend a debriefing to help process the experience. After your initial commitment, you can sign up to work more weekends by emailing the Volunteer Coordinator.
Cost
It costs a lot to run a year-round humanitarian-aid campaign, and feeding, housing and transporting summer volunteers is just one part of that. Although you are already giving of your time and passion and limited resources to volunteer with us, we must devote our limited resources to the needs of people in migration, not hospitality for volunteers. That is why we ask you to raise funds for a donation.
We encourage you to use this fundraising request as an opportunity for people in your community to learn about and support your time volunteering. Ideas for fundraising previously used by volunteers include spaghetti dinners, salsa dance nights, house parties, presentations to your church/school communities, letter-writing campaigns to friends and family, appealing to businesses for sponsorship, and more. We expect that you view your involvement with No More Deaths beyond your arrival in and departure from Tucson; committing to our mission without physically being on the border is an essential part of awareness-raising and movement-building. Hopefully you will view your volunteer experience with No More Deaths as a short but intense part of what you hope to accomplish, instead of viewing it as the goal itself.
The price for the eleven-day program is $400 per person. If you choose to stay for another volunteering cycle, the cost for the second is $100. After that, we do not ask for (but we do welcome) more contributions, so the total amount for four weeks or more is $500.
The price for short-term volunteering is $25 per day. If you choose to stay the whole five days, this is $125, but we are flexible if you want to stay less time.
You need to submit this money in advance or on arrival. Our preferred way of receiving it is on arrival in the form of a check, made out to "UUCT–No More Deaths." You can also make an online donation. Donations should be made "on behalf of" the person who will be volunteering.
In addition to monetary support, we heartily encourage you to bring material donations such as socks or medical supplies.
Scholarships
We do not want the request of a volunteer fee to prevent an otherwise willing volunteer from applying. Therefore, we offer the possibility of volunteer scholarships for both full-time and weekend volunteering. If you would like to be considered for one, please fill out the scholarship application and submit it with your volunteer application or email volunteer at nomoredeaths.org. We are committed to making your trip financially possible. Find the scholarship application here, or, from our main page, look under Documents > Volunteer documents > Scholarship application.
What to bring
A packing list will be included in pre-arrival information. You will be sleeping outdoors in a camping type environment: there is no housing or bedding provided. If you want to sleep in a tent (as opposed to under the stars), you will need to bring one. Food and transportation are provided the entire time.
Placement opportunities
There are many different projects to get involved in with No More Deaths this summer! Currently, we have a volunteer program in the desert all summer and with our Nogales aid project starting in July. The We Reject Racism campaign is seeking interns for the summer, and the Pertencias project, currently based in Nogales, is seeking to expand by having an intern in Tucson to help deportees recover their confiscated belongings. Housing is provided for all in-town interns and volunteers.
For more information on each, please visit the We Reject Racism page, the Desert Aid Volunteer Experience page, and/or the Mexico Aid Centers page.
Questions? Contact the Volunteer Coordinator at volunteer at nomoredeaths dot org.
Prepared to volunteer? Please fill out our application.
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