Volunteers are the heartbeat of Herbalists Without Borders!
Are you an HWB member who is interested in volunteering with a Chapter, Clinic, or Project?
HWB Chapters create local communities that engage in different models based on the needs of the community and role of the Coordinator. To find out if there is a local group, visit our Find a Chapter pages and look at the map. If there is a local Chapter and you are an HWB member, you can volunteer or participate in local activities!
How do you do that? Reach out to the Coordinator and see if they have any upcoming events or activities that you could visit. If the location and types of activities the Chapter has are of interest, you join HWB as a member (required due to our general liability policy), sign a volunteer waiver, and then attend and volunteer with your local Chapter! Active volunteers must be current HWB members with a waiver on file!
How We Work
HWB is not like other "without borders" organizations. We have a very small budget working in a grassroots model, and we are membership-based. HWB Members are who do this work. We believe in local empowerment for community service, followed by a radiating wheel of regional support in times of need and disaster.
We do not host individuals to travel to other cultures to install Western herbal clinics, we do not want to perpetuate the white savior model, and we do not have deep pockets to fund clinics.
We look to people working in their own communities and we look for ways to leverage our resources and network to support one another.
There may be international Chapters and groups that do welcome visitors to help as volunteers, to learn about local plants and traditions, and who visit others in the spirit of learning as much as giving, and we work to connect appropriate volunteers to needs.
If you have the means and time to visit other regions or will be traveling and are interested in connecting to others in your travels, review our international projects and then contact our office and we can connect you to other members that may welcome your visit.
Please note that we are ALL volunteers, and Coordinators often are organizing out of their homes, businesses, or herbal schools.
They may host clinics only monthly or quarterly, travel to remote areas with limited car (or motorbike) space to visit very rural communities, operate on a very limited budget or out of their own pocket, and may work in very remote areas without the ability to host visitors.
Our goal is to support those working in their own communities, creating sustainable long-term projects, so our focus is not travel, but local community outreach.
Please be respectful of our committed and dedicated volunteer Coordinators and understand that not everyone will have the capacity to welcome visitors.
Please also be aware of what you can offer in relation to culturally relevant care, local bioregional plant usage, language and communication requirements, and ability to take care of yourself if in different regions and nations.
