Accountants and managers are now needed alongside doctors and nurses for Third World volunteer work. But not everyone is cut out for it, writes Jean O'Mahony

Who wants to be a volunteer? Forget the saintly gesture of finishing your dinner because black babies in Africa are going hungry. What these babies really need are accountants, not meat and two veg.

Increased affluence at home, better job security, the Internet, and a desire to step off the tourist path are changing the face of Ireland's volunteering tradition. Where once it was the preserve of the religious orders, their attendant lay people, and, more recently, of nurses, doctors and engineers willing to contribute their skills to impoverished, imperilled Third-World countries, now students, career-breakers, and retirees are all getting involved.

If the profile of potential volunteers is changing, so too are the opportunities available to them. From charitable organisations such as GOAL and the global network of Voluntary Service International (VSI), to the rise and rise of "volunteer travel", charitable inclinations have never been so well served.

Those who see themselves distributing manna among the less fortunate to the haunting soundtrack of a Trócaire ad are in for an unpleasant shock, however. GOAL receives "hundreds" of applications every week from prospective volunteers, but it is not enough to be brimming with good intentions.

David Dalton, recruitment officer for the charity, points out, "Developing countries can be very expensive to live in." So they are looking for "value- added" candidates whose skills cannot be sourced in the country where they are needed. Not usually famed for their fiscal altruism, accountancy is identified by GOAL as one of its target professions when it comes to recruiting volunteers for development aid overseas.

Dalton emphasises that "quality" accountants are needed in every field, where the concept of chartered accountancy may not exist. Accountability is essential in an organisation that depends on the goodwill of donors.

Other key professions include nurses, doctors, engineers and general managers able to deal with the international community and oversee projects with budgets of up to €1 million. Volunteers are not paid a salary, but have all of their costs covered for the year, and receive a small "resettlement allowance" upon their return.

In the interview process, GOAL stresses the difficulties involved in volunteering in a developing country. Aid workers may face famine, corruption and official resistance to their presence there. Dalton maintains that successful candidates are "privileged to get an opportunity to work in a developing country", that they get to learn about a new culture, and ultimately have a much broader understanding of how the international community works.

However, he tempers "altruistic ideas and the image of the black baby" with the pragmatic reality of GOAL's work, which often entails working through partner agencies at macro level. His advice: don't go looking for a "touchy-feely experience"; professionalism is the key.

VSI is a branch of Civil Service International, a non-governmental organisation founded to promote "peace and understanding" through voluntary community projects around the world. For the majority of VSI's projects, enthusiasm and a willingness to rough it are all that is required of prospective volunteers. Three-week projects run by the organisation range from conservation projects to holidays for wheelchair-users in locations such as the US, Ukraine the Aran Islands and Argentina.

They are open to anyone over 18 years of age, with some projects requiring candidates to have a language skill or to consent to a background check if they will be working with children.

Longer placements of up to six months in the US, Africa and Latin America are open to applicants over the age of 21, who have had some previous volunteer experience.

All successful candidates are required to participate in training weekends before they go. Volunteers pay for their transport, insurance, vaccinations and visas, and an administrative fee of €100 to VSI, and around €80 to the longer-term projects in Africa or Latin America. Once they arrive at their project location, their food and lodging are taken care of by VSI or its partner organisations.

But leave your Bob Geldof CDs and hair-dryer at home. Tom Ryder, coordinator with VSI Ireland, cautions that the organisation is looking for people who can look after themselves. To put it succinctly, do not expect Ryder "to be flying out if someone gets sick, and holding their hand in a hospital in Kampala". Neither should one expect running water or electricity - or to change the world. Do, however, expect that you could be sleeping on a schoolroom floor in a small village outside Mogadishu, where even a wash by a stream could be a joy at the end of the day. You can also expect to get a unique education, while contributing a "small help".

If all this is too much for you, there is always the option of volunteering-lite. The British trend of taking a "gap year" between the end of secondary education and the beginning of university spawned a multitude of companies eager to capitalise on the market for adventure altruism. If you want to help to care for orphaned elephants, penguins in rehab, or street kids in Bolivia on your own terms, "volunteer travel" organisations will organise it - for a fee. One such company is i-to-i, which has a branch in Co Wexford. It recruits volunteers aged "from 17 to 70" for four- to 24-week "ventures" and one- to three-week "escapes".

According to i-to-i, the logic of paying to volunteer lies in the "back-up" support offered, which includes an in-country co-ordinator for their projects, full insurance, advice on vaccinations, visas and fundraising, and organised accommodation, as well as TEFL (Teach English as a Foreign Language) training if the project requires it.

However, the cost of flights, vaccinations, visas, and most living expenses falls to the volunteer, on top of an average placement fee of about €1,500 for a basic four-week stay.

With a variety of worthy and, perhaps, not-so-worthy charity projects being conducted around the globe, a bit of research into what you want to do abroad and who you want to do it with, as well as a cool, honest appraisal of your reasons for volunteering, are essential before arriving at Dublin Airport, let alone rural Ghana.

If you are committed, Dalton counsels: "Don't give up; there are many different agencies, and far more applications than opportunities. It's not going to fall into your lap."

And there's always something closer to home. If your cup overflows, Volunteering Ireland places Irish and foreign volunteers with voluntary organisations throughout the country.