Volunteering for Refugees as a Journey of Growth and Pain

ABSTRACT This narrative study explores how young adults volunteering to help refugees in disaster‐stricken areas reflectively view this journey and its meaning to their lives. A narrative study was conducted with 12 Jewish and Arab young adults who were sent to run a school for refugee children in Greece. The volunteers reported experiencing interpretive turmoil in their encounter with the reality of the refugees, as well as the pain involved in the awakening and processing of critical consciousness. Whereas most participants experienced the change as positive growth, a minority had a post‐traumatic experience that made it more difficult for them to return to everyday life. These insights expand our understanding of volunteering as an experience of personal transformation and highlight the need for the mediation of volunteers in disaster conditions both during and immediately following their activity.