Tips: Volunteer Vacations

If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion, and avoid the people, you might better stay at home.
James A. Michener

Introduction

About five years ago, The Today Show (a popular morning TV show in the USA) featured a segment on volunteer vacations. According to the show?s producers, this segment received one of the largest number of viewer responses ever. Why? In a world full of problems, many people realize that one of the most powerful antidote to the problems that beset our planet is to volunteer your time during your vacations to another cause. 

Why volunteer? Who should volunteer?

While the desire to make a difference is admirable, volunteering to work, particularly in another country, during your vacation is a decision that shouldn?t be taken lightly. Potential volunteers should think about what they want from the experience before they begin researching volunteer vacation programs. In the sage advice of How to Live Your Dream:

?Many people considering volunteering abroad begin by looking at the different volunteer programs before taking the time to look at themselves. This often leads them to feel confused and overwhelmed by all the option. Reflecting on why you are interesting in volunteering overseas can guide you in deciding if volunteering is really the right option for you? Keep in mind that you will not be able to change the Earth single-handedly. You need to be open, flexible, and understanding of locals. You also need to be dedicated enough to show up. Even though at times it may not be clear, the staff of the organization is depending on your assistance."

What can you do as a volunteer?

Volunteers can assist in any number of ways and projects. Some volunteers simply provide labor for construction and reforestation projects. Others use their training to provide intense medical care to people in poor village. Still others help with office works, grants, teaching and training, computer programming, community activism, and a whole host of other projects. Some volunteer projects send small groups of experienced, technicians overseas to provide medical and managerial services. Most, however, are open to anyone.

Volunteer Placements

Most organizations have staff to provide support for volunteers. The level of support varies considerably between organizations. Some will take care of all of the details. Others will serve as a liaison between you and the local volunteer agency. Most volunteer vacations require you to pay for these support services. The only exceptions are a couple agencies that require trained volunteers (like the International Executive Service Corps, which places highly skilled administrators to consult with small and mid sized businesses overseas). These fees vary a lot.

The most inexpensive volunteer placement programs are available in workcamps (Volunteers for Peace  and Service Civic International , coordinate placements). The workcamps organize the volunteer?s accommodations and food. Usually you pay an administrative fee ($100-200) to a central office and an additional on-site fee (usually $10-25 a day) to the local workcamp for local accommodations and food. Often, the accommodations are in dormitories. Typical projects include construction, environmental protection, and social service work. Many workcamps do not provide a lot of training, pre-departure support, or transportation to and from the workcamp site.

It is easy to find workcamps throughout the year in many countries. Sometimes, however, if you want to participate in a particular workcamp, you may need to apply early. Do not be surprise if your workcamp is cancelled. Generally workcamp volunteers, though mostly young, come from varied economic and cultural backgrounds. Many people enjoy the intercultural interaction at workcamps even more than the volunteer activity. Read Somebody?s Heart is Burning: A Woman Wanderer in Africa by Tanya Shaffer for a moving account of her time in workcamps in Africa.

Many volunteers also make successful volunteer arrangement by applying directly to agencies that place volunteers informally. Unlike workcamp projects, volunteer placement is a small part of these organizations? workload. Often, you may be the only volunteer on-site for these projects. Many of these informal placements require trained volunteers. Some are involved in complex managerial and administrative projects like the International Executive Service Corps (www.iesc.org). A lot of these organizations provide medical care such as Interplast  and Flying Doctors . Only a few informal volunteer projects. Agencies are more likely, because of the work involved, to take on non-skilled volunteers who are willing to spend a six months or more on-site. You can also make informal placements with organizations on-site throughout the planet. Since making these arrangements usually takes time, I would not recommend this strategy for short term volunteers.

Want to Know More about Volunteering?

You could not find a more useful resource than the book: How to Live Your Dream of Volunteering Overseas by Joseph Collins, Stefano DeZerega, and Zahara Heckscher. This book not only provides tons of useful advice to help you to plan a volunteer vacation, it also has useful reviews (based on input from past participants) of over 130 volunteer programs in third world countries. If you are looking for a volunteer program in the US or Europe or want to volunteer for an academic volunteer posting (such as an archaeological dig), I?d suggest that you look at the resources listed in the book picks and links sections of my website. 

Notes:

• Do you agree or disagree with any of these tips? Do you know any great tips that should be added? If so, send your comments to me (Paul Heller, founder of the Big Blue Marble) and I'll post them on my blog.
• Check out the my extensive library of book reviews and links about home and hospitality exchange, volunteer and educational programs, and unique tours abroad.