Volunteer Abroad Opportunities
January 19, 2010 9:17 AM Subscribe
Free/Cheaper volunteer abroad organizations/opportunities for 2-3 weeks in South America or Africa for full time professional
I'm looking to take about 2-3 weeks off work in the summer to volunteer abroad, preferrably something in community development (teaching children or adults, building professional skills, empowering women, offering insight to local businesses, etc). I prefer South America or Africa, but location doesn't matter too much.
I found Cross Cultural Solutions (CCS), which I think is pretty reputable, but the program fee for 2 weeks is ~$3,000.
I'm looking for something cheaper, or free, if possible, and with a reputable and reliable staff. I'm mainly concerned about safety, so would like to work for an organization that has a good reputation and a dedicated staff (staff that actually supervises the program for the duration of your stay), with at least the basic accomodations taken care (transportation to and from airport + housing).
If you can, please share your personal volunteer experiences!
Thanks!
I'm looking to take about 2-3 weeks off work in the summer to volunteer abroad, preferrably something in community development (teaching children or adults, building professional skills, empowering women, offering insight to local businesses, etc). I prefer South America or Africa, but location doesn't matter too much.
I found Cross Cultural Solutions (CCS), which I think is pretty reputable, but the program fee for 2 weeks is ~$3,000.
I'm looking for something cheaper, or free, if possible, and with a reputable and reliable staff. I'm mainly concerned about safety, so would like to work for an organization that has a good reputation and a dedicated staff (staff that actually supervises the program for the duration of your stay), with at least the basic accomodations taken care (transportation to and from airport + housing).
If you can, please share your personal volunteer experiences!
Thanks!
WWOOFing is about more than just farms.
I know it's not South America, but there is an excellent Yoga Centre/Orphanage/School near Tepoztlan in Mexico that sounds like it fits the bill exactly. I'm sure there are similar opportunities elsewhere through WWOOF as well.
posted by 256 at 11:30 AM on January 19, 2010
I know it's not South America, but there is an excellent Yoga Centre/Orphanage/School near Tepoztlan in Mexico that sounds like it fits the bill exactly. I'm sure there are similar opportunities elsewhere through WWOOF as well.
posted by 256 at 11:30 AM on January 19, 2010
My experience as a researcher in Africa who met a lot of volunteers is that
a) Places that charge more than it would cost you to put together your own trip are usually scams.
b) Places that takes people for a few weeks to a few months are usually scams.
c) Paces that use people who do not have specific skills are usually scams.
By "scam" I mean two things: first, that they may be over-charging the volunteers and/or not delivering on their promises to the volunteers; second, in generally all cases they are not putting together programs that are of help to the community.
If you really only have 2-3 weeks to spend in country, I would strongly recommend going to the country as a traveller with plenty of cash and supporting the economy by spending your money. At the same time, you could get in contact with locally run organizations and ask them about their work. If you find one that you think is doing good work that you want to support, (say, for example, one of the national chapters of FIDA) then take the time to establish a relationship that you will continue when you get home. A lot of local NGOs are doing good work, but lack the resources they need. Having a person working on helping them make contacts, checking for grants, etc. in America would be a huge boon to many such organizations.
If you want to make a real difference somewhere, take the time you have over the summer to go on your own trip, and learn about what's needed, and make a commitment to spend some of your time volunteering for an organization after you get home. Or just go and really learn about a place, and go home and start combatting the stereotypes that people have about it. But 2-3 weeks is simply not going to be the kind of commitment that reputable organizations doing even remotely useful work are going to be able to make use of, no matter what your skills or good intentions.
As to your concerns about safety, I traveled as a woman alone in Ghana, which is a very safe country for travellers. I'm sure that you could get advice from people who have traveled to other places in Africa and South America about what the safest places are to go. I met many volunteers who wished they had simply come on their own instead of paying money to a company after they realized a) how safe and easy it is to travel around Ghana; and b) that the organizations they came with were making fist-loads of cash from "volunteers" and giving very little back to the communities they worked in.
posted by carmen at 1:26 PM on January 19, 2010 [3 favorites]
a) Places that charge more than it would cost you to put together your own trip are usually scams.
b) Places that takes people for a few weeks to a few months are usually scams.
c) Paces that use people who do not have specific skills are usually scams.
By "scam" I mean two things: first, that they may be over-charging the volunteers and/or not delivering on their promises to the volunteers; second, in generally all cases they are not putting together programs that are of help to the community.
If you really only have 2-3 weeks to spend in country, I would strongly recommend going to the country as a traveller with plenty of cash and supporting the economy by spending your money. At the same time, you could get in contact with locally run organizations and ask them about their work. If you find one that you think is doing good work that you want to support, (say, for example, one of the national chapters of FIDA) then take the time to establish a relationship that you will continue when you get home. A lot of local NGOs are doing good work, but lack the resources they need. Having a person working on helping them make contacts, checking for grants, etc. in America would be a huge boon to many such organizations.
If you want to make a real difference somewhere, take the time you have over the summer to go on your own trip, and learn about what's needed, and make a commitment to spend some of your time volunteering for an organization after you get home. Or just go and really learn about a place, and go home and start combatting the stereotypes that people have about it. But 2-3 weeks is simply not going to be the kind of commitment that reputable organizations doing even remotely useful work are going to be able to make use of, no matter what your skills or good intentions.
As to your concerns about safety, I traveled as a woman alone in Ghana, which is a very safe country for travellers. I'm sure that you could get advice from people who have traveled to other places in Africa and South America about what the safest places are to go. I met many volunteers who wished they had simply come on their own instead of paying money to a company after they realized a) how safe and easy it is to travel around Ghana; and b) that the organizations they came with were making fist-loads of cash from "volunteers" and giving very little back to the communities they worked in.
posted by carmen at 1:26 PM on January 19, 2010 [3 favorites]
Everything that Carmen says, times ten.
I also want to point out that you are asking for something that doesn't exist: you want a dedicated and professional staff, free housing and transportation, security, meaningful work... and all that for free. Keeping international volunteers in the field is super expensive -- I just saw an estimate of $16,000/year, and I'd heard in the past that for an organization like the Peace Corps it averages at about twice that. The Peace Corps (and other national programs, like CIDA) receive governmental support; big non-profits like CARE get a mix of donations, corporate sponsorship, and sometimes governmental contracts; your dream volunteer organization needs to get paid somehow -- how do you expect that to take place?
posted by Forktine at 3:09 PM on January 19, 2010
I also want to point out that you are asking for something that doesn't exist: you want a dedicated and professional staff, free housing and transportation, security, meaningful work... and all that for free. Keeping international volunteers in the field is super expensive -- I just saw an estimate of $16,000/year, and I'd heard in the past that for an organization like the Peace Corps it averages at about twice that. The Peace Corps (and other national programs, like CIDA) receive governmental support; big non-profits like CARE get a mix of donations, corporate sponsorship, and sometimes governmental contracts; your dream volunteer organization needs to get paid somehow -- how do you expect that to take place?
posted by Forktine at 3:09 PM on January 19, 2010
I agree with Carmen that you might have more of an impact simply as a traveler, and that the developing world isn't necessarily a dangerous place to travel as a solo woman. You might start with a place like Thailand, which has plenty of need but also has enough tourist infrastructure in place to make it easy for the traveler who wants some help. For example, you can reserve a hotel online (I use Agoda) and in the comments field ask them to pick you up from the airport. They'll send a nice guy who will meet you at the airport holding a sign with your name on it--super easy. Hotel staff also speak English, and in major cities it's easy to find restaurants with English menus.
Guidebooks like Lonely Planet will identify the major casual volunteer opportunities, which you can verify online. For example, some schools want native English speakers to come provide practice in conversational English, often at after-school sessions.
And once you're in your country, you'll easily bump into people or organizations that need your help. On my second day in Chiang Mai a young waiter asked me to tutor him in conversational English for the rest of my stay. A few searches online also turned up orphanages that needed help, at major temples there's no end of boxes for contributions to various organizations, and a local expat newsletter that I found at a dentist's office pointed out several needs, including language-free ones such as an overabundance of cats at a local temple that needed food and petting. There are also fair trade shops, so you can buy, for example, tribal weavings for your home and directly benefit the makers.
Finally, if you want to volunteer while still in your home country, you might look at UN Online Volunteers.
posted by PatoPata at 7:38 AM on January 20, 2010
Guidebooks like Lonely Planet will identify the major casual volunteer opportunities, which you can verify online. For example, some schools want native English speakers to come provide practice in conversational English, often at after-school sessions.
And once you're in your country, you'll easily bump into people or organizations that need your help. On my second day in Chiang Mai a young waiter asked me to tutor him in conversational English for the rest of my stay. A few searches online also turned up orphanages that needed help, at major temples there's no end of boxes for contributions to various organizations, and a local expat newsletter that I found at a dentist's office pointed out several needs, including language-free ones such as an overabundance of cats at a local temple that needed food and petting. There are also fair trade shops, so you can buy, for example, tribal weavings for your home and directly benefit the makers.
Finally, if you want to volunteer while still in your home country, you might look at UN Online Volunteers.
posted by PatoPata at 7:38 AM on January 20, 2010
I can understand your concerns and your desire to find an affordable yet quality program for your international volunteer experience.
Volunteer sending organizations have to make many important choices in how they will operate programs and work with volunteers and communities. Some of these choices cost more to the organization than others, so each decision must be weighed carefully because it will ultimately have an impact on the finances of the organization and volunteer as well as the quality of the program experience.
Cross-Cultural Solutions operates international volunteer programs in accordance with a set of best practices that are endorsed by the International Volunteer Programs Association. We feel that these practices allow us to operate a program that is safe, secure, and educational and ensures a positive impact on the communities with which our volunteers work.
Housing volunteers in a Home Base with a full-time in-country support staff who are paid a living wage, transporting volunteers in CCS owned and maintained vehicles with licensed staff drivers, purchasing local meat, produce and bottled water from safe sources known to our local staff, providing comprehensive Cultural & Learning Activities to allow the volunteers to put the work that they are doing into a cultural context, thereby giving them the tools to be even more effective in working toward local goals, and providing pre-departure and post-program staff support to fully prepare volunteers for the experience, and help them to take their knowledge and experiences forward to continue making a difference – all of these choices cost more to Cross-Cultural Solutions than other methods might, but we feel strongly that they are necessary for the success and quality of our programs. Ultimately our program fees are derived from our operating costs, and 91% of the program fee goes directly toward volunteer and field expenses.
In addition to facilitating hands-on work with local partners, Cross-Cultural Solutions contributed $4,446,022 to the local economies of the twelve countries where we operate programs in 2009.
Many of our volunteers successfully fundraise all or a portion of their program fees and Cross-Cultural Solutions provides a wide variety of resources to help volunteers get started in the process. I personally fundraised for my own CCS volunteer experience in Peru in 2003. Many companies also offer matching gift programs that can help in reaching your goal. Don’t forget that Cross-Cultural Solutions is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization and the program fees are 100% tax-deductible for US taxpayers.
If you have any other questions about the fee, our programs, fundraising, or any other topics, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our Program Enrollment Department at 1-800-380-4777.
Dava Antoniotti
Director of Program Enrollment
Cross-Cultural Solutions
posted by crossculturalsolutions at 8:38 AM on January 27, 2010
Volunteer sending organizations have to make many important choices in how they will operate programs and work with volunteers and communities. Some of these choices cost more to the organization than others, so each decision must be weighed carefully because it will ultimately have an impact on the finances of the organization and volunteer as well as the quality of the program experience.
Cross-Cultural Solutions operates international volunteer programs in accordance with a set of best practices that are endorsed by the International Volunteer Programs Association. We feel that these practices allow us to operate a program that is safe, secure, and educational and ensures a positive impact on the communities with which our volunteers work.
Housing volunteers in a Home Base with a full-time in-country support staff who are paid a living wage, transporting volunteers in CCS owned and maintained vehicles with licensed staff drivers, purchasing local meat, produce and bottled water from safe sources known to our local staff, providing comprehensive Cultural & Learning Activities to allow the volunteers to put the work that they are doing into a cultural context, thereby giving them the tools to be even more effective in working toward local goals, and providing pre-departure and post-program staff support to fully prepare volunteers for the experience, and help them to take their knowledge and experiences forward to continue making a difference – all of these choices cost more to Cross-Cultural Solutions than other methods might, but we feel strongly that they are necessary for the success and quality of our programs. Ultimately our program fees are derived from our operating costs, and 91% of the program fee goes directly toward volunteer and field expenses.
In addition to facilitating hands-on work with local partners, Cross-Cultural Solutions contributed $4,446,022 to the local economies of the twelve countries where we operate programs in 2009.
Many of our volunteers successfully fundraise all or a portion of their program fees and Cross-Cultural Solutions provides a wide variety of resources to help volunteers get started in the process. I personally fundraised for my own CCS volunteer experience in Peru in 2003. Many companies also offer matching gift programs that can help in reaching your goal. Don’t forget that Cross-Cultural Solutions is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization and the program fees are 100% tax-deductible for US taxpayers.
If you have any other questions about the fee, our programs, fundraising, or any other topics, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our Program Enrollment Department at 1-800-380-4777.
Dava Antoniotti
Director of Program Enrollment
Cross-Cultural Solutions
posted by crossculturalsolutions at 8:38 AM on January 27, 2010
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Here are their South American trips and their Africa trips. One of the cool things they do is that some of their trips are part volunteer, and part travel. When you look at it that way, it's quite a cheap price.
I booked a trip to Costa Rica through them, after a suggestion by a friend I volunteer with. I wanted to do a volunteer trip, but they didn't have enough people sign up so they canceled the trip. You could always call and ask what their rules are for canceling a trip. For their regular travel adventures, they'll contract with a local travel company who does all the booking. The night I arrived, an employee from this company met me in the lobby of my hotel and gave me all my travel vouchers and itinerary, etc. They had booked all the accommodations and transportation between places (incl. airport) as well, which was great.
My friend who suggested them to me did go on the Costa Rica volunteer trip (roaming the protected beaches where turtles lay eggs), and she said it was enjoyable and she would do it again.
posted by sarahnade at 10:24 AM on January 19, 2010