Are there any organizations for which I can volunteer internationally without a college degree?

Question

I just lost everything. I figure what better time than now to fulfill my dream of being an international volunteer. Unfortunately, I had the Peace Corps in mind, and they only want college grads or people with sufficient knowledge and/or experience in different trades. I have neither. I would really like to help make a difference in this world, but at this point, I don't know where to look.

Answer 1

People in the developing world need more than people with a good heart. They need people who can speak their  language (which is usually NOT English), who have skills and experience that can lead to local people generating income, better feeding their families, improving children's health, etc., or that can lead to the transformation of key institutions, such as government, universities/schools or NGOs. They need people who have training and skills that can benefit local people, relating to medical care, engineering, children's education, vocational education, water and sanitation, etc.

Here is a web site that can help you learn more about the skills and experience desired by long-term placement organizations such as PeaceCorps, VSO, UNV, etc, or organizations that don't charge volunteers but require volunteers to be highly-skilled, and how you can start to gain such experience locally, wherever you are now.

http://www.coyotecommunications.com/volu...

Organizations for unskilled volunteers require these volunteers to pay their own way (flights, in-country transportation, health insurance, accommodation, food, security, translators, training, staff to create the service opportunities and then to supervise and support the volunteers in their service, liaisons with the police and local officials, etc.). That's so that all money stays focused on the local people who need it most.

There is a listing of the more-than-30 member organizations of the International Volunteers Program Association (IVPA) that is a good place to find reputable volunteer-for-a-fee programs -- programs where you don't need to have much experience in order to participate, and the placements are just for a few weeks or months:

http://www.volunteerinternational.org/

Have you thought about AmeriCorps/VISTA? That would allow you to volunteer within the USA, but elsewhere from wherever you live, and get money for college.

http://www.americorps.gov/