I am wanting to take a career break and volunteer abroad. What are some good sites or organizations?

Question

There are so many out there. It makes me skeptical. Anyone know of good ones that don't cost a fortune??

Answer 1

Organizations that don't charge fees for placing volunteers in the developing world, such as VSO Canada, UN Volunteers and the PeaceCorps, are looking for people who can work (read, write and speak) in a language other than 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 are looking for people who can commit to a two-year assignment, who have experience working with under-served communities, or who have a lot of experience in very diverse or religiously-conservative communities. The average age of volunteers in these organizations is over 30 (for UNVs, it's 38) and most volunteers not only have degrees, they also have grad degrees.

Here is a web site that can help you learn more about the skills and experience desired by long-term placement organizations, and how you can gain that experience locally, wherever you are right *now*, no matter your age. You are never too young nor too old to start engaging in activities and training that will make you a viable candidate for long-term volunteer placement agencies:

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

The goal of organizations working in poor countries is to give the local people jobs and to keep money local, not to give Westerners a feel-good vacation/experience -- hence why short-term placement agencies (in contrast to the aforementioned) charge volunteers a fee, or require these volunteers to pay their own way (flights, in-country transportation, health insurance, accommodation, food, security, translators, training, staff to supervise and support them in their service, liaisons with the police and local officials, etc.). It's perfectly reasonable for these organizations to charge volunteers for their feel-good experience -- they do not want this involvement to in any way to take away from the resources of local people, who are the *priority*.

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/

You can also try United For Sight. The goal of Unite For Sight and its partner eye clinics and communities is to create eye disease-free communities. "While helping the community, volunteers are in a position to witness and draw their own conclusions about the failures and inequities of global health systems. It broadens their view of what works, and what role they can have to insure a health system that works for everyone..." This program was featured on CNN International. Volunteers, both skilled and unskilled, are 18 years and older, and there is no upper age limit. It is obligatory for accepted volunteers to purchase insurance coverage through Unite for Sight's recommended provider, and volunteers are responsible for all travel arrangements, visa vaccine requirements, lodging, airfare, food, and any additional expenses. http://www.uniteforsight.org/intl_volunt...

Another overseas volunteer-sending organization based in the USA that will send unskilled volunteers for short-term assignments (six months or less) that seems reasonably-priced is SCI - Service Civil International (http://www.sci-ivs.org/). I know *nothing* about them other than what's on their web site, so please don't consider the listing of this organization in my answer as an endorsement.

Answer 2

Volunteering Abroad is Life Changing Travel however it's hard to find true volunteer (without having to pay) positions overseas. If you are already a member of an organization, like the Red Cross - contact them to see about help they need in other countries. Here is a list I got from

charityintersection.com Good Luck.

Airline Ambassadors

Give Frequent Flyer Miles

Earthwatch

Global Vision

Global Volunteers

Hero Miles For Military Families

Hotel Provincial NOLA

Life Changing Travel

Volunteer New Orleans

Wings of Hope

Answer 3

Try idealist.org

Answer 4

Depends on what you want to do....as far as cheapest, I would go with kidsworldwide.org as they only charge you for basic things such as food costs. good luck!!

BTW: if that interests you and you are going alone, make me a contact.....I am planning to go (probably to Africa) in the fall or next spring....I would love to 'know' someone before I get there.

Kelly: I can't IM or email you on this site...just email me @ osweetjaneo@yahoo if you care to....thanks! Rose, you can email me too....I agree with your comments; the site I gave to Kelly is the most affordable that I have found.

Answer 5

www.rippleafrica.org

Answer 6

I do to

But I refuse to pay to stay and work for one. I saw a site or a few of them they want you to spend at least $1,500 a week to help them,No way ,, I will pay for my food and some cheap lodging but refuse to pay them for my work , I do NOT want to get paid, I will pay my air fare also,,

So if you find one let me know also,, "You also who answered  first !

but I want to go in about two months ,,

My e-mail bubba_86032@y---- you know the rest Thanks

Answer 7

Check out Global Volunteer Network. It's based in NZ but is open to anyone fluent in English. There are a lot of countries/regions to choose from (across Africa, Asia, Europe, S.America...) and loads of different programs. If I was going to do something like this, I would go with them for sure. I researched this to death a year ago and this was easily the cheapest out there.

You might pay $1,000 for 6-8 weeks depending on the project, and that goes for all your food, accommodation, etc.