I really want to volunteer in africa during my gap year, but there's a bit of a problem?

Question

I really want to volunteer in africa for a few months during my gap year, preferably do some teaching.

I really want to get stuck in, and I keep hearing about how places, such as in kenya and tanzania are crying out for volunteers to help, but all the websites I've looked at seem to charge huge amounts of money!

How can I organise volunteering work, possibly even helping in a hospital or any medical setting (I want to read medicine at university) without paying huge amounts of money?

Any help would be really appreciated!

thanks

JJ

Answer 1

You may want to consider the Peace Corps or Cross Cultural Solutions.  Best Wishes.

Answer 2

If you're doing a gap year, my assumption is that you're British, Australian or Canadian and not American... which means you wouldn't be eligible for Peace Corps like the first poster suggested. (Again just assuming here! You may also be too young.)

Check out Global Volunteer Network. They're easily the cheapest out there (WAY cheaper than Cross Cultural Solutions) and have some really cool programs.

Answer 3

Places aren't desperate for unskilled volunteers -- they are desperate for highly skilled people with at least undergrad degrees, preferably master's degrees, who have a great deal of work experience and who can help local people gain employment, build and repair their own water and sanitation systems, train local teachers, administer health care programs, etc.

Organizations that place unskilled volunteers such as yourself for a few months charge those unskilled 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 create the service opportunities and then to supervise and support the volunteers in their service, liaisons with the police and local officials, etc.).

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/

VSO, the volunteer sending organization in your country (I'm assuming the UK), blasted these volunteer-for-a-fee programs, saying they really don't do much good, because unskilled volunteers can't do much good. You should definitely read their thoughts on the subject:

http://www.vso.org.uk/news/pressreleases...

Here is a web site that can help you learn more about the skills and experience desired by long-term placement organizations such as VSO, 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...