I want to do something HUMANITARIAN but don't know what kind of VOLUNTEER WORK I could do and where???

Question

I am a college student, 21 years old, little money, modest student job, full time student, got some free time,and i have no car...

I have been feeling so.... empty. Like my life has no meaning, or like I NEED TO DO SOMETHING GOOD I feel so guilty for sitting back, I feel selfish.

The problem is that I don't know what to do exactly!

My options are limited by certain factors such as:

-I have no money (I'm college student -broke)

-I have a few hours off on certain days (like no full days off to go on far away trips)

- I have no car (can't go to organizations located far from home)

Here are certain causes that move me :

-Justice and equality/freedom

-help people who are suffering

-help the needy and especially the oppressed

On the other hand i speak 3 languages and i am kind... I wish I could go to Africa and asia (that's where I want to volunteer) but as I said I am tied up in the US because I go to college

Need list of organziations given the info I provided

Answer 1

Help fellow students that are struggling with their courses. Tutor. You can do this in your spare time, on campus, no driving, put up a card on the bulletin boards outside of classrooms, in the dorm common room, etc. Or you can ask your guidance department advisor if there is anything local and nearby that you could do. They often hear of things.

Answer 2

What languages do you speak?  Could you offer your services to the local police department, who may not have someone who speaks the languages you do?

There must be a local nonprofit organization that feeds the homeless on a regular basis, you could help them out.  From your writing, it seems you have more excuses and criteria of why you can't volunteer, than reasons "to" volunteer.  When you volunteer, you're there to help--you must be flexible and not demand that they work around your schedule.  Does that make sense?

If you really feel a calling to volunteer, go the extra mile to go where you're needed.--no car?  Take a bus, arrange for a ride, walk?

If you want to see Africa, you can join our group traveling in July (July 3-12, 2008) to help the people living in the squatter camps in Soweto.  You say you have no money.  Part of the experience of going on a mission group, is raising your funds through friends, family and co-workers.  A humbling experience but well worth the effort.

If you're interested in going to South Africa, check out www.buildthefutureusa.com

I hope you find what you're really looking for.

Answer 3

join the Peace Corp or Red Cross

Answer 4

Check with a councelor at y our college, they should have some ideas. You could tutor students, or even nearby high school or junior high students. You could ask around or look in the phone book for a food bank or soup kitchen to volunteer when you have time. Many libraries also use volunteers to help people learn to use computers, or to read to little kids.

See if there is a rest home or assisted living facility around, the people in there love to just chat with someone. Many of them dont or rarely get visitors. My daughter used to go to an assisted living facility and the people there were very happy to see her, and her dog. ( she had trained a therapy dog as one of her 4H projects )

Good luck, I am sure there is something that will fit into your schedule, and be close by.

Answer 5

Check out the local charity organisations and see what they can offer.

Try the local hospital ond retirement homes. Often just being a visitor to the elderly is a help

Offer your help to youth organisations in the area.

These all can lead on to more permament occupations and also give you some sort of training.

Try telephone counselling through the local churches.

Or even a lifeline organisation.

Good luck and keep trying. Nothing is better than the rewards of giving of your time to charities.

Answer 6

You've received some great answers/suggestions so far. I agree with others who have said you need to start by volunteering locally, and use a bike, your own two legs or mass transit to get around.

If you are in the USA, you can use any of these sites to find volunteering opportunities:

VolunteerMatch, http://www.volunteermatch.org

Idealist, http://www.idealist.org

Change.org, http://www.change.org

CraigsList, http://www.craigslist.com

Network for Good, http://www.networkforgood.org

http://www.1-800-volunteer.org/

ServeNet, http://servenet.org/

Also, contact your local volunteer center; you can find this via the Points of Light Foundation web site,

http://www.pointsoflight.org/centers/

It's great that you speak three languages -- are you certified in all that are not native languages to you? For instance, if you speak Spanish but neither of your parents are native Spanish speakers, you would need to have passed the DELE.

Also, as an unskilled volunteer, if you wanted to go overseas, you would have to pay a fee or to pay your own way entirely (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.).

Here is a web site that can help you learn more about the skills and experience desired by long-term placement organizations (organizations that don't charge volunteers), who 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...