In my experience the most common amount of time for a long-term volunteer program experience is three months. This makes perfect sense to me: it’s about as long as a college semester or summer vacation, it’s a manageable amount of time to go without getting paid, and it’s 25% of a year which is a nice round number. Sounds perfect! So it stands to reason that many organizations offer volunteer placements for an average of three months. During the planning phase of any adventure, three months can seem like an eternity. But how long is it really? As we’re seeing in the tabloids, some marriages don’t even last that long! So if you’re considering a three month volunteer trip in the near future, I’d ask you to consider planning an even longer trip – what about 6 months? Or even a year? It might seem like a huge commitment of both your time and money, but I’ve compiled a list of reasons that 3 months might not be enough:
- You’ll want to stay longer: I’ve worked with many, many volunteers over the years and the majority of those that I supervised were committed to no more than three months when they started. And as soon as the first two months had come and gone, they were scrambling around, trying to think of ways to stay for longer. For some that meant just another three months, and for others more than a year (one volunteer I know spent 5 years in Chile after going for an intended two months, but he’s something of an anomaly). Volunteering can be so rewarding and fun that it’s hard to walk away from it after just a short time. Planning for a longer stay up front helps you to manage your expectations, as well as your finances.
- If you work with kids, longer is always better: I’ll admit upfront that this one is kind of controversial, and a little bit guilt-trippy. But studies do show that when working with kids as a mentor or caretaker, the longer the relationship lasts the more benefits the child will receive in the long run. Since so many volunteer placements involve working with street kids and orphans, it’s an important thing to keep in mind.
- It is more cost-effective: As I recently posted in the Adelante Abroad post, the cost for a volunteer abroad program actually decreases (if you calculate cost per month) the longer you stay. That’s because most of the costs of a volunteer program are upfront fixed costs: language training, orientation, airport pick-up, administration. Each subsequent month you should see a drop in your costs not only from the perspective of the program fee, but from your personal spending. Think about it: after a few months you’ll know where the best deals are on things you buy everyday, and you’ll be less likely to overspend (a common problem for new volunteers). In no time you’ll be an expert on living the frugal lifestyle abroad!
- You will be a more effective volunteer: They say (and I have no idea who "they" actually is) that it takes a professional at least one year to actually know how to do their job. We’re talking accountants and nurses and businessmen and sales people. When you start something brand new, there is a going to be a learning curve. As an international volunteer, this is compounded by the fact that you are also learning language and customs – and probably a brand new transportation system! It is so fun and exciting to learn all of these things (and a lot of the time, the fun is in making the mistake!)
- Your host organization wants you to stay: If there is one piece of feedback that I have heard from volunteer host organizations again and again, it is that consistency and continuity is essential to the success of any program. Many organizations address this by having volunteers come in with a class system – as one volunteer leaves, another comes in an takes his/her place so that there is no gap in the work. This is a great system, and works quite well to accommodate volunteers who can only work in the short term. But an even better way to offer host organizations a consistent work force is to have volunteers come in for longer periods of time. Just like a longer period being more cost-effective, it’s also more impactful. If you stay for a year or more, you are more likely to truly embed yourself in the culture of your host country and organization, you’ll be given more independence and autonomy, and you will more likely come up with some ideas about how to improve upon the work that you’re doing. And you’ll probably be fluent in a second language by then! A year’s worth of volunteer can be truly invaluable to a host organization.
I’d really like to draw the distinction here between volunteering and "voluntourism." There is obviously an incredible amount of value in project-based volunteering in developing (and even developed) countries, and I think that it’s a fantastic movement around the world that has developed to combine travel, adventure travel and service work. There are so many organizations that I review here on the blog that I desperately want take trips with – so much great, exciting stuff is happening. And much of it is designed to be incredibly short-term – like completing a construction project or rescuing a certain number of sea turtles!!
Finally, it should go without saying that I am passionate about volunteering across the board, and I encourage everyone to take the plunge and go abroad for service work at some point in their lives. Its great fun, fulfilling and meaningful – not to mention fodder for some excellent stories when you get back! If you are as passionate about it as I am, it’s worth considering a long-term volunteer placement! You really never know what might be feasible for you until you start doing the research. Check out some resources for free and low cost volunteer programs to get you started, as well as some fee-based placement programs that have long-term projects. If a month or two is more your speed, that’s great, too! No matter how long you volunteer, I can guarantee it will be an unforgettable experience.
Tags: volunteer abroad, work abroad
I’ll admit it – I am a sucker for photos of animals. People with animals, animals with other animals, animals with babies just get me every time. So as I’m researching volunteer abroad placement organizations for this week’s blog, I had to stop when I saw a photo of a volunteer with an elephant and see what it was all about. That’s pretty much how I landed on International Student Volunteers.
ISV was established in 2002, but has somehow stayed off of my volunteer organization radar until now, which I think is mostly due to the fact that they don’t have projects in locations with which I’m most familiar. Well all that is about to change as I dive a little deeper into the world of ISV!
First of all, they are a nonprofit, and that’s awesome. They operate not only to make money (although every company is actually trying to make money in some way), but to serve the common good, a put forth some kind of public benefit. However, there are a lot of nonprofit volunteer placement organizations, so that’s not the only reason that ISV stood out to me. What I really liked was how easy it was to find out about their status, and they were completely transparent about how they operate with community agencies on the Our Story page.
But if you aren’t a nonprofit geek like I am, that’s probably not the first thing that you are looking out for in the work of volunteering abroad. So let’s talk about what they do:
- There are four categories of volunteer project: Wildlife conservation, Environmental Management, Children’s Programs and Community Development. They are covering all of the bases as far as popular volunteer opportunities, except for public health.
- Volunteer projects take place in Australia, Eastern Europe, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Ecuador and South Africa. Six continents. Not bad.
- Adventure travel trips! And there are a lot of them! This is where ISV really sets itself apart from the other volunteer placement organizations.
So what does a typical volunteer trip look like?
You can choose a trip by either destination or project area. Wildlife conservation projects will vary based on the wildlife in the area – sea turtles by the coast, monkeys in the jungle, and most of the community development volunteer projects regardless of location have some sort of hard labor/construction aspect. But the website is clear that not prior experience is necessary. For most programs, the volunteer project lasts for two weeks.
That’s followed by two weeks of adventure travel, featuring kayaking, horseback riding, zip lines, exploring local towns and nightlife – all of the excursions that really define the volunteer vacation experience. Each trip also has a number of optional excursions that take you a bit farther away: the South Africa trip offers excursions to Cape Town and into wild Africa on safari tours, Thailand offers and excursion to ancient Cambodia, and a New Zealand project will send you on a quick trip to Fiji!
And with all of this comes another bit of good news: many of these trips actually qualify students for academic credit (usually for an independent study!). They have some pretty comprehensive information about how to qualify for academic credit for volunteering abroad on the ISV website, but are clear that you must get the appropriate approval from your college or university first.
Reading through the website kind of makes me want to quit my day job and hop on a plane. But hopefully you’re thinking to yourself "how much does all of this cost?" Well, it costs quite a bit. ISV is one of the more expensive volunteer organizations that I am familiar with, but with an excellent reason – they are travel & volunteering. They are voluntourism, and they will take you all over the place and allow you to really get the most out of your trip abroad.
Just be prepared to pay for it.
As an example, this is the cost for a four-week Costa Rica adventure:
- ~$4,000 program fee (room & board for 2 weeks, housing and half meals for the other two weeks, orientation, transportation, local adventure excursions like horseback riding, kayaking, etc.)
- ~$1,500 for optional trip to Machu Picchu
- ~$1,700 for optional trip to the Galapagos Islands
- ~$455 for optional Spanish lessons
That’s already $7,700 before airfare, passports, health insurance and other incidentals. I can’t argue with the fact that the trip sounds amazing, but this reads so much more like a vacation than a volunteer experience. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, but just be aware of it if you choose to explore possibilities.
That said: I’m pretty impressed by the vast array of projects that you can choose for the two-week volunteer portion of the volunteer vacation. Saving sea turtle eggs, rehabilitating elephants and gibbons, observing humpback whales and working at wildlife refuges are all projects that are offered. Community development volunteers help with mangrove planting, building and repairing children’s schools and environmental clean-up are offered in you’re into working in the community. And virtually all locations offer the opportunity to work with kids – in orphanages, schools, and parks alike. In order to offer these, ISV teams up with locally established NGOs so that they can be sure that the work is necessary and supported by the community.
So ISV’s flashy, colorful website drew me in, but it’s seamless integration of volunteering and adventure kept me interested. This appears to be one of the more comprehensive programs of its kind, so if you’re interested in a "voluntour" you might want to check them out!
Tags: adventure travel, service work, student volunteer work, volunteer abroad
Recently on the blog I’ve been spending a lot of time talking about the Western hemisphere, so today we’re going for a little change of pace with our organizational spotlight. It might be because I’m in the midst of reading a book about mountain climbing, or because I am still hearing all about my friend’s recent trip to India, but today I’m going to do something a little different, and round-up some India-based volunteer organizations and work placements. Instead of the usual in-depth profile, I’m going to try to pack a bunch of information about some great programs that have been recommended to me, and we’ll take it from there!
When you start looking for work abroad jobs in India, you’ll notice that the first few hits will be focused on teaching English. There is an incredibly high demand for TEFL and TESL instructors in India, and many other parts of Asia. But why India, if most citizens learn the language from a young age? It has to do with the increasingly global workforce – business people working in India are looking to perfect their English, and who better than native speakers to do it?
Sorting through all of these can be overwhelming, so let’s start with some of the more popular agencies.
First of all, it’s important to make the distinction between an organization that conducts TEFL courses to students and assists with finding a job and an actual job placement organization. Places like the TEFL Institute, charge a fee to certify you in TEFL or TESOL, then help you find a job right after you graduate. For a fee they take care of room and board, plus the cost of the course. Not bad if you’re looking to get your feet wet in-country before you commit to an actual job (as opposed to getting and online certification). Others like TEFL International and American TESOL Institute (which, oddly, actual gives TEFL certifications) guarantee placements, in a school/workplace hybrid model.
Without any first hand knowledge of these organizations, I’m pretty pleased with what I saw on the TEFL International website (even though aesthetically it’s kind of overwhelming). They are a nonprofit organization, which (ideally) means that they aren’t only interested in their financial bottom line when it comes to signing people up for the courses and placing them in internships and jobs. They operate around the world in 20+ locations, but in India are based in Kolkata. It looks like their model works because of big partnerships with local corporations that are in need of English teachers, which means that this organization seems to lean towards teaching the business client. And one of their partners is Disney!
Outside of teaching English, there are many other opportunities to volunteer and work abroad in India. The Ladakh Project, sponsored by the International Society for Ecology and Culture, is set deep in the Himalayas, and recruits volunteers to work on a local farm, and to see first hand the effects of globalization of society that rely heavily on local ecology to make their living. And there is a great first-hand account of the volunteer experience over at Transitions Abroad.
For those with some business experience who are looking to bulk up the resume there is Next, a professional training organization with sites in cities across India. They recruit and hire people from the United States, Australia, Canada the UK and New Zealand to conduct business skills training class in India.
And last but not least, here is one of the coolest-sounding jobs I’ve seen in a long time: Livescouting for Sport Events in India! Before you get to excited, I’ll give you the quick take: the job is ideal for people who already live in India and are familiar with Indian sports and teams. They specifically say “you don’t need to be an expert, but you need to know the rules. ” But if you’re someone who is looking at living in India in the longer term (maybe as a teacher or volunteer) and you have developed a taste for the local sports, you can make up to 35 euro per game attending sporting events and reporting on statistics in real time for Sports Data AG.
That’s really just a sampling of all of the great volunteer and work opportunities available in India. As one of the largest and most densely populated countries in the world, you can bet that there are many, many more where they came from. So if you are dreaming of ascending the worlds highest peaks like I have been lately, perhaps you can satisfy your curiosity by getting a little closer to them!