Frog backlit on Musaceae leaf. Photo by Trond Larson, Amazon Conservation Association
Ready for a life-changing experience? Reach out to others around the world by volunteering abroad during your travels. By giving a piece of yourself- time, sweat, work and effort, you will receive back tenfold: joy, proffered hot meals, and gratitude.
You only need to bring the essentials: a willingness to get your hands dirty and a desire to help your neighbor. Among the hundreds of incredible volunteer opportunities worldwide, here are 10 of the best:
Voluntario Global Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, Argentina
“Every corner of Buenos Aires has a pulse…a pulse that is worth listening to.” While partnering with Voluntario Global you’ll be aiding locals with small business administration, or providing street children with a safe place to gather and play at the local recreation center.
Only have a day in the region? Voluntario Global provides a 4 hour tour of shanty towns designed to spread awareness of living conditions, and give an ear to residents’ concerns. Weekends can be spent taking regional trips to visit Mar del Plata, Iguazu falls, and other nearby trips in Argentina and Uruguay.
Unity Charitable Trust
Tamil Nadu, India
Teach young girls computer skills, help them get jobs and become self sufficient on the weekdays, and let your weekends take you to local shrines and temples.
Dynamic Hands Youth International
Ho, Ghana
Got organizational skills? This endeavor is in the process of formally organizing. Dynamic Hands needs help in setting up its training and living assistance programs. Opportunities are child and youth oriented, and some include a healthy living component for those who are health conscious. Once settled in Ho, you’ll be unable to take your eyes off nearby Mount Adaklu. Ask a local to help you get to nearby tourist destinations such as the Vakpho Cave system or the Mole National Park to see wild elephants.
Volunteer Action for Cambodia
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Good at brainstorming? Looking to hone your leadership skills? VAC is looking for “new impulses and fresh ideas.” Designed primarily for recent college grads and current students, VAC offers volunteer opportunities in the areas of human rights, legal rights, and humanitarian issues.
If you’re looking for an opportunity to get in on the founding and establishment of a new direction, this is your opportunity. Of course, visitors can check out the gorgeous architecture of the Royal Palace, plus local temples and pagodas, along with the crush and excitement that comes from being in a populous urban center.
Volunteer for Community Development
Kathmandu, Nepal
You’ll know when you’ve arrived to Kathmandu; the crowded cityscape against the serene mountains is unmistakable. You’ll be welcomed by colorfully adorned shrines, fresh marketplace products and the melodic Nepali language in your ears. VCD Nepal is currently focusing its volunteer efforts on teaching English within the schools, but opportunities to work inside monasteries or on sanitation and health care projects are also available. Use your time off to venture out of Kathmandu into rural mountain communities or the nearby Chitwan wildlife sanctuary.
Navti Foundation
Bamenda, Cameroon
Enjoy a cool African city that is highly engaged in local artisan crafts and coffee trading. Work on fund-raising, AIDS education or agricultural development. The Navti Foundation offers to individually match your skill set and interests to an appropriate project. Nearby farming communities harvest tea and coffee, and the area is perfect for those looking for a quiet hike.
Fundatia COTE
Iasi, Romania
Use the UK Social Services System’s “PathWay Aproach” to aid institutionalized teens in making the leap to independent living in Romania. While you’re there, you’ll have a chance to visit medieval Transylvania and all the best that Eastern Europe has to offer.
Creative Corners Global Arts Project CIC
La Paz, Bolivia
Help sustain a newspaper started and sold on the streets by children. Writers and photographers are needed to keep the project going after approximately 9 issues. After work, immerse yourself in this South American urban center.
Relief and Friendship
Chisinau, Moldova
Visit the banks of the Bac River in the largest city in Moldova, and put your efforts into helping the women of the area to promote programs that teach about gender equality and women’s rights. If you visit during October, celebrate with the locals during the annual Wine Festival, or, for more solitary travelers, enjoy the lush hills and sunflower-filled fields.
Green Camel Bell
Lanzhou, China
Help out the local economy and environment by volunteering with this Chinese authority on sustainability and environmental education. Here in the ancient city of Lanzhou you can explore the Yellow River.
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18 Comments... join the discussion!
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Thank yo so much for this list! Great picks. I’m inspired.
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Allena, this list is very inspiring. I have been looking for new volunteering opportunities for myself and my readers on dupedscholar. Usually we get a chance to hear about teaching English, but we never get to hear about these kinds of opportunities to help others.
Thanks!
Erin
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Thanks to both. I hope some good comes out of the list and that someone is inspired to go out into the world and make a difference!
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Allena, this list is very inspiring. I have been looking for new volunteering opportunities for myself and my readers on dupedscholar. Usually we get a chance to hear about teaching English, but we never get to hear about these kinds of opportunities to help others.
Thanks!
Erin
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Thanks to both. I hope some good comes out of the list and that someone is inspired to go out into the world and make a difference!
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Hi Allena,
I came across this post while searching for a volunteering opportunity for an organization we founded 2 years ago in Montréal, Québec. Thank you very much for this inspiring post! I was wondering if you knew about any opportunity in Mexico, or a country not very far from Canada/USA. We are a group of 20 persons, working on local and international volunteering projects. Usually 10 persons go abroad, and we are trying to bring the costs of travel down, that's why for the summer 2009, we are planning on going probably in Mexico.
Thank you so much for any help or insights you could give us.
Kind regards,
ilias Benjelloun,
Action Benevole Communautaire
http://www.hec.ca/abc↵ -
Hi Allena,
I came across this post while searching for a volunteering opportunity for an organization we founded 2 years ago in Montréal, Québec. Thank you very much for this inspiring post! I was wondering if you knew about any opportunity in Mexico, or a country not very far from Canada/USA. We are a group of 20 persons, working on local and international volunteering projects. Usually 10 persons go abroad, and we are trying to bring the costs of travel down, that’s why for the summer 2009, we are planning on going probably in Mexico.
Thank you so much for any help or insights you could give us.
Kind regards,
ilias Benjelloun,
Action Benevole Communautaire
http://www.hec.ca/abc↵ -
Great work Allena. How our small organization can take participation in some volunteer program?NGO Etno center – BALKANICA (founded in 2002) humanitarian non-for-profit peace organization based in Tetovo, R. Macedonia with the goal of helping establish a foundation for peace through mutual international and interethnic understanding, is open for starting volunteer program for abroad volunteers, but first of all we need help how to do that. So maybe some international volunteers can help us.
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Ilias: try this site: ” target=”_blank”>http://www.shinskyorphanage.com/orphanagenews.asp... This man is actually based here in Michigan, but takes students to the orphanage once a year.
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Its great experience to volunteer. I have done voluntary work for 5years now with The National Curriculum Development center in Uganda.
I appreciate it a lot. i have worked with schools for 5 years now. I want to change and volunteer with another organisation in a different country now.↵ -
I love your reviews and the mention of Ho in Ghana. You’ve also given me the urge to see another country. We also just published a 46 page Insider’s Guide to Volunteering in Ghana at our blog on life in Ghana http://www.g-lish.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Insiders-Guide-to-Volunteering.pdf It’s fairly comprehensive regarding Ghana and should also put you in an insider position regarding most developing countries. Go shake things up! Gayle
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Does anyone have any info on international volunteers hq? Or costa rica… This will be my first time so can you give me some tips and what to expect. Thanx
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Dear Sir/Madam,
Education Supplements International is a non-governmental organization(NGO) based in Nakuru,Kenya.
We are seeking volunteers from North America & South America,Europe,Asia,Australia and New Zealand and Africa willing to come and offer voluntary service in Kenya in the fields of education(teachers,counselors etc),medical help,poverty reduction projects,women empowerment,water resources development,HIV/AIDS programmes,environmental conservation projects among others.
Full information of involvement is available on request.
Looking forward to working with you.
Kindest regards,
Nicholas Ng’ang’a
Executive Director
Education Supplements International
P.O Box 3305,
Nakuru,
Kenya.
Email:edsupintl@yahoo.com
Cell Phone:020 3528347↵ -
My Volunteering experience in Nepal
I arrived in Kathmandu realising that it wasn’t going to be easy to find some volunteering work. How wrong I found myself! Very rapidly my worries of traveling on a wing and a pray disappeared as I discovered the welcoming nature of the Nepali people. It is through this generosity and good will that I came to know VCD Nepal. Very rapidly and efficiently the placement I wanted to do was set up. The school was a incredibly welcoming and the children where just as you would expect them to be, buzzing with energy and incredibly curious. The classes where hard at first but with VCD Nepal’s helpful guide book packed full of games, lesson plans and teaching method the whole process became a walk in the park.
VCD is a special NGO, it is rivaling large companies who offer placements here for large amounts of money, with which little of this money is seen arriving the actual people who need it. This is something which really put my heart at rest, the idea that my money (which I worked damn hard for!) was going to a good cause! VCD also offered me great opportunities as a amateur photographer. I was able to do two weeks volunteering whilst taking pictures in different regions of Nepal with the prospect of getting some pictures published in a the National newspaper. It’s been a great experience and I wouldn’t change it for the world! The beauty of the whole thing is that it supports the real local people rather than large companies based abroad millions of miles away from the realities on the ground. VCD has a great leadership, is very approachable and honest NGO doing great work in Nepal! There is no doubt in my mind that i will be returning to volunteer for them again!
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My beautiful 9 weeks voluntreering in Nepal
When I began my search for volunteer organizations in Nepal from home, I was overwhelmed by the number of options. After further research and e-mail correspondence with several organizations, I decided to apply to VCD Nepal. And I’m so thankful I did! I came to realize not only through my own experiences, but also from speaking with other volunteers working in Nepal, that VCD was the right choice. The prices are the lowest and the language lessons and cultural awareness sessions proved to be invaluable. Bicky, the director, was consistently helpful and supportive during my 9 weeks of placement.
VCD Nepal was extremely accommodating and flexible in providing me with the placements I wanted. I was given good guidance in my work, but also freedom to create my own projects and implement my own ideas.
I wanted to see as much as Nepal as I could, so for the first 3 weeks I lived with a wonderful family in Chitwan and taught English at the Secondary School. Then I moved to the Pokhara region to teach Primary School. My last two weeks were spent living and working in an orphanage outside of Kathmandu. I recommend the home-stay 1,000%!! It’s been the most memorable part of my experience and my main reason for falling in love with the Nepali people and culture.
My only regret is not staying at each place longer. Three weeks really is the minimum amount of time you need feel apart of the community and get something accomplished. It always felt too soon to leave. Now, after 9 weeks, I would like to give a huge THANK YOU to VCD Nepal for giving me such a life-changing experience. This has been more educational and eye-opening that anything I’ve studied in college and left me with incredible memories and many new friends which I will keep for life.
Everybody should volunteer in Nepal! You’ll love it!!
Julia Marks
USA
Teaching English – 9 weeks
Jaunary 2009Organization details:
Volunteer for community development Nepal(VCD Nepal)
Email- info@vcdnepal.org
Website- http://www.vcdnepal.org
Phone no- 00977 9851017902
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