BootsnAll Travel Community

So, I’m thinking of quitting my job next year and doing some travelling and overseas work or something. There are so many options that I’m not sure how to go about it. I just want to get an idea of what other peoples’ experiences have been and the types of things they’ve done. At the very most I’m thinking of taking 3 months off from the time I leave my current job to when I start my next job. During that time I’d like to do a mix of both independent travelling and either volunteer work or some other type of work overseas. I’ve thought about the whole TEFL thing but if I split my 3 months off to half work, half travel, I doubt many TEFL programs or employers need people for less than a month and a half and plus, the TEFL course takes much longer than that. So teaching English is most likely out of the question. I checked with volunteer organizations like Cross Cultural and while they do have engagements varying from 1-12 weeks, they are quite expensive and do not have a whole lot to offer in the areas I’m interested in (eastern Europe). I also thought about doing one of Habitat for Humanity’s 2-week global village trips, but that’s slightly shorter than the time I was hoping to spend on the work/volunteer half of my time off. I’m open to either paid or volunteer type work, in the 1-2 month range, in either Europe or Latin America. And how to link that in with the subsequent travel time and maximizing the value of my plane tix will also be essential.

Ideas?

Maybe Volunteers for Peace? http://www.vfp.org/

Projects are generally 2 weeks in length and only cost $250 which covers food and accomodation. You can sign up for multiple projects and travel in-between. Not sure they have much in Eastern Europe though. My sense is that the whole concept of volunteering hasn't really caught on over there.

What I noticed about the balkans, Bosnia specifically, was that helping out your neighbor or your family goes without saying, much more so than in other countries I've lived in. This is going to sound harsher than I mean it, but it is the idea of taking two hours a week to "help out" total strangers ... often in contrast to all the time helping out your friends and neighbors... which is more unusual there.

When I just hear "volunteering hasn't caught on" - I realize you probably don't mean to say something negative - but I feel like I want to point that out.

Another thing for many former socialist countries is that they haven't had the years and years of civil society building up that many countries in western Europe have. In ex-Yugo at least, there were different social activities, but they were done by the governments. New government - lots of social and economic needs - ngo sector / civil society is not as much a priority as would be ideal.

I would agree though that there are not as many short term volunteer opportunities there as there are elsewhere. But I've heard of those work camps and did something similar in France several years ago - and they are okay as far as a way to meet people and spend your time on something besides sightseeing.

Try searching here and online for vaughn villages - you volunteer to speak English with business people who are learning and get free room and board...these are short term and actually seem quite labor intensive (plus they don't want people to speak Spanish) but could be interesting.

Thanks Kate. I got a bit ahead of myself there. I was basically trying to say that because the NGO/Civil Society sector hasn't developed in Eastern Europe the way it has in other countries, there tend to be fewer structured volunteer opportunities. The NGOs are the ones who tend to provide the volunteer opportunities.

You've probably done this already but idealist.org keeps their volunteer listings quite up-to-date - I suspect you might find some good leads there.

With enough time on the internet you should be able to find something without spending a fortune. You said you were thinking of Latin America. Do you speak Spanish? If not, hop to it!

I did two months working with children in Peru this year, and at the moment I`m doing a 2.5 month volunteer programme in Nicaragua. I only got the Peru job because it was a friend of a friend who started the projects. And in Nicaragua, I was tired from 2 months of travelling and my Spanish teacher told me a local organisation was looking for people.

Just a few ideas from my past experiences.

India - Mother Teresa`s order the Missionaries of Charity take in volunteers every week. You can stay for a weekend or a year. No charge, and you can do just about any kind of work. No experience nessesary. It`s in Calcutta which is an......interesting place to live! And majority of peple speak English.

Ecuador - You just have to walk into any hostel to see signs all over the place looking for people to work in rainforests, build family huts, make nature trails etc. SOme charge, some don`t.

Nicaragua - Well, there`s my gang La Esperanza. Take in volunteers for a min of 2 months to tutor elementary kids who need more attention and work in the office.

Costa Rica - Loads of places had signs around the place looking for people to help turtles get back into the water after they`ve laid eggs. But that season`s over now.

Bolivia - There`s an animal reserve in the jungle, can`t remember the name right now, that takes volunteers for a min. of 2 weeks. Have to donate $250 or something. But it`s supposed to be great and no one seems to mind handing over the money because they do great work. Main responsibility there is feeding and cleaning after the animals who may someday be able to back into the wild, they`ve all been mistreated before.

That`s just a sample. Everywhere I`ve gone there`s been volunteer opportunities. Just hard to find them from home.

There is a pretty good list of organizations that charge no or minimal fees at TEFL Temp.

Most of the organizations are looking for more than just teachers. Check it and see what might fit.