Long Term Volunteering

Hi everyone,
I've been looking into different volunteer abroad programs but have found a lot of them to be very expensive? I'm wanting to volunteer in Asia for at least a year maybe a bit longer. Are there any programs where I can do this for a more affordable price, or is it normal for this sort of thing to be quite pricey? I do understand that I should have to pay for my food/accommodation which I am more than willing to do.

Thanks in advance.

Does the Canadian government have any official volunteering bodies? Australia does. Perhaps you could look for them.

What skills do you have for long term volunteering? I have a friend who was with the Red Cross in several Asian countries. He had a medical background but still had to wait to be taken on by them.

What sort of volunteering work are you looking to do? You could look at WWOOF. An organisation that links willing volunteers with organic farms in need of an extra hand on the field. You'll be provided with free accommodation and food for 5-6 hours of work a day. Plus the sign up fee is relatively minimal.

I wrote about it recently on my blog here.
The official WWOOF site can be found here.

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/forums/gap-year-round-the-world-travel/topics/before-you-pay-to-volunteer-abroad-think-of-the-harm-you-might-do-1caa6fac-92db-4dd0-a8af-4634f7ce73ca

If you need to pay to volunteer, it's obvious you're not really adding value, hence the need for monetary compensation. It indicates it's about you having an 'interesting' experience, rather than about helping those in need. Payment for volunteering should set the alarm bells ringing.

Even volunteering in Asia requires work permits and for some countries, not so easy to obtain unless you intend doing something like teaching. Sure, people do it without but you then have to wonder how scrupulous the place is to ignore Immigration laws.

I've never thought about it that way. I guess I got washed up in the false idea of helping others. Thank you, that was a needed read.

With sense like that, you'll go a long way. And I mean that in a positive sense. But have a look at Habitat for Humanity. They do some good work here in NZ plus its a different way of helping others. I know they have done some work in Cambodia because NZ was involved.

hey check this Facebook page out, might help for info on volunteer work.. Like for regular updates
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Volunteer-work/201441186558572

might help... https://www.facebook.com/pages/Volunteer-work/201441186558572

good luck

Hi there,

You're right that there are many "voluntourism" programmes out there where is seems as though helping others make a better life for themselves seems to be a secondary motive to making money from volunteers.

A previous poster mentioned WOOF, and I have also heard good things about:
http://grassrootsvolunteering.org/
and the programmes offered here (if you had a change of plan from Asia!):
http://www.volunteersouthamerica.net/

Other organisations for longer-term (12 months+) placements include VSO for those with professional skills. They pay your flights and living expenses plus a small daily allowance which is enough for food/basics. You need to do some fundraising, but it's not a crazy amount. I believe they're multinational, so could be options there. Happy to offer advice on their application process if you'd like, as I'm registered with them as a volunteer.

In the UK there are also organisations who have shorter-term Govt-funded placements - 12 weeks or so - for those in the 18-25 age category. ICS and Raleigh are a couple of examples - there may be something similar in your home country if you're not UK-based.

Hope this helps,

Julie

I would certainly be wary of any volunteer program that asks for unskilled people to work in Asia (or anywhere else in the world) and charges them for the opportunity. You are unlikely to add value and you’ll probably end up on a glorified vacation where the local people are bemused as to why you are there.

You don’t say if you have any specialist skills – teaching skills, legal skills, finance, sales, marketing?? An organization like Challenges Worldwide http://challengesworldwide.com/current-assignments/ places skilled volunteers in management roles abroad. This is an organization based in Scotland but it provides a good model of what volunteer projects should be about.

One of my 'favourite', ie. the most appropriate, photos that I have seen of a voluntourism project was in South America where the foreigners were digging in a garden in someone's front yard - and the locals were all sitting around watching them.

The photo was supposed to show that you get to meet the locals on the project, but all it showed was everything that is wrong with voluntourism. You are taking jobs from locals, you are teaching them the begging mentality, etc.

If you are unskilled, why can't a rich local do the job instead of you? There are plenty of rich locals. What are they doing?