This time around we wanted to let you know about some opportunities to volunteer while you're studying abroad and share some stories from IC students who've done that. Volunteering can be a fun way to become more immersed in the culture, to meet some friends, learn some skills, and to give back to your host country. International service work can also give you some perspective on your future job opportunities and interests.
One way to get involved is by looking into what opportunities are available once you're there.
When I was in Senegal I learned from my Canadian friends about a guy named Papis who was starting a non-profit organization called Daara Vision Senegal. His goal is to improve the
(my friend's host sisters and I)
quality of life and education for young boys living in the Daaras, Koranic schools/ living quarters that have become very poor due to urbanization and increasing poverty over the years (click here for more info on this). When I heard that he was using student volunteers from Projects Abroad to tutor the boys in French and Math, I thought that he might like some extra help. Although I only went a few times, it really gave me a different perspective on what life can be like for people. Seeing these boys (referred to as Talibes) beg for money from everyone on the streets everyday (as they are required to bring in money to the Marabout who runs the Daara), it can be easy to become jaded. But being able to learn their names and interact with them at the Daara was so heartwarming; it made me recognize their childhood even though they're leading such hard adult-like lives. It also made me realize (yet again) how important knowing other languages is to communicate! Most of these boys spoke the local language, Wolof, not French. It's certainly difficult trying to teach a little boy in a hot, crowded shack how to subtract in a foreign language. While it was beautiful when we could connect in tiny ways, experiences like this made me realize how important it is for me to work in a setting where I know the culture and the language so that I can really give all that I have in supporting people.
If you'd like to plan a volunteer opportunity before you get to your location, I've found a few websites from WiseBread.com that offer free or cheap short-term volunteer experiences. These kind of volunteer programs could be done over a 2-3 week break from classes or before you start or after you complete the study abroad program.
A. Willing Workers on Organic Farms (WWOOF) "places volunteers on organic farms around the world." "If you are interested in environmentally sound living, want to have hands on learning about biodynamics, composting, bread, wine, and cheese making, building with mud bricks, sustainable energy.......while living in the local community then volunteering with WWOOF might be for you." "While working, your room and board at the farm is free, though volunteers are responsible for all expenses involved in getting to and from the site. Volunteers must pay a small annual membership fee to join the organization in the county they wish to work in order to access the database of farms." WWOOF programs are operating from Argentina, to Australia, to Nepal, to Uganda.
B. "There are a number of 'work camps' worldwide that place teams of volunteers on a two or three week project. These can involved everything from farming to construction, education to art, every project is different. It costs about $300 for two or three weeks of room, board, and work. Not free, but not bad for two weeks of traveling. These projects are organized through clearing houses, the most popular being Volunteers for Peace and Service Civil International."
- Volunteers for Peace (VFP), is about a 5 hour commitment per day and you live, work, eat and play with the other volunteers. In each 6-16 person VFP group there are volunteers from all over (2 Americans, 2 Spaniards, 2 Germans, and 2 Australians for example). Check out the sitehttp://www.vfp.org/index.html for more info. They have some great opportunities.
- Service Civil International (SCI) is possible to do while you're taking classes if you're only taking a few. "Every year about 5,000 volunteers participate in workcamps in over 80 countries." You will live and work with an international group of volunteers and gain "a deeper understanding of problems that local communities around the world are facing, while at the same time, supporting them with concrete volunteer work...A typical workcamp can vary from...assisting Alpine farmers in the Austrian Alps, beach restoration in the South of Spain, building maintenance at an orphanage in the Ukraine, or helping on an organic tea farm in Japan." Their site is http://www.sci-ivs.org/new/index.php?index.
Finally, some study abroad programs have volunteer opportunities built into them. The affiliated program I went on through Hamline University offered "internship opportunities", but I think that as long as you don't receive internship credit for them on your transcript or resume they could definitely be considered volunteer opportunities as they were not paid. I worked with a non-profit organization called The Hunger Project and I know some students who have worked in an orphanage or taught school children English.
Arianne Templeton, who went on the Semester At Sea program also took advantage of volunteer opportunities offered by the program. She writes...
"My first visit was to a Dalit School in Chennai, India. [The work project was organized by the Human Rights Education Movement of India.] We were escorted to the school from the ship in a school bus...All of the children ran out of the building to greet us...It
(Ari at the school)
was really special and immediately we could tell that they had been looking forward to this day for a long time. After welcoming us with music...they put us to work! We were to paint the exterior of three of the buildings...after 4 hours I was absolutely covered in paint...After painting for about 3 hours (with very frequent interruptions by the little kids) they thanked us for all of our hard work and for simply coming to the village...the smiles on the children's faces were really all we needed as a Thank You...the school itself is in a Dalit neighborhood, which is the lowest caste system, also known as the untouchables...it was the poorest of the poor people in India, and the work that the Education Movement is doing is phenomenal. Every SAS group does service projects through them, but they move around so different children get to meet the students over the years. As we were leaving they were holding our hands and hugging us and kissing our cheeks- they were all so cute and we could have easily stayed there for a few more hours. It was exhausting but an incredibly rewarding experience."
Ari also had the opportunity to serve a Thanksgiving dinner in Honolulu, Hawaii and served in a center for people with disabilities in Malaysia. Check out her blog at www.ariatsea.blogspot.com.
I hope these stories and resources can help you out if you're interested in volunteering while studying abroad! As always, let us know if you have any questions about studying abroad or would like contact information for someone who's been to your future destination.
Peace,
Samantha Wolfe :)
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