Planning a volunteer holiday

gentlepurr

Help!!!

Im looking at some sort of volunteering holiday abroad, 2/3 weeks at the most, and could do with some pointers as to some decent sites. Problem i cant get my head round is booking the flight separately to the holiday, its unbelievably longwinded trying to pick a place and date when the flights will be a sensible cost, for example, volunteering in Peru, £600-£800, but the flights are comming up at over £1200!! I really dont care where in the world i go, or what i do, or when i go, necessarily, but where do i start :eek::eek:

All help gratefully appreciated

gp xx

PolishBigSpender

Why would anyone pay to "volunteer"?

lily_the_pink

I have to agree with Polishbigspender. I lived in South America for a number of years and all my friends would wonder in amazement at the mad "Gringos" (including UK) who would pay to work.

Also, many of these schemes do little to help local economies and local people in the long term as they are badly designed and to be honest the only people that gain are the people who arrange the visit and the person who does the visit (as they get a lovely warm glow from there voluntary work). I am sure that there are exceptions to this - I think longer placements would probably be better or if you have specific skills.

One anectdote I remember was a group of British youth who built a fantastic wooden shelter in the Torres de Paine (Chilean National Park). However, any benefits to the local tourist industry (the people who would use the shelter) were outweighed by the cost of the National Park Rangers having to clear up the rubbish left at the site (at some considerable cost as there was rather a lot of rubbish and it was in a very isolated position).

VSO (Voluntary Services Overseas) do long term placements and I am sure there will be other reputable agencies but do think if you actually have some skills that the developing world needs before volunteering them.

Back to the cost of flights - the price you are quoting does seem too much - try indirect flights via Miami with American or via Madrid with Iberia.

R6-XJS

My daughter is'volunteering' in Greece for a month this year as part of her uni course, cost us about £850! And that's just for the trip nevermind the camping equipment, clothes, food, etc. etc.

Anyway it is with Archelon, they have a website, anyone can go...

gentlepurr

lily_the_pink wrote: »

I have to agree with Polishbigspender. I lived in South America for a number of years and all my friends would wonder in amazement at the mad "Gringos" (including UK) who would pay to work.

Also, many of these schemes do little to help local economies and local people in the long term as they are badly designed and to be honest the only people that gain are the people who arrange the visit and the person who does the visit (as they get a lovely warm glow from there voluntary work). I am sure that there are exceptions to this - I think longer placements would probably be better or if you have specific skills.

One anectdote I remember was a group of British youth who built a fantastic wooden shelter in the Torres de Paine (Chilean National Park). However, any benefits to the local tourist industry (the people who would use the shelter) were outweighed by the cost of the National Park Rangers having to clear up the rubbish left at the site (at some considerable cost as there was rather a lot of rubbish and it was in a very isolated position).

VSO (Voluntary Services Overseas) do long term placements and I am sure there will be other reputable agencies but do think if you actually have some skills that the developing world needs before volunteering them.

Back to the cost of flights - the price you are quoting does seem too much - try indirect flights via Miami with American or via Madrid with Iberia.

Thanks l the p, i hear what you are saying, but i do think they have their place. I am travelling alone and want more than to lie on a beach all day, cos i get fed up. I like to "get under the skin" of the place i am at, so the way i see it, volunteering does tick some boxes for me, even if i do have to pay to do it, even if, as you say, volunteering has very little practical impact. Im sure you are right with regard to the chaos some people leave behind, and i do wonder myself how much of the volunteer projects are dreamt up as a money spinner, but then thats down to me to sort the wheat from the chaff, and thats where i could do with some direction.

gp xx

gentlepurr

R6-XJS wrote: »

My daughter is'volunteering' in Greece for a month this year as part of her uni course, cost us about £850! And that's just for the trip nevermind the camping equipment, clothes, food, etc. etc.

Anyway it is with Archelon, they have a website, anyone can go...

Yes, i know what you mean! OTOH, its not so much a holiday, or, for that matter a volunteering trip, think of how much she will learn and develop through it, and not just about Greece and Turtles, her confidence and understanding of the world, team building, etc. Im gonna shut up now cos i sound like a do gooder, and im not, i just dont think you can beat seeing and experiencing other parts of the world

pandora205

This is what I'm volunteering to do this summer (well for a week) as recommended by another MSEr

http://www.morethanenglish.com/anglos/index.asp

cmw1212

You'll probably be better off buying a flight somewhere first then looking into finding a volunteer opportunity. Try looking on lonely planet- they have a good forum section there and there will probably be people on there who know of opportunities- probably without needing to pay any kind of fee (obviously you'd need to arrange accommodation)
Will add if you are thinking of South America then you really would not struggle to fill 2/3 weeks even without volunteering. I did 6 months and think I lay on a beach for a total of about 3 days altogether!

xxlaurissaxx

What do you want to do? Building/Animals/Children?
I have volunteered through a group called I to I, it was expensive but worth it. Im going to Ghana in November 2011 through a group called Original Volunteer, Its 35 per week for accomodation but looks great, its working with kids and building projects. In April 2011 im off to Ukutula Park in South Africa, with i to I it was costing £1143 and thats with a 10% discount but im going direct through the reserve and its only costing around £700, thats including meals and accomodation.
I found out after that I to I do not make any contributions to the parks, but if you look on there website you can normally find out what the parks/places are called in the feedback part and then book directly with them. It saves you money and you know the money is going to the charity and the people xx

Boozer

I went with i to i to Sri Lanka for a orphanage building project, total cost to me was about 1200 pound, we worked out that for the same money we could have had 20 or so workers for a month on the project doing 12 hour shifts instead of unfit me doing about 6 hours a day and not really getting too much done because it was far too hot.

gentlepurr

pandora205 wrote: »

This is what I'm volunteering to do this summer (well for a week) as recommended by another MSEr

http://www.morethanenglish.com/anglos/index.asp

That looks like a really good place, well organised and fair, have saved it back to have a good look, when do you go? I would be interested to hear your thoughts, Thanks for the link.

Also Boozer and laurissa, ive looked on i to i, did they help you sort your flights? It just seems like a chicken and egg conundrum with what to book first, or did you volunteer as part of other travelling?

gp xx