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volunteer/working vacations/overseas travel?

looking to work/volunteer somewhere like thailand, cambodia, africa, costa rica, etc. preferably where it's paid for, and you simply help out and volunteer your efforts. Looking to getaway, get some experience. Preferably canadian sites. Adventure travel i suppose would work! Thanks!
like animal or eco system conservation.
or teaching abroad etc.

Public Comments

1. green peace ,and red cross

2. There is also the peace corps...unfortunately, a lot of the opportunities where you are going to help out don't pay or don't pay well.
Look up ESL teachers online, they have opportunities for places all over the world. I have a friend who is currently teaching English in Taiwan, and she's loving it!

3. Don't know many that will pay your way at all.

If you can raise some funds (get sponsored in some way) you may want to check out this site:

www.volunteervisions.org

4. Organizations that don't charge fees for volunteering, such as VSO Canada, UN Volunteers and the PeaceCorps, are NOT looking for adventure travelers "looking to getaway, get some experience." They are looking for people who can work in a language other than English, who have skills and experience that can lead to local people generating income, better feeding their families, improving children's health, etc., or that can lead to the transformation of key institutions, such as government, universities/schools or NGOs. They are looking for people who can commit to a two-year assignment, who have experience working with under-served communities, or who have a lot of experience in very diverse or religiously-conservative communities.

The goal is to give local people jobs, not to give Westerners a feel-good vacation -- hence why short-term placement agencies charge volunteers, or require these volunteers to pay their own way (transportation, housing and accommodation).

Here is a web site that can help you learn more about the skills and experience desired by long-term placement organizations, and how you can gain that experience locally. It also lists the various organizations that don't charge for volunteer placement (but require a great deal of experience -- the average age of a UN Volunteer is 38).
http://www.coyotecommunications.com/volunteer/international.html

There is a listing of the more-than-30 member organizations of the International Volunteers Program Association (IVPA) that is a good place to find reputable volunteer-for-a-fee programs.
http://www.volunteerinternational.org/