How To Volunteer Abroad

If planning your own trip seems daunting and you are not confident and want a bit of support, then you should consider volunteering abroad. It can be really scary going to a completely foreign country on your own, therefore by participating in a volunteer scheme, with other similar people to you, it becomes a whole lot less frightening, as well as being significantly beneficial to local communities and a fantastic experience

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Volunteer programmes are pre-organised, with you jut having to show up at the airport and jump on your flight. Your travel organisation will meet you at the airport and arrange everything from then on, until you catch your flight back home whenever your trip finishes. It can also seem a lot safer through traveling this way, as accommodation, as well as travel are all arranged for you, rather than having to plan everything yourself. A lot of the people who work on the volunteer programme are locals and know the ins and outs of the local area, which can help you to feel less worried.

There are a few important things to consider when choosing a volunteer programme. This includes which country you want to travel to, as well as which volunteer company to go with, and which scheme to pick.

The UK government offers different volunteering programmes for people to take part in.

The International Citizen Services is a government run volunteering programme for 18-25 year olds. With ICS, all of your travel is paid for, including expenses, accommodation, travel, as well as insurance and vaccinations. The ICS has volunteer projects in 19 countries. These destinations are Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigera, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tazmania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

ICS programmes include helping to support young people with health and wellbeing, supporting local entrepreneurs and improving employability, running English clubs in schools and in YMCA local unions, as well as much more. Click here for more information on the programmes on offer in each of the different countries.

The travel organisation Oysterworldwide has many different animal volunteer programmes that you could contribute to. This includes working with leading and influential animal welfare projects to promote conservation and charity work abroad. The company protects endangered and mistreated animals such as bears, lions, elephants and monkeys. Programmes to volunteer on include working with monkeys and baboons in South Africa, volunteering at an elephant sanctuary in Thailand, working with turtles in Costa Rica, bears in Romania, diving and marine conservation in Thailand, as well as many more experiences. These programmes can be quit pricey, but provide a once in a lifetime opportunity. You can view the cost of the different volunteer schemes here. Oyster provides different volunteer reviews, so you can read up about other people’s honest experiences about each programme.

If you want to volunteer with children, then GVI offers some amazing volunteer opportunities for not much money at all. For £945 for 4 weeks, you can volunteer and teach underprivileged children in India or Nepal, or volunteer on childcare project in Mexico at children’s centres run by Save the Children. GVI shows you all of the available volunteer programmes offered by charities, with an exact itinerary of what you will be doing, as well as the extra excursions you can take part in if you wish.

There really is so much on offer, all you have to do is find out which programme is best for you and the rest is history. Volunteering honestly provides some of the most humbling and amazing movements that you will cherish for the rest of your life, and is a great way to immerse yourself into local culture, with local people.