Once again, I am going to report on three organizations but each one of these charge for your volunteer work. (I believe the expense is tax deductible.)
1. crossculturalsolutions.org has volunteers in 10 countries ranging from Brazil to Morocco to Ghana to India. I chose to look at volunteering in Costa Rica (Cartago).
Here, I would assist the teacher and also help with lesson plans and activities. This organization and all the others I researched include accommodations and meals as well as airport pick up and orientation for the price. But, this price is steep -- very steep. For one week in the classroom as a volunteer, it would cost me $2687, not including air fare and spending money. A very expensive week to help others!
Because of the expense, I also looked at Peru (Lima) and found the program similar to Costa Rica with the same cost. Too much for my pocket book, but they said the volunteer could raise funds to help pay for the cost. I don't particularly care for that idea. Remember, I am a baby boomer, and I was raised not to take anything from anyone -- so you are asking for charity to help. Doesn't make sense to me.
2. gviusa.com has 150 volunteer projects in 25 countries. Wow, we are helping the world! Also, this site boasts that if you are a student and you volunteer you could get academic credit for the work. Cool! Why didn't they have anything like this when I went to school? Darn.I looked at three countries: Laos, Fiji, and India.
Laos was really cool. I would be volunteering my English with Buddhist Novice Monks. Really! That excites me -- what an opportunity! According to one of the websites, boys enter the monastery to escape poverty, and they get an education too. This program is from 2-24 weeks in duration. Two weeks cost $1890, and it goes to $7390 for 24 weeks (approximately 6 months). This cost is not bad, ranging from $400/week (24 week program) to $950/week (2 week program). This is something to think about.
Fiji is one country I would never have thought about. In the middle of the Pacific Ocean (I believe it is the Pacific) I would be assisting the teacher with lessons and activities. The cost here ranges from $2290 for 2 weeks to $7390 for 24 weeks.
India (Fort Kochi) would be a tough one! Here, I would go into the slum schools and help the teachers. I understand that some of the children were taken from the streets, and all the classrooms are overcrowded. If anything, these children learn academic curriculum as well as speaking English so they could obtain employment. This would be the most challenging, and I think the most frightening to me (because of the location) and probably the most rewarding. The cost here is $1700 for 2 weeks to $6100 for 24 weeks.
This organization includes cost, but reasonable. Once again, it includes accommodations, meals, airport pick up, orientation, etc.
3. volunteerhq.org is probably my favorite for paying to volunteer. They are headquartered in New Zealand and the cost to volunteer is minimal with the same accommodations, etc covered by the cost. I looked at three countries for teaching English: Argentina, China (bound determined to get there), and Laos. For all the countries, there is a $279 registration fee. Okay.
I want to go to Argentina, too, and Uruguay (a neighboring country), so I looked at teaching in Argentina (Cordoba). Here, I came to a roadblock. They want their volunteers to have at least an intermediate level of Spanish. That is a no-can-do for me. Yes, I can speak minimal Spanish, can read it better, but have a hard time understanding it because they speak so fast. The site said I could take Spanish lessons once there, but I still need an intermediate level of Spanish. So, that is out. But, how cool to go to Argentina and learn to Tango on the weekends!
If I could speak semi-fluent Spanish, I would be helping them with their English as well as other academic subjects, taking the role as a tutor. I could do any of that. The cost here is $325 for 1 week, $490 for 2 weeks up to $2015 for 12 weeks. Very doable.
China was a definite to look into. Located in Xi'an (Terracotta Warriors country) there is a desperate need for English speaking volunteers in this country, and the English lessons would be conversational English and/or helping the classroom teacher, who from the research can also use a little help with English. Now, I'm getting excited. Real excited. China. The vast country that is soon becoming a super power, if not already (I'm not that familiar with politics, but I do know how important China is to the world). I really, really want to see this country and to learn a bit about its inhabitants. I have taken a Chinese course and it was fascinating. I want to learn more.
I do think that is what volunteering is all about. Those people who I volunteer will get to know me a bit and what I represent from my country, but I am the one who will learn.
Back to China. The cost is $280 for one week, $440 for 2 weeks and $3960 for 24 weeks. I can afford volunteerhq.org prices.
Laos was the third country I looked at because it, too, offered teaching English to the novice monks at a monastery. I could either teach English to primary grade students in a classroom or the monks in a monastery where I would teach basic English skills. I would be responsible for my own lesson plans. Since I think that teaching monks would be an incredible opportunity, I would like to do this. The cost here is $270 for one week, $370 for two weeks up to $1220 for 12 weeks.
Just a couple more things before I end this part of volunteering abroad. First, the weekends would be mine to explore the area and take short trips. What a way to see the world. Helping and learning about other cultures and seeing the sights they are known for.
The second is while it is not necessary, I would take the TEFL course to help my teaching English to foreign students. It can be done online, is less than $400, and I have seen where it is from 100 hours to 130 hours in length.
What do you think about volunteering abroad? If you are thinking why not here at home, I have thought about that, also, and another week I will go into what I have found there. But, right now it's all about the world. And I want to see it and I want to be a part of it.
Tomorrow, I am going to give an abbreviated version of all the different projects that people can help with around the world. Teaching English is the one I zeroed in on, but there are tons out there.
Until then...have a great day...
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