Volunteering Abroad

As you know, this blog is about change. I started with moving across country, then getting settled in my new state of Florida (which I am still doing), then getting involved with crafts (still doing). Since then, I wrote a book of short stories (and am now in the process of self-publishing) and I have traveled some (Bahamas and Barcelona).

I am now considering adding volunteering abroad to my list. Over the next three days, I am going to write about what I have learned, and what I think I will try first.




The information I have found is so exciting. EXCITING. I love to travel, love to teach and love to write. I have found an avenue to do those three all rolled into one. So far I have found three agencies that promote speaking conversational English to people abroad for the price of an airline ticket.

How it works is you apply and once okayed, you will meet with a group of English-speaking volunteers where you are transferred to a hotel where you will be for approximately one week and you will be required to talk. That's it. Talk. Of course, there is one-on-one talking, but there are also planned activities throughout the day. You sleep there, eat there, talk there, and explore the countryside with new found friends. The following are the three programs I have found:

1. Diverbo.com PuebloIngles will set you up in either Spain or Germany for approximately 6-8 days. You will be talking for about 12-15 hours a day, so be prepared to learn about other cultures as well as to share your culture with the "students". It profiles these "students" as business people who have come for you to help them with their conversational English.
     Once you go online and check out the site, you can see where you will be staying and the calendar of when you may be needed.

2. Angloville.com/teach-english/ will set you up in either Poland, Hungary, Romania, or the Czech Republic. for approximately 1-2 weeks. It operates basically the same as PuebloIngles.
     I have also seen on this site that they do a 3-10 day immersion of conversational English in Dublin, Ireland. The conversationalist would stay in the dormitory at Dublin City University, and the same rules apply. Talk, talk, talk. And I bet there would be a bit of lifting that ale to a conversation about pubs! I am definitely going to do this. Next year. (This year is planned.)


3. Gocambio.com is different from the above two. You go to the website and they have hosts who want to learn something -- from learning Spanish or English to cooking to photography to technology. You then pick out who you would stay with (own room) in their house and you barter your expertise with their desire to learn a skill. To me, it seems like more of a way to make friends because they could show you around, etc. There are many, many countries to choose from, so go, check it out. It would be a great way to help someone learn something and for you to immerse yourself into a new culture, and possibly even meet a new friend or two.

These three are different from teaching English (and that is what I would do when I volunteer around the world) in the fact that the only thing you do do is talk. And talk. And talk. (I can do that!). Also, what sets them apart from the other programs I have found is these are free. The only money you put out is for transportation to the country. You will get free transportation to the venue, and you get a free tour of the major city in the country you have chosen, such as Warsaw or Prague.

Personally, I think this is a great idea to volunteer and see a bit of the world that a tourist does not see.

Tomorrow I am going to go into the agencies that cost.

Until then...have a great day...