If you’ve picked this book up, chances are that a little voice may have asked, ‘Can I really

do it?’ The prospect of volunteering abroad can seem daunting, but it can be made much

less so when it’s arranged through a structured, organised programme. Choosing this

route to a volunteer placement means that, in most cases, you’ll pay a single fee and –

voilà – everything from the pre-departure orientation to the little bag of peanuts on the

flight home is arranged for you. Whether your calling is to tag turtles in Greece or teach

grammar in Bangkok, there’s a wide assortment of organised placements to choose from,

offering opportunities to those who take comfort from a ‘packaged’ approach.

Most of these organisations have a few key characteristics in common, offering as part of

the package pre-departure and in-country support and accommodation and food. Some

also include travel insurance and visas, and others will organise your international airfare.

But beyond these basic characteristics, the permutations are many and varied.

In many cases, the costs of organised programmes are high. However, it is difficult

to generalise, because a number of voluntary organisations sending skilled volunteers

abroad do not charge for placements and even offer a small monthly stipend. There are

differences in the scale of organisations too. Some organisations, like AFS Intercultural

Programmes (p98), have offices and programmes around the world, and send legions

of people abroad on projects of every stripe. Others, like Skillshare International (p140)

or Lawyers Without Borders (p141), send highly skilled professionals in very limited

05: Organised

Volunteer

Programmes

Not just another day in the office: a volunteer on a ring-tailed lemur survey in Madagascar Photo: Zed Nelson/Earthwatch

numbers. Some organisations specialise in particular fields, only offering placements

in conservation or education, for example, while others allow participants to pick and

choose from a smorgasbord of offerings. It’s these variations in size, scope and types of

project that can make or break your volunteering experience. One volunteer’s dream

placement doing hands-on entomology research is another volunteer’s nightmare

assignment swatting at bugs.

Some of the volunteering organisations listed in this chapter have programmes for

everyone. Others are suitable only for people wanting to volunteer long term or for those

trained in a particular profession (eg medicine). However, the offerings in this chapter

can easily be sorted into two broad categories: expeditions and placements. We’ll start by

defining these terms.

How Do They Work?

Expeditions vs Placements

Anyone who has dipped a curious toe into the volunteering world knows that jargon

and acronyms abound. In this book, the word ‘expedition’ is not to be confused with the

kind of solo caper that involves slashing your way through the jungle with a machete. In

volunteering parlance, expeditions are usually team-oriented exercises, where participants

live, travel and work together in groups of 10 or more volunteers, accompanied at all times

by qualified staff. Expeditions of this type often combine a service-based experience with

an adventure element – activities such as trekking, climbing or rafting. Organisations

offering these kinds of combined packages include Adventureworks (p114), Madventurer

(p106), Quest Overseas (p107) and Raleigh International (p108). Personal development

is usually a key component of expedition-style volunteering. Laurence Gale travelled to

Ghana with Raleigh International and says:

I did a 10-week expedition. As soon as we arrived in Accra we went to base camp and were

immediately put into groups. The first week was spent doing icebreakers and learning

basic first-aid and camping skills. Then we had three projects to work on: community,

adventure and environmental projects. My community phase was spent on the border with

Burkina Faso building pit latrines in a village. The adventure phase involved doing 260

kilometres over land and lake Volta in two and a half weeks. It was an awesome challenge

and great fun for someone like me who loves running around outdoors. We also spent a

lot of time in village schools teaching HIV/AIDS awareness. In my final (environmental)

phase I spent the nights combing a sandy beach for olive ridley and giant leatherback

turtles. By the way, we slept in big army tents along with various bugs, snakes and grass

rats. Woohoo!

However, most organisations in this chapter offer placements, not expeditions. Simply put,

for a placement the organisation acts like a temping agency, matching your requirements,

skills, abilities and interests with projects in need. You may work independently, but more

often than not you’ll work alongside a handful of fellow volunteers. Placements are more

self-determined than expeditions; you can have more freedom to shape your placement

and make what you will of it, though you can still expect a high standard of in-country

support. For example, most organisations have a local staff member who looks after a

number of volunteers in a particular area and, in addition, there is a representative in

the country of origin who is little more than a satellite phone call away should you need

help. Two such placement organisations are The Leap (p105) and Projects Abroad (p100).

Louise Ellerton, who travelled to Ghana with Projects Abroad, describes her experience of

being part of an organised placement:

I did voluntary work in a veterinary practice, as this is the field that I will be going into.

You have to be prepared for things to be different and accept that it’s not always what you

05: Organised Volunteer Programmes:

How Do They Work?