Who volunteers
People just like you volunteer abroad: individual travelers, students, professionals, families, groups, and anyone with the desire to serve in a country abroad.
Students
Build your skill set and strengthen your future career goals through a variety of opportunities during your time abroad. We can work with you to find a placement that fulfills your specific institution’s academic requirements.
We will also provide supervision, reporting for academic credit, and write letters for you for employment opportunities or for applications for higher education.
Professionals
Gain perspective in the area of your specialty and/or develop skills to change your career focus. You’ll work with leaders and social entrepreneurs to develop sustainable solutions to community challenges. We have many opportunities for educators, medical professionals, engineers, builders, or anyone with experience in public health. We can customize your experience to fit your skills and interests.
Groups and Families
Volunteering with family, friends or colleagues is a rewarding and fun experience. You’ll form lifelong bonds, change your life and global perspective. Volunteering abroad is a gift to children, helping them to develop compassion and expand their world view. We can plan a trip for any group including clubs, schools, religious groups, or corporate team-building retreats. Let us help you plan a trip of a lifetime!
Gap Year
Take a break from formal education to volunteer, study, or intern in Asia or Africa between high school graduation and starting college, during college, or between college and starting graduate school or a career. A trip abroad provides you with an enriching experience that will help you be better prepared for the next chapter in your life. You will never see the world the same after being immersed in another culture.
Model volunteers
Thank you for your interest in becoming a Village Volunteer – a person who values international service and is committed to personal growth and development through cross cultural friendships and collaborative relationships. Through our partner programs, you will have the opportunity to offer a hand in friendship and partnership by sharing in the work of local communities; in this way, you champion the cause of compassionate global citizenry. We hope that the philosophy and mission behind Village Volunteers will inspire you as you set out on your journey.
Understanding the Village Volunteers Approach
The Village Volunteers approach is one of compassion, intercultural understanding and a commitment to human rights. Through collaboration with local communities on a wide variety of projects, volunteers have the opportunity to strengthen ties across the boundaries of international borders, race, gender, age, and culture.
If you are accepted as a Village Volunteer we will ask that you follow the below guidelines:
1. Approach your international service experience with an open mind and heart, see yourself as a student and a helper rather than a leader.
Village Volunteers asks that before departure, volunteers understand the realistic limits of their abilities to solve a community’s problems. It is important to understand that we cannot solve their problems with the solutions that worked well in the context of our own culture. This approach can sometimes seem frustrating, as volunteers frequently feel that they can offer many solutions to a village’s problems. These feelings are usually deceptive, however. A community’s problems are often complex and interwoven with its cultural practices, beliefs, and history. Answers are rarely found on the surface, or developed in a matter of weeks. Come without preconceived ideas, and your opportunity to learn will be greatly enhanced.
2. When volunteers are placed in a village, their safety and needs are paramount to the Program Director, and the U.S. team. Remember that Village Volunteers does not assume to manage specific projects from a distance; much freedom is given to you and your Program Director in identifying your volunteer activities. It is in working together that mutual understanding is rooted.
- 3. We understand that it is important for volunteers to feel engaged in the community. However, we ask that you remember that the pace of life is typically much slower in village communities. Still there is much value in simply taking time to absorb your environment and learn from those around you. Don’t expect to leave your fast-paced life, enter a village, and feel like you are immediately useful and fully engaged. Be patient. Try not to get frustrated with the slow pace. You may feel that you are not” making a difference” but understand that your very presence is valued and that does make a difference.
Be tolerant and understanding of conditions that may arise during your stay. At any moment, the best-laid plan may have to be put aside because of a death in the community, inclement weather, lack of funding, or a multitude of other factors. Life in a rural setting is unpredictable, particularly to those who are just visiting. If you need to feel in control, try to manage those impulses. You may believe that you are helping but you may be taking someone else’s opportunity to be empowered and have “ownership.” If you have taken control of a project, it will likely fall apart when you leave. The benefits of encouraging local ownership will be a greater peace of mind and appreciation for the intangible contributions you are making to the community.
Words of Wisdom for Volunteers
The model volunteer embraces these words of wisdom as shared by one of our partner NGO Program Directors.
"Come with an open mind, ready to absorb a flood of new information and new frame of reference. Leave your expectations at home. Observe without judgment until you fully understand all the factors. If something strikes you as being “backwards”, objectively consider why it is acceptable in this culture. You will probably find valid reasons. I do recommend that during your first few weeks or months simply observe, learn, and try to understand the culture. See how things “work” here. Try to remember that there is never just one right way to do something. You most likely will see many things that are considered backward, but are common and appropriate here. Just remember that often there is no right or wrong.
Leave your material possessions at home. You will need very little of them here. What you will need is natural curiosity, a positive attitude, plenty of patience and a willingness to help those in need. You certainly will have to deal with frustrations of development work. But a generous smile to warmly offer, the desire to accept many friendships, and an untiring sense of humor will assure you that a trip of a lifetime is ahead of you. You will never see the world the same way. It is up to you to make the most of this valuable experience that you have created!
~Joshua Machinga, Common Ground Program Director
A Catalyst for Hope
Distinct responsibilities come with being a volunteer in a developing country. By making the commitment to assist people of another culture, you have accepted an obligation as an ambassador of good will to carefully adhere to the policies, goals, and principles of Village Volunteers.
All of the villages are struggling economically and have substantial needs. However, they also have tremendous hope for the future. Village Volunteers participants provide a catalyst for this hope. Your efforts support the goals, and further inspire the endeavors, of the village communities. Your helping hand is magnified a hundred fold by the good will that it brings.
