Types of Volunteering

Education | Health | Human Services and Childcare | Physical Labour | Community Development | Journalism

Education

Youth make up to fifty percent of the population in areas where we work, and there are simply not enough resources available to provide every child with an education. Furthermore, in some countries, school only recently became a reality. Therefore, literally thousands of students are pouring into classrooms to learn all that they can. With an Education focus, you will increase the capacity of a school or community-based organization to provide education to children and youth. More specifically you will be teaching English as a second language, or teaching various subjects in elementary or secondary school. An Education placement is an exceptional learning opportunity for someone pursuing education as a career. You will be able to compare education across cultures. Furthermore, from your lived-in experience, you will gain an invaluable understanding of the way social and economic factors shape education today.

Teaching English as a Second Language

With globalization, English has been spreading its reach further throughout the world. For many children, while it is imperative to maintain their own culture and language, learning English increases their future employment opportunities. This is particularly true in areas receiving English speaking tourists. On a placement focused on English as a Second Language. There are several ways in which you can contribute. Firstly, you may teach English to children, youth, or adults. Secondly, you can provide extracurricular programming in English. Or thirdly, you will spend time speaking with students, which is one of the best ways for them to practice their new language skills.

Teaching in Elementary & Secondary School

There are not enough teachers to teach all of the children in the schools. For example, one kindergarten class of seventy-five children could have just two teachers! Volunteers are urgently needed to assist teachers in the classrooms. You will be instructing children, and tutoring children one-on-one. You will be provided with a curriculum to teach, and also be able to bring in your own expertise. For example, a fine arts student might teach the children to create art using local materials. Local teachers will be incredibly grateful for the time you can give; it enables them to better provide an education for the students.

Health

Our volunteers offer noteworthy assistance in public healthcare, primarily focused on health education.

On a public health placement you will be engaged primarily in educating people about the various aspects of health. On the one hand, you may be in the field delivering public health education. On the other hand, you may be working to develop new health education materials in the office. By developing new health education materials, you will directly contribute to the sustainability of a public health initiative, as the resources will be available for local staff and future volunteers long after your placement has finished.

Volunteers most often teach others or develop materials relating to nutrition, HIV/AIDS, sexual education, and basic sanitation.

A placement with a medical focus is an unrivalled opportunity for anyone pursuing a career in healthcare. The socio-economic context in which you will be working gives invaluable insight. In addition to seeing how healthcare is practiced in other countries, you will have a chance to learn about how the dimensions of health affect healthcare in a global context.

Human Services and Childcare

Placements with this focus include social work, youth engagement, and childcare. This focus tends to be where volunteers are needed most. Local staff members are often overburdened with their work. Both staff and the people they serve are grateful for the care, attention, and time given by volunteers.

Social Work

Social work extends far beyond the traditional one-on-one format. You will be acting as a mentor, for example for at-risk youth or marginalized women. You will also be helping to run programs at your host organization which aim to develop life skills, rehabilitate, and offer support to individuals. Placements in social work are invaluable learning opportunities for someone pursuing a related career. In addition to the skills developed working with the local community, you will gain an understanding of social, cultural, and economic factors affecting quality of life in the country where you are working.

Youth Engagement

Youth make up a large amount of the population where we work. In particular, where our partners are located in Africa, youth make up almost fifty percent of the population. That is huge in comparison to countries like the United States and Canada, where youth make up less than twenty five percent of the population. Based on numbers alone, organizations serving youth, such as schools and community centres, are stretched beyond capacity. Furthermore, when youth want to transition into the labour market, jobs are few and far between, making options such as drugs, gangs, prostitution, and violence seem like the only options available.

With a youth engagement focus, you will be working with impoverished youth. The programming of communitity-based organizations demonstrates the positive alternatives youth have available to them, provides a basic education to youth who may not otherwise have the opportunity to go to school, and develops critical life skills.  You will either help to deliver the programs to youth, or will develop program materials for staff and future volunteers. Both are important ways to lend a helping hand.

Childcare

In areas where we work, not only do children make up a significant amount of the population, many have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS or war. In Africa there has been an emergence of child-headed households, homes where an older child takes on the role of his or her deceased parents. When possible, they will live in an orphanage. It is notable that while it is well-known that HIV/AIDS has led to many orphaned children in Africa, this has also happened in parts of Latin America, such as Colombia.

We work in orphanages providing vital childcare to orphans who have no other alternative. The need is dire, and local staff members are severely overworked. Participants help to relieve the burden by caring for, tutoring, and mentoring children. In addition, participants can choose to help develop new programs for the children or fundraise. Local staff are extremely grateful for the care, attention, and time that our participants donate to the orphanage.

Physical Labour

This is a very literal way to lend a helping hand! Our partners have projects that involve physical labour. On a Volunteer Abroad placement with this focus you could be building a school, constructing a roof, installing alternative energy resources, gardening, or helping in the fields. There is no language requirement for a Physical Labour placement. Our volunteers work under the direction of a local staff or community person. While they lead, our volunteers take direction and work as a part of a team working towards an end goal. Our partners always appreciate the time, effort, and muscle our volunteers offer to help get the job done.

Community Development

With a focus on Community Development, your placement will be concentrated on efforts to increase the capacity of the host organization you are working with. Many of our partners persevere to advance education, provide healthcare, and deliver social services in their communities. However, they often lack the resources. Often times they simply do not have access to finances or technology. In other cases, further training might be needed. With a Community Development focus, there is a wide variety of projects you can put your time and energy towards. The most common activities in community development are grant writing and donor development, program development, and publications. All Community Development Activities are done in consultation with your host organization, and you will receive first-rate guidance from local staff.

Grant Writing & Donor Development

One of the greatest challenges our partners face is a lack of financial stability. Often funds fall short. Furthermore, they may come from a few select sources. This means that if one funder stops funding a project for any given reason, the work of our partner suffers largely. In an effort to improve financial stability, our partners are looking to diversify and increase their funding base. In order to reach this goal, volunteers research and write grants, as well as to identify and build relationships with donors.

Program Development

A program is a framework used to deliver a specific service. By developing a program, you will be developing a framework to be used by local staff and future volunteers. Often times our partners would like to engage in a new program, but must put all of their time into running current activities; therefore, your role will be to develop this new program. In other cases, you may be asked to improve upon an existing program. Components of program development include conducting a SWOT analysis (Assessing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats), developing program delivery materials, estimating a budget, and creating an evaluation tool. Program development is done under the guidance of local staff.

Publications

Often times our partners have a need to increase their presence in their immediate community, city, country, or on the web. As such, the relevant print and electronic publications need to be created. In a Publications placement, you will concentrate efforts on creating and designing publications, or writing literature for publications.

Journalism

Journalists strive to bring clear, up-to-date, and transparent news to the world. On a journalism internship you can employ and develop skills in writing, translation, fact-checking, and reporting.