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Email to a FriendVolunteer Abroad Options
It is no exaggeration when we say that there are hundreds of different projects offering you the chance to volunteer abroad and so the real challenge becomes deciding which you want to do! To try and ease the process along, we've made a list of some of the most popular types of voluntary projects to give you an idea of what's involved and where you could go and volunteer.
Conservation
If you want to get a little more remote on your gap year, conservation organisations offer the chance to work directly with the natural wildlife, living in basic accommodation or with local communities while preserving natural habitats, researching endangered species, working in animal shelters or conducting surveys of the areas so that by better understanding certain species and ecosystems we can better protect them. Unfortunately, international conservation projects receive very little funding from government bodies and so rely upon foreign volunteers to staff their projects. For this reason, volunteering on a conservation project makes your contribution even more valuable since you are working with a local organisation but also helping their country's ecosystem and wildlife which has a global impact.
Research
If you are thinking about a career in conservation, there are many different projects that are committed to scientific research in various fields from marine and coastal zone research to biodiversity conservation research. The benefits of these types of projects is that because they are more skills and science based, you may have the opportunity to gain qualifications such as BTEC or PADI certificates that will allow you to continue what you've learnt once your gap year has finished. You'll find certain organisations specifically deal with one type of conservation while others are experienced in both, and can even combine the two. Look for companies that are linked with local universities, governing bodies and wildlife organisations to prove the project's credentials. Find out if they publish their research findings and what impact they have had on the environment in that area; this will also give you an idea of what you could get involved with.
Sports Coaching
Lots of local schools and community centres around the world employ young people to come and teach sport to the local kids- football being one of the most popular choices. Sports teaching is highly valued amongst community development in developing countries and so not only are you helping to bring the local community together, but you get to do it while doing something you love! In exchange, you can gain coaching experience you can take back home. These projects offer placements for experienced coaches and first timers who are interested in sports volunteering, so if teaching a sport is something you are interested in there is something to suit everyone. Physical education is often neglected, particularly in smaller villages, so your input will be an exciting addition to their schools and communities.
Community
Whether you want to live amongst the masses in the cities or head for the hills to a remote village, community projects are perhaps the most widely available projects in the volunteering world. The great thing about community work is that you have the opportunity to bring your own skills and interests to the table whether it's drama or sport, music or IT. There's lots of types of projects to choose from, everything from HIV awareness to environmental education to women's empowerment groups and street children's centres. Alternatively, you could get a bit more physical and volunteer your man-power to help build a farm or repair footpaths to help with tourism. If you really want to leave the guidebook behind and experience a country in its true form, living and working with a community is a sure fire way of doing just that. You could even pick up a language or a new skill while you're there- think of it as a volunteer project with a cultural exchange thrown in for free.
Teaching
One of the most popular things to do on a gap year is teach. Whether it's in a big city university or tiny local community centre in the jungle, there is a teaching placement for whatever you plan for your gap year. You can generally choose which age group- young kids, teenagers, adult learners- with each age range giving you a different experience and a different challenge so if you're planning on sticking with teaching for a while, why not try a few different ability levels to test your new skills? Teaching placements are sometimes tied with community development projects such as working within an orphanage or even as part of a medical placement at a hospital. Not all placements require a TEFL qualification, some projects include it and others don't so make sure you check whether you meet that project's requirements before you book a place.
Medical
These kind of projects make up the backbone of humanitarian and relief projects. Many organisations allow students to assist with local clinics and hospitals and so are a perfect opportunity for medical students to put their skills into practice and learn more about medical facilities around the world, particularly in developing countries where experienced staff are desperately needed. You could be working rehabilitating drug users, at HIV clinics, maternity units, with war victims or abused children so its essential to enter into these projects with a mature and open mind. There are many medical projects outside hospital environments, such as community care projects, these often don't require qualified professionals or experience, just willing volunteers to help out in less than ideal medical establishments. You could take part in research projects, harvesting plants for use in alternative medicine, or combine a medical placement with working in a community, for instance teaching healthcare to new mothers.