Volunteering while backpacking

[stealersmealdeal]

DD will be 18 this summer and wants to (finally!) travel for a couple of months before starting uni. I'd be happier if she at least started with some organised initiative, where she would hopefully make some friends she could then do a bit of independent travelling with. But not a tour company – I mean some kind of local project. I know the kind of "house-building in a 3rd world country" idea does have its drawbacks, though!

But I did this when I was her age – volunteered for the UN in Malaysia on these kind of work camps that was a big group of late teens/early 20s people from all over the world. It was fab, but I can't see the same kind of thing from Googling.

Does anyone know of any such organisations (not religious ones) that will "start you off" abroad and give a few weeks work and orientation in another country? DD is thinking of either the Far East or central America. TIA!

You need to take a step back and let her plan.

She's doing plenty of planning herself - has already booked herself flights to Australia to visit relatives at the very end of her travel period.

I'm just putting out feelers for a few links or names of organisations just in case we miss something amazing - that's all. She is doing her research too, she's not leaving it all to me! No harm being armed with information. 🤗

I would absolutely avoid the "build a hut in a 3rd world country" projects. I've worked (genuine work) in some of these places and see the negative effect of young naive kids turning up for a few weeks to do "work" which is really only for their own benefit. Most places go along with it because they need the money not the labour.

I don't know of any organisations offering what you are looking for. My advice would be for her to just travel, and to stay in hostels.

I have so many friends made from my backpacking/hostel days! It's a great way to meet others who are also travelling alone. You arrive alone at a hostel, find yourself sharing a room with five other girls, start chatting about plans, you'll find someone to go out with that night/next day/move on to the next place with/etc.

Hostels are also geared up for the backpacker audience to offer activities, local opportunities, language classes, etc.

If she only has a couple of months this would absolutely be my recommendation.

I’d start with what she can do.

What skills can she offer, which aren’t available in the countries she’s going to, but would be useful for a short time with minimal background?

If you come up with that, you might be able to find a niche.

The “do good in a developing country schemes” are problematic in terms of the local economy, and they also generally require the young “volunteers” to pay significant amounts of money to take part.

What about something like Camp America for volunteering experience and finding other young people in a similar position to travel onwards with afterwards?

No personal experience, but I have been told about this organisation:
www.gvi.ie/#

“House building in the third world” as you put it has more than drawbacks. There is no shortage of labour in these countries, most of it more skilled in house building than a typical British 18 year old girl. I think there’s a place for volunteering abroad if you have particular specialist skills (medical, engineering type things) but not if you’re an inexperienced teenager with no particular skill set just using it as a way to have a good experience. If you actually want to help, give money. If you don’t, just go travelling.

She's only got a couple of months, let her plan and enjoy it. She should just go travelling and enjoy that for what it is!

If she wanted a group type experience I found intrepid were great for adventurous stuff and they employ as many local people as possible.

I've not heard good things about any of the gap year experience volunteering things. They are designed to extract money from priviledged Westerners and do fuck all to provide anything of value to the communities.

Genuine Charitable organisations, like VSO or Habitat for Humanity only bring in expert level volunteers or staff, and use local labour. What use can an unskilled teenager realistically be? A friend who works in genuine international development can rant on for hours about these pretend projects and the harm they do just so a kid can have a couple of weeks feel-good fun and something to stick on their CV.

She'd be better off doing one of those Overland type truck trips to get her started.

I agree with pp some schemes won't be helpful but there are plenty of grass roots ones which are. And often in those situations one person can make a genuine difference. And I think you've done well to ask on here because often they are the ones with twinning links, or church links to things like that rather than big websites that come up in searches.

I'll DM you details of one, but I think the location isn't really what she wants by the sound of it.

Just went to get their website details and sadly they haven't managed to restart their projects since Covid, so what won't be any help, but a timely reminder for me to dig deep and make a donation to support the local team!