Volunteering holidays for adults

[patandjess]

Has anyone ever done a volunteering holiday abroad and can recommend some companies? I'm 35 but would love to do a short trip volunteering. I haven't got loads of money (but could raise some) and have kids so couldn't be away longer than 2 weeks. I've never travelled outside Europe so would like to start with short-haul to start with and see if I get braver!

Short term volunteers aren't a lot of use - it makes more sense to send money rather than ship people about.

Volunteer here and spend your money there - that's what they need.

Depends on your skill set.

Might be worth contacting VSO - I know they usually do 2year stints, but have a feeling that they started doing shorter focussed voluntary options.

What type of volunteering are you looking for?

Its not really worth a charity's time doing all the vetting etc that they need to do for volunteers if you are only going to go for a couple of weeks.

I think what you are looking for doesn't exist. why not just do some travelling on your own for a couple of weeks and see how you get on. Is it not an option to travel with your children if you think you are going to be lonely?

Voluntourism is full of ethical pitfalls (its a huge business) and two weeks in duration is not going to make any difference at all to the lives of the people who live there.

Would look into volunteering in the UK instead. You won't be exploited either.

The national trust do volunteer working holidays in this country.

Pp all have made a very valid point but I'm just going to leave the name of the company I spoke to when I considered this.

It involved volunteering in 2 weeks to a month stints but it takes up a lot of your time before hand preparing to go.

If you have teaching skills or are educated to a degree level you can be very beneficial (that's what I was told anyway)

www.frontier.ac.uk

That's the link if you want any more info pm me. I didn't actually go but spent about year preparing to

Volunteering holidays in the U.K. with National Trust or RSPB are fab. They're also actually really helpful for the charity so you get your feeling of self satisfaction without all the ethical pitfalls or doing it abroad.

They also do it in some wonderful places. I did one for the RSPB years ago somewhere in the middle of Wales. We all stayed in this very grand house that had been given to charitable use, spent the days sorting out hedgerows, clearing streams, stuff like that. They fed us too which was also fab.

There are some like helping clean up reefs or guarding baby turtles as they make their way into the sea that I do think our worthwhile. In the US there's habitat for humanity where you help to build someone in need a home. Perhaps they do an international one as well?

They were talking about this on BBC 4 radio a couple of days back. Basically unless you have a relvevant skill set then it's not really helpful. Seems a lot of young people want to do it on their gap year as an ego stroke. I suppose it depends on where you want to volunteer, the programme was talking orphanages and that it's better to help locally where you have an understamding of local culture.

I doubt the happy gappies would be so keen to build walls, pick fruit or look after underprivileged kids in the UK - where all these things need doing, the scenery can be wonderful but it is harder to get a tan and the booze is pricier.

happy gappies. I am so going to use that phrase in the future.

DRINKFECK

The Radio 4 programme was more grim I think. Children trafficked or parents conned to give up their children to fill the childrens homes. Children not fed, treated badly so they look worse in photos. Governments across the globe see its a problem. Its on BBC catch up if any one is interested.

We lived overseas. I worked for NGO out there for 9 years. I am uncomfortable with some of these volunteering holidays. People want to do the right thing and its excellent they are trying. I fully support them wanting to do something.

But, say its $500 a week: you go out and paint a local orphanage.....you are taking someones job at great expense. If you want to uplift a community go on holiday, look but give the $500 dollars to train a local person to set up a business to buy the paint, do the job, learn how to invoice, manage cash flow.

Do not get me wrong: I am delighted! people want to help. Its about doing it the right way. There are a lot of these companies making a lot of money out of gulliable teenagers and their parents.