Volunteer Travel

2010-03-26 - Jon Ford

Volunteer travel involves taking a trip abroad to do unpaid work for a charitable cause. The volunteering work can be the main focus and purpose of the trip, or it can be a component of a longer period of travel or ‘gap year’. Volunteer travel participants are from a diverse range of backgrounds and experiences, but are generally united by the desire to give up their time and energy in pursuit of a worthwhile cause abroad. In return, volunteer travellers can expect to learn new skills and meet new challenges in places that they might not normally consider visiting.

Participants can volunteer on a wide range of projects and activities. One of the most popular schemes is teaching English to schoolchildren in developing countries. This gives the volunteer an opportunity to become a part of the local community and absorb the local culture while at the same time making a positive contribution towards the development of the children’s education. Another popular volunteering activity is wildlife conservation work. This can range from clearing and maintaining nature reserves to feeding and caring for animals in a wildlife sanctuary. Building and construction projects are another common form of volunteering work and often involve contributing to the creation of vital community projects such as building homes for underprivileged families in developing countries.

Volunteer travel has traditionally been undertaken by people with a specific connection to a particular cause, and was seen as a short-term intense project rather than a component of a longer vacation. This kind of volunteer travel still takes place, usually by volunteers with very specific skills and training. An example of this kind of volunteer project would be medical professionals volunteering their skills in the hospital of a developing country on a short-term basis.

In more recent times however, the emphasis of volunteer travel has shifted away from short, intense and professional projects towards more long-term and unskilled activities. It is often the case that the only requirements needed from the volunteer are enthusiasm and a willingness to ‘get stuck in’. This shift in emphasis means that there are now more opportunities than ever before for people to participate in volunteer travel, which in turn means that more resources can be poured into a wide variety of projects. Wherever volunteer projects take place they are intended to benefit the local environment and community. Volunteers themselves nearly always report that their experience of giving up their time in support of such projects is intensely rewarding.