Volun-Tourism?!


Volunteering Holidays offer persons the chance to travel whilst gaining valuable experience along the way and also contributing something positive to the world, giving something valuable back to positively affect persons lives. "Voluntourism" opens up a world of opportunities for those who really want to take part in an energy exchange program and mutually beneficial, educational, enriching experience.


VSO Voluntary Services Overseas has been in operation since as long as I can remember and is the most established international brand name in terms of organizing Volunteers Internationally.


Voluntary Service Overseas is an international development charity with a vision for a "world without poverty" and a mission to "bring people together to fight poverty" Thier tagline reads, "Sharing Skills..Changing lives , Fighting Poverty."


They have the most established brand in terms of Voluntary Work internationally and have worked with 7,237 volunteers from all countries, ages and backgrounds. Their education programmes, working to improve access and quality of education. To date they have reached 900,000 people across 15 countries. VSO is the organisation spearheaded the "Let Girls Learn" program internationally, which encouraged gender equality in countries where Women are still being obstructed from the opportunity to get an education. Since 2012 they have withdrawn operations from the Caribbean and Latin America region, which is a shame, as there are many opportunities to trade skills also in this part of the world.

https://www.vsointernational.org/make-donation

 

In the modern Travel market Volunteering holidays has evolved a lot since the inception of VSO many years ago. The phrase "VolunTourism" is used to refer to holidays that involve some aspect, or are centered around a project that gives significant value back to the community with which it is associated.



https://www.projects-abroad.co.uk/more-info/volunteer-holidays/

Often times Students in University or College on a Gap Year benefit from taking part in these Volunteering holidays that allow them a chance to take a break from studying, whilst integrating real life experiences in their chosen field of work. Encouraging the development of their skills, knowledge and hands on experience in their chosen vocation as well as increasing the scope of their general knowledge, intelligence and life skills.

This website is a great resource for those seeking a Gap year opportunity specifically:

http://www.gapwork.com/gap-year-volunteering/index.html



Still there are also those older persons who are not students who maybe looking for a career break or even a career change. Who are seeking a new experience or a challenge and there are programs designed specifically for the older "Gapper".

https://travellersworldwide.com/grown-up-gappers



And even for those who dont have enough time to spare a whole month or longer to take part in a Voluntary project, but who still have the desire to contribute. Pod Volunteer has designed programs that are as short as one week, that allows the busy working professional to take time out of their work schedule to do something beneficial without obstructing their own career.

https://www.podvolunteer.org/who-volunteers/working-holidays





This website is also another brilliant resource for information regarding opportunities to Volunteer overseas. They are also the winner of THE BEST Volunteer Abroad Program 2018. They offer a broad range of projects including placements for Students and Professional Nurses to gain valuable practical experience to complement their studies and develop their skills.

https://www.volunteerforever.com/article_post/2017-best-volunteer-abroad-programs-organizations-projects



And this offers another great resource for those wishing to travel responsibly and give something back along the way from Sports Coaching in India, to taking care of Monkeys in South Africa to Marine life in Belize! Their tagline "Helping Dreamers Do.." says it all and that's the real business behind volunteering.  Pairing the right persons with the most needed skills with teams at projects around the world, that help them to both fulfill their idealistic, humanitarian, philanthropic desires together.

https://www.responsibletravel.com/holidays/volunteer-travel



In addition there is also the opportunity to combine Volunteering overseas with Teaching English as a Foreign Language and even taking the time to get certified in teaching EFL/ESL at the same time. Check out this website for opportunities to do this in South America.

https://maximonivel.com/

Honestly when I started to research this idea of #Voluntourism, I didn't realise there was such a wealth of resources, opportunities and options available for those who really want to get their feet wet, hands dirty, get involved and put in some work along their journey.

The world really is your oyster, or your pearl or your diamond which ever way you choose to look at it - it really is a Beautiful, Wonderful world! Safe travels... and Happy Volunteering!

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https://www.pinterest.co.uk/amaechisworld/oh-what-a-wanderful-world/

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