We learned that volunteering isn't free! When you really think about it, this makes sense ... just because we might think we can lend a hand doesn't mean that a local community would have resources to house you and feed you and ensure that you are competent. We discovered that there is are broad differences among volunteer organizations as far as what kind of time commitment they require, services they try to provide, fees required, and whether or not they have specific religious sponsorship. Complicating our situation - we want to volunteer in at least three countries. Some of the organizations were really cost prohibitive, and we had the sense that we could not be sure those funds were being invested in the local community we would be serving. There are many wonderful smaller groups we would have enjoyed working with - but they tend to have specific times when they make volunteer trips, and we needed to fit it into our schedule.
We found a great website at the International Volunteer Headquarters which operates out of New Zealand, and which partners with volunteer organizations all over the world. They have a great website, answered our questions, provide opportunities to volunteer in medical clinics, orphanages and schools, and we could pick sites all over the world. Their fees are very reasonable, and we can choose a home stay, with our fees going to the family hosting us. We liked the design of the organization, and it really has helped us get organized about what we need to bring and they do the details. We are doing the India and Tanzania programs through them, and in India we will be in New Delhi for a week of orientation prior to heading north to Dharamsala for our volunteer experience. In Tanzania, we'll be in Arusha. We received an amazing file of information about the experiences right after we booked them, and are really looking forward to the experiences.
We are still trying to set up two other volunteer experiences - one in Peru, through Father Jack's mission in Chimbote, and in Bolivia we would like to connect with Mano a Mano. Our great friends Karen and Brooks have done volunteer work in Bolivia through Mano a Mano, and we have contributed to the building of a school there. Details we still need to work out.
We have learned that there are needs everywhere and wonderful organizations working to fulfill them ... making the world seem a lot smaller!
