Posts Tagged ‘volunteer work’
Geotraveler’s Niche
Lola Akinmade combines her professions as a photojournalist, travel writer and volunteer worker with her personal experiences while on the road. Follow her journeys through her beautiful photographs and vibrant commentary at Geotraveler’s Niche.
Two Stops Past Siberia
Two Stops Past Siberia is a mix of personal letters to family/friends, blog entries, bonus content and a whole lot more. Carl Beien, a Peace Corps volunteer in Kyrgyzstan, takes you from “big city” life to “small village” living via the written word.
Travel Guy
After spending 11 months in Ecuador volunteering as an English teacher, Jon Brandt is back in the US biding his time before his next trip. Destination: Buenos Aires.
The Value of Voluntourism: Interview with Stephen Greenwood
In a time when voluntourism – the act of travelling to volunteer, or volunteering to travel – is becoming big business, there is one question I keep coming back to: Does voluntourism help the people who are supposedly being served, or is it primarily for the benefit of the volunteer?
It’s the question I asked Brian Hermon about his volunteer work in Ghana; and it’s the same question I asked Chris Guillebeau, who also volunteered for a time in Africa.
And now Stephen Greenwood. Last year, Stephen spent five months living in Tanzania, shooting footage for a documentary and film about an orphanage in Arusha, a city in northern Tanzania. His blog, Observations, is a treasure chest of insightful snippets, beautiful photos and probing questions. After spending an afternoon browsing through, I asked Stephen to share more about his experiences in Tanzania.
Why We Travel: Mark Shrime’s Story
All it took was a nun.
The flight from New York City to Paris and on to Benin was about as uneventful as flights go; maybe half an hour of turbulence and two complimentary glasses of cognac rocked the entire sixteen hours of travel. Until I landed in Benin, the only thing eventful that had happened to me was that, despite my best efforts, I thoroughly and completely lost an armrest war to my left-hand neighbor, who seemed to consider that his window-seat ticket also bought him a controlling share in the adjacent aisle seat.
Given that he was approximately double my size (you will see…this promises to be a recurring theme), I’m surprised I lasted as long as I did—which, to be fair, was only about 27 minutes. I had little choice but to become intimately familiar with the contralateral armrest, and each passing, just-wide-enough-to-make-you-rue-elbows, duty-free-stocked beverage cart propelled by plastic smiles.
Voluntourism: Choosing the Right Placement For You
I was conducting a voluntourism workshop not so long ago. Some participants were new to voluntourism and wanted to learn more, some were already semi-veterans of several volunteer tours of duty and wanted to learn how to “do-it-yourself” on a budget. But a couple of participants were rather disgruntled and unhappy former volunteers. They came to complain, though to no one in particular and voice their concerns.
They said they had followed all voluntouring instructions they’d read about to the letter and yet had been totally disappointed with their volunteering experiences. We sat down to chat after the workshop and one thing became immediately apparent. “Nobody told us that before,” they said. “If they had, maybe we would have enjoyed it more,” they said, “and maybe we would have chosen better.”
No, they did not end up with a crooked voluntour operator. Their provider arranged exactly what was promised. So what went wrong? Nothing really. Except for the participants’ initial choice of work.
How You Can Change the World Through Volunteer Work
Find a need. Fill a need.
For many of us there comes a point in life, when you take pause, look around and realize we have it pretty good. It’s that moment when you discover that no matter how many points the Dow has dropped, or how high gas prices have become, we still live like kings and queens compared to a lot of people in the world. Then comes the wave of guilt, compassion, inspiration – whatever it is that moves a person to say: “ I want to do something. I, (insert full name here), want to make a difference.”
Hope and Healing
Mark and Peggy are two physicians from New York City who have taken a year off the grind of academic medicine to travel the globe. After six months of travel, they will finally land in Liberia, where they will work as volunteers. (Interview with Mark and Peggy)
Conor’s Mildly Thrilling Tales
Conor Grennan lived in Kathmandu, Nepal, where he ran a home for trafficked children.
Rambling Traveler: An Interview with Stacy
Travel does not necessarily have to involve a lot of money or a lot of time. Nor does it need to involve a flight overseas. Truly rewarding travel experiences can be enjoyed much closer to home, as people like Stacy from Rambling Traveler will testify. Many of her trips are day trips or weekends away around her home in Minnesota, though she also takes every opportunity she can get to head further afield, whether it be a volunteering trip down to Guatemala or an upcoming trip to Scotland.
