ADD ADVICE TO FAVVolunteering abroad
Volunteering can be one of the most fulfilling and rewarding ways to spend time during your gap year. Integrating yourself into a new community and working with people from an entirely different culture can leave you with a great sense of achievement and an experience you won’t forget.
As if the experience itself isn’t enough of an incentive, this type of work is a great asset to your CV, most likely impressing future employers far more than time out on an extended holiday abroad. It shows commitment, dedication and a passion for the work in which you have been involved.
But yes, of course it is expensive. Not only are you dealing with the cost of living for a year or part of a year without any income, but also most firms actually charge you a hefty sum for working with them. In addition, recruitment and competition for volunteer work can be tough, and this is partly due to the relatively high drop out rate. But don’t let this put you off! Just make sure you are really up to a challenge, and do your research so you know what to expect from your placement.
Different types of volunteer work
It is hard to categorise such a broad area of work – essentially covering any type of work that is unpaid. However, some of the most common areas of work for gap year students are as follows:
Work camps
These are run in developed countries across the world, and are ideal for 16- to 20-year-olds who are looking for more of a structure, working with an established international network of voluntary organisations.
Volunteers are given the means to live cheaply for two to four weeks, and become involved local projects such as renovating buildings, constructing boats or working with animals.
Archaeology
This specific type of work is popular mainly with students planning on pursuing a related subject at university. If you haven’t already studied any archaeology, some digging experience would work to your advantage.
Archaeological excavations can be exciting (and you could be exploring as far a field as Israel or China), though do bear in mind you could be digging out in the elements for at least eight hours a day.
Conservation
If you are interested in protecting the environment, there are many types of international projects you can work on. These include preserving game and nature reserves, working-for-keep on organic farms, conserving the rainforests, or working for expedition organisations as a specialist tour operator.
If you have a project of your own that you want to carry out, it is worth investigating sponsorship – a local or national company, or a funding body may help you out.
Developing countries
Though these regions are in great need of help, don’t think that it will be easy to just pitch up and volunteer in a developing country with nothing to offer but good intentions. Some useful training or skill (for example, in construction) will usually be required to make you stand out from others applying to aid agencies.
If you are travelling in a developing country already, there may be opportunities to work on small projects with the locals.
Disaster relief
Often this is similar to the work above, although be prepared for even more poverty, disease and distress. There will always be natural disasters that leave victims behind; many require a sustained redevelopment effort for months and years afterwards.
