The first time I volunteered abroad was when I was in Shanghai. I was studying at Fudan University and participated in the Foreign Students Volunteer Program. I taught English at a migrant school in and it turned out to be the most rewarding experience at Fudan.

I might be biased because of my experience but I always encourage everyone I meet to either study or volunteer abroad. If I could, I’d be volunteering abroad right now but I’m keeping these dollar bills as close to me as possible. Grad school tuition is guaranteed to drain my life savings.

I’m currently volunteering for Support For International Change (SIC), an organization that is dedicated to limiting the impact of HIV/AIDS in undeserved communities. We are looking for students and recent alumni who are interested in volunteering with us in Tanzania.

Our programs provide volunteers with an opportunity to live with a host family in Tanzania and directly impact rural communities by working alongside local Tanzanians. Each program begins with an intensive expert-led orientation where volunteers are educated about HIV, our organization and global health before beginning their field experience running an HIV/AIDS awareness campaign.

We currently have space available for our summer program starting July 20 – September 14 and our fall program starting September 22 – December 15. Click here if you’re interested in participating in this volunteer program and if you know of anyone who might be interested in working in Tanzania, please share this with them.

Guest post by Suz from @suzrocks

All rights reserved by abroaderview.volunteers

Conventional volunteer organizations are good at providing motivational-warm-fuzzy-feeling reasons you should leave the comfort of your air-conditioned home to go help those less fortunate.

This list is not it.

Conventional, I am not.  I figured it was up to me to inform the public of the real reasons why you should volunteer in the third world.

1. New Skills

Such as embalming. Yes, as in, “preparing dead people for their journey into the afterlife.” They most certainly did not teach me this in nursing school.  Considering today’s economy, having a skill like this can put you in demand when you return home. Last I knew, the death rate was still 100%.

2. Character Enhancement

Sleeping in bedding unwashed since Nixon’s presidency builds character. It takes fortitude to sleep night after night curled up in bed knowing a Chinese bedbug may land on one of the three square inches of skin you weren’t able to cover with your still slightly damp towel.  Soon, you’ll be snuggled under the covers, arguing with the bedbugs about who gets to be the little spoon.

3. Career Direction

After four years as a nurse, some of that time spent volunteering overseas, I still didn’t know what I wanted to be when I grew up. A last minute trip to Haiti opened my eyes to the need for anesthesia providers in the third world.  I also learned that anesthesia involves more than the latest Harlequin or Sudoku puzzle. Fast forward three years, I’m six months away from finishing grad school.

4. Earn Money

Scholarships, my friend.  Writing, “Built an orphanage in Madagascar,” on your applications makes you look altruistic. When you look good, people practically throw money at you.  And you thought only strippers had money thrown at them. Since I’ve been in grad school, I’ve received over $11k…none of which resulted from my pole dancing abilities.

5. Culinary Creativity

Take out options are usually limited, so you learn to cook with what you have. You’ll learn boiled eggs, rolls, and pineapple is a balanced meal. Also, animal crackers, melted chocolates, and peanut butter make great breakfasts.

6. Bragging Rights

After you’ve eaten animal crackers for breakfast enough days in a row, you won’t mind as much when jungle rodent, cow tongue, or guinea pig is set in front of you. This also helps at cocktail parties when the inevitable, “I once ate ____” topic comes up. You will always win. You may also never be invited back.

7. Meet the love of your life.

If I had never almost died in an avalanche on Cotopaxi while working in Ecuador, I never would have fallen in love with mountains, nor would I have moved to Colorado.  Had I not moved there, I never would have met my husband. This makes so much sense to me.

8. Save Money

Sure, you drop a wad of cash for a plane ticket and use your vacation time, so you can work for free.  But, I can almost guarantee, you will be someplace with a low cost of living.  When I lived in Ecuador, I lived for less than $70 a month- much less than you’d be paying in the States. So really, you’re saving money. I use similar logic to justify the need for new shoes. Disclaimer: I do not possess any credentials appropriate for dispensing financial advice.  This last point may not be entirely true.

9. Stories

You will now have at your fingertips a veritable gold mine of stories for every occasion. If you’re good enough at your story-telling, you may get a book deal.  If Elizabeth Gilbert had been volunteering in Africa, her bestseller title would’ve read, Eat Bugs, Pray We Don’t Get Shot, Love the One You’re With Because You May Die Soon of Malaria.  If that doesn’t scream NYT Bestseller list, I don’t know what does.

If none of the above nine reasons tempt you to consider volunteering your time and talents, then maybe you’ll be swayed by the chance to forever impact people’s lives for the better.

You may also find that you develop a warm and fuzzy feeling inside…but that could just be the parasites.

Suz

Suz’s illustrious writing career started with a series of Christmas letters written for her mother.  Her blog SuzRocks began when she ran out of stamps and a tree died. She is currently finishing a Masters degree in Nurse Anesthesia, just in case her desired ‘sponsored mountain climber’ gig is taken. Visit her blog SuzRocks or die sad.  Following her on Twitter @Suzrocks may also bring giggles.

All rights reserved by Designi1

2010 has been a tough year for me – mentally and emotionally. I know I haven’t been cranking out as many original posts as I would have like to lately. I’ve been working really hard and I can’t wait to fill you in on what’s to come in the near future. But first, I’d like to give a heartfelt thank you to  all my readers for visiting my travel blog, my guest bloggers who help keep my blog running and all the friends I’ve made since I starting writing about my travels. I hope you know that every time you leave a comment, send me an email or tweet at me, it makes my day a little brighter because it reminds me that there’s more to life than my 9-7 grind.

2011 is going to be another crazy and busy year. I can’t wait to share my travels around the world and my travels through life with you. So wrap up this year, here are the top 10 posts on A Pair of Panties & Boxers in 2010. I hope you enjoy these posts. Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays wanderlusters!

15 Ways To Volunteer In Africa

Guest post by @BorderJumping

Our Journey began in October 2009 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia — when we left to visit nearly every country in Africa. At every stop we are meeting with farmers, community organizers, labor activists/leaders, unions, non-governmental organization (NGOs), the funding and donor communities, and local press. Read more

One Week Itinerary For Honduras

It’s two months away but I still have the urge to take out my backpack and starting packing. I’m eager to leave, eager to see and eager to live.  I can’t wait till I get on that plane to Honduras. I booked it for only $280! I’ve got my plate full working 50 hours a week, volunteering, studying for GMAT, researching grad schools and running random errands I don’t have time to do during the work week.

I haven’t had a chance to do much planning for Honduras. Although, experiences have taught me that things never…Read more

Temples From Europe To Asia

Temples. Temples. Temples. What can I say about temples?

Let’s just look at pretty pictures of temples instead.

Here is a collection of images submitted by travel writers around the world of temples from places like Uluwatu, Madrid, Greece, Cambodia, Italy, Cambodia, China, India, Nepal, Japan and Indonesia. Read more

I’ll be calling for photo submissions in the future for an upcoming photo collection post. If you’d like to contribute, please feel free to email me at monica@apairofpantiesandboxers.com.

7 Essential Items For Light Travelers

Sometimes I forget to eat when I travel. I get full off of life and everything else around me. That is until my stomach starts growling like a dinosaur and I realize that I’m half way up the mountain already.

Afterward, I started packing crackers. It was cheap and it was good enough to hold me down for the time being. Then I realized that granola bars, although slightly more expensive, are much better and healthier alternative.

Read more

Jaw-Dropping Sunrises Around The World

Today’s Photo Friday Special is inspired by my previous blog post, Sunsets From Around The World. It was such a big hit that I decided to feature sunrises in this edition. I thought I’d be receiving a lot less sunrise submissions than sunset editions. I mean, unless you’re jet-lagged or an insomniac, who gets up at the crack of down to catch the sun rise?

Read more

Traveling Latin America Safely – It’s the little things

Guest blog post by @Brendanvanson.

I remember the first time I left home on my own to travel the Central America I was 20 years old.  Everyone around me warned of the thousands of dangers – real and make believe – that would exist in this strange part of the world of which I knew little about.  I remember clearly my mom telling a friend of hers that I was going to Central America, where “the favourite pastime of people is kidnapping foreigners.”  The truth of the matter is that the media always has a way of accentuating the negative aspects about different parts of the world. Read more

新年快乐！ Happy Chinese New Year!

Chinese New Year is on Valentine’s Day this year. It’s different every year because the holiday is based on the lunar calendar. Learning about my own traditions has always been a hands-on, and sometimes painful, experience. When I was 5, I stuck my chopsticks upright in my bowl of white rice and got whacked. I later learned you only do that when making offerings to the deceased. Oops!

Chinese New Year celebrations began with the legend of a wild beast called Nian. “Nian” in Chinese means year. Read more

Hangzhou, China: A Stunning Sunset On The West Lake

The travel bug bit somewhere between Wuzhen and Suzhou. We returned from Suzhou Saturday night. But by Sunday morning, JC and I already had our bags packed and a one-way ticket in our hand. We took the next departing train fr0m Shanghai to Hangzhou. It was an hour and a half of smooth sailing.

The first thing we did was go island hopping. In Xihu (West Lake), the most famous lake in Hangzhou, there are three smaller man-made islands. Nearby are three small pagodas erected from the water. Read more

Things I Can’t Stand When Traveling

I use to think that I was the most level-minded person on the face of this earth. I always heard two sides of the story before passing judgment and I’ve been told countless times before that I’m an extremely understanding person. I use to think I’d make the world’s coolest girlfriend. That was before I got  a boyfriend and that was before I started traveling.

I guess certain things never use to bother me because I controlled everything. I planned for everything. I let no surprises hit me with a curve ball. That wasn’t always successful but most of the time it worked. But after I started traveling, I realized that I can’t stand it when…Read more

Make Your Bucket List Less Daunting With A F***-It List

Guest post by @Jetpacker

Bucket lists are cultishly popular right now.  It seems like everyone is making a list full of life goals so lofty they make The Most Interesting Man In The World look like an incompetent jackass.  Conquering fears.  Gaining independence.  Finding enlightenment.  It all sounds so… overwhelming.

I needed something that would make my bucket list seem less daunting and more realistic. Read more

Which one is your favorite?

Via www.insearchofsanuk.com

Hi Dwight, let’s start having you tell us a little about yourself and why you decided to start In Search of Sanuk?

Thanks Monica. To make a long story short, when I returned to Thailand in 2008, I had a group of friends who were interested in doing more to give back, but didn’t really have any opportunity. I helped them organize an event at an orphanage and the following month we had a fundraiser party. What I didn’t plan for was that since then people have come to expect me to plan and organize these types of initiatives here. I never intended to start anything. I am emphasizing that because people who meet me now assume I have a background in non profit or development work. Anyway, fast forward a little over a year later and I have my hands full with all kinds of activities. I’m working lately a lot with refugees and the homeless, but my biggest project revolves around structuring a volunteer teaching project in the slum.

Why the title ‘In Search of Sanuk’?

Sanuk is Thai for fun or enjoyment. It’s a word you can’t really avoid if you’ve spent any time in Thailand. Sanuk shapes the way Thais conceptualize life and is really one of the main factors in the laid back, but fun seeking nature of Thais.

Other than sanuk, what else are you in search for?

I’m not purely looking for sanuk here. But I did want to borrow that Thai concept and apply it to the desire to give back and reinvest in the community here. A lot of what I do is just challenging or disproving the traditional picture we have of charity. People are so bent on enjoying themselves and I wanted to borrow from some of that energy and show people that helping and having fun aren’t mutually exclusive, but are really intertwined.

When, where and how did you have the epiphany of creating this mission and starting these project?

No epiphanies. No shortcuts. No one hit me over the head with instructions on how to do good. I actually set out trying to latch on to what other people were doing. I resisted the idea that I should start my own thing. They are so many cool things happening here, that I thought I would jump on board someone else ship and just tell people about it. Well, that didn’t work at all. A few key people pushed me create something of my own, but this all happened over a period of about five months. Which should be encouraging to all of use who aren’t born geniuses. Again, I never intended to start anything.

What was your biggest challenge starting In Search of Sanuk?

Me. The fear of starting something new. The doubt and over emphasis on the things I lacked: funds, time and experience. I never recognized those as things that made me just like the rest of the planet. We tend to think we have to be exceptional to be heard, but what I have in common with most people is what sets me apart, but it took a while to begin to see that. Once I did, I began to find my voice and pickup more momentum with ISOS.

What have you learned through your experiences running In Search of Sanuk?

I have learned so much. The first thing that comes to mind is that doing good things does not make you a good person. Also, doing what you know to do is right isn’t laudable, it’s just what you should do. Recognizing those things means you have to have your heart in the right place to help people even when it’s not easy and there’s no obvious reward. It also redefined how I feel about burnout. Burnout isn’t bad. When helping people becomes exhausting, I’m thankful because it purifies my motives. Otherwise we become narcissistic about change making, clouding our ability to help and connect with others doing the same.

Via www.insearchofsanuk.com

Why did you choose Thailand? Do you plan on expanding to other parts of Southeast Asia?

Thailand chose me. I was recruited to teach hear about 4 years ago for a 10 month contract. What I didn’t know is that I would build an affinity of the people, a knack for the language, and love of the lifestyle. I went home for a year near the beginning of the recession and eventually ended up back here. This is home and now I’m only focusing on doing what I’ve committed to here well.

Where do you & your organization hope to be in 10 years?

ISOS is still young. There’s a lot that needs to happen in the next 10 months to decide if it will exist in the next 10 years. I’m talking about the challenges of creating something long term and sustainable. To even be having this discussion is as daunting as it is exciting. So I’m dealing with looking for and applying for funding, while hypothesizing about the possibility of being able to hire staff or have a real office in the future.

What is your next upcoming project? What kind of help will you be looking for? What does In Search of Sanuk currently need the most right now? School supplies? Donations? Clothes? Volunteers? Do you have extended programs for volunteering? (IE: weekly, monthly)

We just expanded our project teaching on the weekends in two Bangkok slum communities. I’m always looking for volunteers both short and long term. This is designed for people who live and work in Bangkok to have an easy way they can give back. If someone is looking for something more long term, I’d love to have a grant writer (who wouldn’t, right?), but you don’t necessarily have to do that from Bangkok.

Donations are the biggest need. I have been able to get some of the projects we’re doing with kids partially funded, but I need more funding to move toward sustaining operations here. ISOS is still very grassroots and the funds I have been using mostly come from people here who have attended parties or events we’ve thrown. Those donations, along with what people give through my website go a long way. I’ll give you a recent example. This past weekend I helped a man buy a rice cooker ($15). If you can imagine, a broken rice cooker in a Sri Lankan family of four is quite a crisis, especially for this refugee family without any rights to work in Thailand. A small donation helped this man’s family in a big way. The same man who earlier this month, confessed to me about having to pawn his wife’s jewelry to pay his family’s rent ($100).

About Dwight Turner

Dwight Turner started InSearchOfSanuk to challenge you to create your lifestyle of fun and giving. We’re igniting change in Thailand and we want to help you do the same in your community. We all have a role to play. Dream Big, Work Smart, Start Local.

You can also follow Dwight on Twitter @insearchofsanuk

Contributed by @iwishgapyear

©Travellers Worldwide

Volunteering, whether it is before study or as a career break, will bring you into contact with a range of environments and communities used to the rigours of daily life. But remember the host communities are also vulnerable to the effects of volunteering as they live with the after effects for the rest of their lives, therefore it is imperative that companies and volunteers like act responsibly in order to improve the experience for all involved.

To decide which company you would like to go with, start by looking at the companies themselves. Use the following checklist as a guide to help you to determine their ethical and responsible backgrounds.

The Company

• Established: It’s useful to look at how long they have been established for. This can establish their success and ability to adapt throughout the years to the needs of their customers and host communities.
• Where Can You Meet Them: Can you go to their offices, are they present at gap year fairs and/or trade exhibitions. The power of face to face contact is immense. It can allow you to discuss potential opportunities and any issues you may have on a conversational level. This could help with the decisions you make as well as ease any worries.
• Membership: Are they accredited by a professional body such as the Institute of Travel and Tourism. This demonstrates that as an organization they have met certain criteria to be worthy of accreditation.
• Testimonials: Does the company provide an opportunity for you to discuss volunteering with previous volunteers or do they have a profile of previous testimonials. This can give you an idea of how the organizer operates as well as what to expect from volunteering.
• Training and Induction: Do they offer pre-volunteer training or orientation on arrival at your destination. Good organizations will give you a helping hand on arrival to prepare you for your new surroundings and role as volunteer.
• Complaints: Check out online forums, search engines and social networks for honest opinions of volunteer organizations.
• Payment: Obviously you have to take into account administration costs of a tour operator, It’s good to find out how much of what you pay actually goes to the project you are wanting to work on.

You – The Volunteer

Although you need to take into account what makes a good operator. Remember, you yourself need to be as conscientious as well.

• Be Socially Aware: When taking part in a volunteer program, you will be working within a local community, working with the locals. Doing this, you should ultimately learn to respect each others ways and practices, without stereotype.
• Economic Benefits: As said before, check where your money goes when you pay for a volunteer project. Who benefits the most from your contribution.
• Environmental Responsibility: The point is to leave the environment in which you enter as sustainable and as natural as when you arrived. Whether you are developing routes for visitors or rehabilitating animals. Your work should benefit not hinder an environment.

Take into consideration your travel which, if traveling by plane you’ll contribute to carbon dioxide emissions. You may want to offset this by buying direct flights as take-off and landing releases the most carbon emissions or paying into a carbon off-setting scheme, or even finding alternative modes of transport.

Questions To Ask

Although we have covered the components of responsible volunteering, when doing your own research, here is a guide of questions you might like to ask the organiser. It’ll provide a bigger picture of:

• How the organizers operate
• What to expect in the volunteer community
• What the people are like.

Money

• What do you get for your money?
• How is your money used – you would like a breakdown to display:
• What is donated to the community and project
• What percentage the organizer takes

The Community and Environment

• How long have the company operated for?
• Is the project long term and sustainable?
• What are the benefits of this project to the host community?
• Are you taking positions from local people?
• Does the organizer respect, adhere an maintain local customs and cultures?
• Does the organizer help to be as carbon neutral as possible?

People and Training

• Does the organizer employ local people?
• What information are you provided prior to departure?
• What training is offered prior to departure or on arrival?
• Will there be an induction or orientation on arrival?

From the answers and conversations you have, you will be able to determine whether the project and/or the company is the right one for you.

Don’t forget, you can always ask us questions on our forum – no matter how large or small

About iwishgapyear

Oliver, the founder of IWishGapYear.com.

I’ve been interested in travel all my life and have been lucky to travel from a young age.  It’s no surprise that travel is the industry I went into and the only one I have ever known!

IWishGapYear.com is focused on the “Gap Year Industry”.  To me it’s not just backpacking and traveling – even though that might be a gap year in your life. It’s about doing something worthwhile.  It’s about volunteering to help others, working abroad to boost your CV/resume or learning a new skill, qualification or trade.

Lin Yutang once said, “No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.”  Well with the help of the awesome @Monica530 and @iwishgapyear we hope to provide you with inspiration and guidance.   If you ever need anything feel free to post on my forum. I always try to reply to every question personally!