It was beautiful to watch that same young boy grow up to become very active in fighting poverty in his own country and internationally. He works on social work projects at home and abroad.
Because short-term volunteer experiences can sometimes transform into long-term commitments, it is essential to analyze what kind of time commitment you can make, and stick with it. Matching your talents and skills with your volunteer activity is also important. If you have teaching experience, volunteering by teaching your native language may be a good fit. Medical experts can offer their skills while traveling, but, of course, it is important to check local requirements for medical practices. I have seen successful programs where foreign specialists work with local doctors to perform operations and procedures. Manual labor can be especially rewarding as in the example above of building a house. There are numerous projects like that, as well as countless others like building wells for clean water or even farming work. Of course, you should be aware that manual labor costs are often much lower in developing countries, so it might be best to hire local labor workers to do jobs as opposed to doing all of the manual work on projects personally.
It is essential to make sure that the community you would like to help when traveling really benefits. I suggest that you look at working with a local organization that is very familiar with the people and their needs. If you are using an international organization to book volunteer trips, it is important to make sure they have a local organization that they partner with. While some people try to help struggling communities directly while they travel, this can sometimes lead to more problems that, as a traveller, you might not even be aware.
When you are looking at an organization to volunteer for, you might want to ask the following questions: What is the organization’s goal and its history? Is it a non-profit organization? If you are paying for a volunteer experience, how much will go to the programs directly? What kind of direct support will you have within the country? What will the conditions be like where you will be volunteering? Is there training, including cultural training? Will they help you with trip planning and preparation?
Detailed planning and research can help you have a successful volunteer experience when traveling that will benefit the locals and you. There is nothing more rewarding than being of service and this is a great way to achieve that goal all while having an amazing holiday. Enjoy your travels.