Thomas is travelling with his school and a specialist travel company . In the last few years volunteering abroad has grown increasingly popular , particularly for students who are thinking of taking a gap year . Being able to make a difference in the lives of others offers great personal reward . However , when planning these trips it is essential that you ask
yourself if what you are offering is of value to the community you are staying in . A number of TED talks focus on this aspect of volunteering abroad – on whether you get more than you give . In particular Jinting Lily Kang ’ s talk “ International Volunteering - Valuable or Vandalism ” www . youtube . com / watch ? v = 4yuGHsf5PSE brings a sharp focus to the motivation for volunteering , and looks at some of the voluntourism scams that have arisen around fee-paying volunteers .
You ’ ve watched the video and are still interested . The next question is : should you travel with a big company or organise
things yourself ? Travelling with a volunteer company or charity offers 24 hour support , an organised itinerary , in-country support and insurance if there is a problem . The downside to big companies is that it is expensive and a large part of the fee you pay is eaten up in the overheads of running the company that is based in Europe eg . staffing costs , advertising , admin etc . and so very little of what you pay is actually passed onto the ground level . If you are a confident traveller you can save a great deal of money organising things directly with grassroot volunteer programmes
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