Image by Visions Service Adventures via Flickr
When you imagine taking your family on a volunteer vacation, what do you envision? Do you imagine yourselves feeding hungry orphans, seeing a look of undying gratitude in their eyes, instilling in your kids a deep sense of appreciation for what they have and a lifelong dedication to helping those in need? Do you see yourselves, machetes in hand, hacking back vegetation to clear hiking trails through the jungle? Do you envision early mornings of milking cows, great communal lunches in the fields, and aching muscles at the end of a day of work on an organic farm?
These are all possible scenarios, but it is very important to do the research before you head away from the comforts of home so that you can match your expectations with reality. The website VolunTourism has some very helpful, if a little academic, articles on how to choose a volunteer vacation experience.
Earn your keep
One way to cut out some of your travel costs is to work somewhere in exchange for room and board, and there are several websites that act as clearinghouses for these opportunities.
- World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms links people who want to volunteer on organic farms or smallholdings with people who are looking for volunteer help.
- Workaway broadens the concept to include many kinds of volunteer work, including cooking for an Italian art center, helping injured kangaroos in Australia’s Northern Territory, or working on a permaculture education center in Fiji. Volunteers pay a membership fee.
- Help Exchange is very similar to Workaway, but there is no membership fee to join and post a volunteer profile. If you want to contact a host directly, you will need to pay for the Premier membership.
- Se7en encourages social and environmental volunteering around the world. There is a membership fee of €15 for two years, but they may consider waiving the fee in some situations.
All of these sites simply offer ways for you to find volunteer and homestay opportunities that might work for you; it’s up to you to contact the hosts and to make the match work. It is possible to find opportunities for families, but you will have to contact the hosts to make specific arrangements. It is always a good idea to exchange multiple emails before committing, and certainly before departing on your voyage. You want to be sure both hosts and volunteers know what to expect.
If you know of others, please post them in the comments section and I will update the list.
Next time – Volunteer Vacation Resources pt. 2 – Pay Your Way – Organized Volunteer Tours
This is a GREAT post. I had pretty much written off volunteerism during our own travels (most regrettably) after checking out the Peace Corps and Cross Cultural Solutions, who do not accept volunteer families with young children. But this post rekindles the hope that we could find a host that would accommodate our family. At the least my husband and I could take shifts volunteering for 5 hours a day each, and most certainly our kids would want to roll up their sleeves too. Saving kangaroos in Australia? Couldn’t be better targetted to my daughter’s interests. Can’t wait to get in touch with potential hosts. Thanks so much for the leads.
Look forward to following along with you!
Heidi
Did you find any organizations that will allow you to volunteer with young kids? I am very interested in doing so! We have 4 kids, ages 4-7 and are looking for something for next summer (June-August 2013). We tried to find something for this summer but couldn’t find a place that would accept our kids as well (who are actually really good travelers, hard workers, and well-behaved!:). I would love to hear if you’ve found something!
We’ve made a lot of requests through WorkAway, and we’ve had a few positive responses. Because there will be three or four of us, I offer to pay for our food. Some places just aren’t big enough or appropriate for kids, and it just takes a lot of research to find the right match.
As for the paid volunteer vacations, there are some that welcome kids, such as Global Volunteers, but they can be pretty pricey, even with the family discount.
Awesome post, thanks!
We are looking at a complete lifestyle change in the near future and I am going to go through every one of these links! It’s amazing how many options there are when you start looking and I am sure I will find plenty more along the way.