General Tips And Advice

Via Brave New Traveler: Changing The World On Vacation, Documentary Film

Date: September 7th, 2007 |

Brave New Traveler founder Ian MacKenzie has a great habit of letting the Volunteer Logue in on things when something relevant is published on his site via the Contact Us page. The latest is an interview with filmmaker Daniela Kon, who recently finished filming Changing the World On Vacation: NGO Volunteers and the Politics of [read more]

From Brave New Traveler: The Complete Guide To Volunteer Tourism

Date: July 26th, 2007 |

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Brave New Traveler recently published an article called The Complete Guide To Volunteer Tourism, by Christina Heyniger.
This guide provides a useful general overview of selecting a volunteer program if you go the route of utilizing a provider or placement organization. It recommends starting by assessing your own interests which is of course a [read more]

Language Learning Tips: “Crowd Pleasers”

Date: July 15th, 2007 |

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If you plan on doing some language learning before you volunteer, all the more power to you. For those cases where you can only make basic progress, Andrew Wahba of the True Travellers Society had a great tip:
“I like to go with a ridiculous question or something not particularly important like ‘do you [read more]

Some Observations On Fundraising

Date: July 14th, 2007 |

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I’ve had an opportunity over the last few months to gain some insight into fundraising, mostly from the side of non-profit organizations approaching donors. This is not really a glamorous or high profile area of the work, but as the main activities of non-profit organizations by their nature tend not to be, well, profitable, [read more]

Rolf Potts On Low-Cost Volunteering

Date: July 11th, 2007 |

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Mika from Bootsnall recently gave me the heads up on a couple of relevant online articles on volunteering, and thanks to those links, I also came across a slightly older but no less valuable post by vagabonding traveler Rolf Potts at World Hum. It’s on the topic of I want to volunteer abroad, are [read more]

One Last Tip For Selecting A Volunteer Program

Date: July 28th, 2007 |

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A whopping number of volunteer programs pass before my eyes in my research for this logue; I also browse through a good deal of advice on how to select a program. There are many different lenses you can look at this advice through, and I appreciate the effort that goes into compiling tips that [read more]

Citizenship And ESL Volunteers

Date: July 26th, 2007 |

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If you’re craving some connection to other cultures but can’t leave home, consider volunteering with a local organization that provides ESL or citizenship classes to immigrants and/or refugees. Working one on one with people is a great way to learn about his or her life experiences and culture.
To volunteer as an ESL teacher or [read more]

Language Learning For International Volunteers

Date: July 15th, 2007 |

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Most people agree that learning the language is a good thing; in practice though, it is neither simple nor always practical, especially if you travel to a place with a rare or difficult language.
If you need Spanish, French or Chinese and an in-person class is not a practical option, the Loquella Language Tool is not [read more]

Tips For Preparing And Dealing With Challenges, From True Travellers’ Society

Date: July 12th, 2007 |

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Andrew Wahba, the founder of True Travellers Society, which puts travellers and international volunteers in touch with volunteer-seeking organizations, shared with the Volunteer Logue his thoughts about preparing to volunteer as well as advice for reconciling pre-departure expectations with challenges on the ground.
He prepares by reading up on the country and trying to learn a [read more]

Is It Safe To Volunteer Abroad?

Date: July 7th, 2007 |

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Is it safe these days to volunteer abroad, especially when many volunteer project locations are somewhat off the beaten path? How can you find out where it’s safe and where it’s not?
To speak sweepingly, I think people tend to worry more than reality merits.
Certainly there is crime in some areas, and you [read more]