Why
volunteer to work for little or nothing during your Gap Year?
Pros:
-
it will make you feel worthy and give you a radical new perspective
on life in general and yours in particular.
- future employers will mostly be impressed by this on your CV.
- wannabe non-couch potatoes should shape up quite nicely under
the hard graft of manual work, limited diet and no TV.
Cons:
- volunteer work means little or no wages, and you will probably
have to pay the organisation who places you for the service they
provide.
- your daily food and living conditions will be very different
from what you're used to.
Not
For Profit?
Like
with all things in life, if there is a way of making money from
something, then someone will be doing it, and volunteer jobs are
no different!
The organisations which arrange volunteer work may be not-for-profit
registered charities, or may be profit making companies.
If you are planning to get sponsorship for your trip then clued
up potential sponsors will also be keen to know where their money
is going.
For profit businesses actually increase the amount of volunteer
work being arranged but there is nothing fundamentally wrong with
this. However, avoid businesses that are in the business for profit
but try and conceal the fact. If a business in the UK or USA is not for profit they will be
a registered charity and you will be able to check this. Ensure
their status is made clear in their communications with you.
See Gap
Organisations for company listings.
Jobs/Projects
Voluntary
Work Abroad:
Often involves work in areas of Health, Children, Wildlife or
the Environment. e.g. Helping people in third world countries
by getting food, water or medicines to them, building them houses,
or educating them and their children.
Pros:
- looks great on a CV.
- enables you to live in some very exotic places.
- gives you an immediate social circle.
Cons:
- no pay, only living expenses or in some cases YOU pay THEM!
- you could end up in a totally miserable location in miserable
living conditions.
Conservation
and Expeditions:
No matter where you go in the world conservation tends to have
low commercial priority, so volunteers are much in demand, especially
those who pay for the pleasure of working.
However, make sure that the project is really achieving something
useful and isn't just commerce in disguise.
Pros:
- helps mother nature who is undoubtedly under attack from all
kinds of human and climatic angles.
- will get you fit if you aren't to start out with.
Cons:
- not for people with more serious health issues or very poor
fitness to start with.
- it can cost a surprisingly large amount of money to be really
helpful!
Community Projects [School Leavers and Undergraduates mainly]:
Generally
teaching English and other intellectual skills at a basic level,
digging wells, and building accommodation.
Pros:
- helps 'underprivileged' communities, predominately in third
world countries to get ahead.
- possibly the staying or getting fit thing again.
Cons:
- you may want to help people, but will realise that to do so,
have to actually join them temporarily; team spirit essential,
reality check guaranteed.
- as always, check that by joining in with the underprivileged
to make them less so, you are not making someone else very financially
privileged indeed!
Professional
Services [Graduate/Retired Gappers]:
Medical
and teaching professionals, particularly if multi-lingual are
useful to third world countries as they are always in short supply.
However
many professionals, from builders to IT specialists and lawyers
will have skills which are useful to someone somewhere.
Basically
Community Projects (see above) for work hardened adults.
Voluntary
Work in the UK:
Usually involves work in 'social care' or conservation areas.
e.g. cleaning up rivers and wetlands, restocking fish, planting
trees, repairing fences on reserves, clearing and laying paths...
Pros:
- looks great on a CV.
- you get expenses and pocket money.
- gives you an immediate social circle.
- you see another side of UK life.
Cons:
- the work or location could be depressing and will hardly be
exotic or a better climate!
- the pay will be poor considering the conditions.
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