Volunteer Work Overseas:
Do You Have What It Takes?

The decision to volunteer is a major one and shouldn't be taken lightly.

Whatever your reasons for volunteering, choosing a program for volunteer work overseas will depend on your purpose - and your personality. There are many types of volunteer programs and a number of considerations might come into play when you're making your decision.

These include:

• Who you are and who they are
• Your lifestyle, culture, marital status, age
• Your skills and language ability
• How long the program is
• How much it costs
• Do you like roughing it or do you need some comfort and conveniences
• Are you a loner or do you like company...

Have you ever been a volunteer abroad? Why not give our readers the benefits of your experience by sharing your story with us?

If you're thinking of volunteering, you might consider the following.

If you're a calm and patient person, perhaps you'd enjoy a rural teaching post. If you love the unknown and change is your middle name, something more adventurous might be for you. If you like working with your hands, a building project might be up your street.

What about your lifestyle and profile?

Think of who you are... a teen? A grandmother? (Don't worry - senior volunteering is on the rise). A single girl? A lesbian? These could be important cultural considerations in some countries... a single girl may be considered 'loose'; a lesbian could face harassment and discrimination. Keep these things in mind when choosing a country or a region in which to volunteer abroad and make sure you do enough research to end up somewhere you will feel comfortable.

What if you have no skills?

Many opportunities for volunteer work overseas don't require any special skills at all - they involve digging, counting, watching... You could try living the simple life on an organic farm with WWOOF, a global network that provides you with room and board in exchange for your labor.

Then there's the volunteer vacation, also known as voluntourism, a combination of volunteer work and tourism. These programs cost money - a little or a lot. You'll have to investigate what the organization offers. Some provide the full package - airfare, room and board, insurance and even a stipend. Others charge you for the whole package, and many fall in-between. These tend to be short-term opportunities, from a few days to a few weeks, and are a great way to test the volunteer waters if you're not ready for a longer commitment.

If you adhere to a religious faith, an international volunteer mission with a faith-based group might be a fulfilling option. Not only are the placements usually long-term, but a faith-based group may allow you to delve more deeply into a community's life and soul than other types of programs. Many groups offer Christian volunteer work opportunities, and if you not a Christian, faith based volunteering programs from several other faiths may also place you overseas.

Language is a consideration. Most programs mentioned here require English but if you speak another language, you could have more choice in programs. Living in a community is a great opportunity to brush up on a rusty language skill, or learn a new one altogether. I owe my ability to speak Portuguese to six months in Brazil (not to mention the most amazing trip through the Amazon rainforest ever!)

Perhaps you have a particular place in mind. You may have a dream of volunteering in Africa, with its wildlife and wide open spaces, or any other region for that matter.

There's no limit to the amount of time you can volunteer, although each program has a different offer. Some have set dates, others let you come and leave when you please.

You can even share your knowledge or skills for an hour or two - I'm not particularly good at physical work (translation: slightly lazy) but on the road, I've found plenty of ways to make a contribution, however small - by teaching a few classes in rural areas, coaching inner-city youth in English, or writing proposals to help raise funds for poor communities...

Choosing the right program for volunteer work overseas is as important as choosing the right country. Have a look at each website. Does it sound like the kind of volunteer abroad program you'd feel comfortable with? Does it share your philosophy and way of life? Drop them an email, ask some questions, get to know one another. Search for people who have volunteered with them and get in touch - what was their experience like? Are they responsive in times of trouble? Are they flexible, knowledgeable and caring? It is in everyone's interest to get the match right!

Perhaps you're a returned Peace Corps or VSO volunteer, or have volunteered with an NGO.

Where did you volunteer, and what did you do? What motivated you to go? What did you learn from the experience? What were your best or your worst moments? What advice would you give other women who want to volunteer abroad?

More and more women are volunteering - your story could help many others in their choices and their experience. Please share it with us!

Click below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...

'Color me Red' in Bangladesh  I worked with Hands-on Disaster Response (hodr.org) in Bangladesh earlier this year.

It was an impulsive decision, I couldn't make it to the project ...

Volunteering at Chitwan Happy Home Orphanage in Nepal   We arrived in Kathmandu 26th Nov 2007, the airport was an experience in itself. We were hassled by many taxi drivers and guest house owners, but once we ...

My Nepal Volunteer Experience as a Medical Student  I am a third-year medical student and my initial reason for going travelling this summer was to experience healthcare in a developing country and see how ...

Teaching Schoolchildren in Nepal  My time at the school in Nepal was some of the best I have spent during my travels. Both students and teachers went out of their way to accommodate me,...

Elephant Nature Foundation, Thailand  I volunteered at Elephant Nature Foundation in Changmai, Thailand in April 2007. It was an awesome experience that I will never forget. I got to travel ...

How good came out of my disaster!  I first volunteered in my first year summer of university. I went with a british organisation to an orphanage in Mpumalanga, South Africa.

I enjoyed ...

The Best Time of my Life  I have made my first visit to Morocco since it became a Projects Abroad destination. The first thing I've just got to mention is the food. Saad Rbiai and ...

Painting a School in Belize  In May 2007, I went to Belize with a small group of people. The youngest volunteer was 18, and the oldest was 31. I went because I felt that going abroad ...

Tutoring Oaxaca's Street Children  About a decade ago, I came to Oaxaca for six months to finish writing a novel and to better my Spanish to a bilingual level. What I encountered when I ...

Charity Farm in England  When I was a teenager on a break from college I travelled to the United Kingdom to stay with my grandmother. She lived outside of London in the county ...

Kibbutz Blisters  In 1974 I gave up work as a midwife in the Spanish city of Barcelona. I had always promised myself that when I reached a personal goal of 1,000 babies ...