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HAVE HEART WILL TRAVEL
EXPERIENCED VOLUNTEER REBECCA KELLY RECOMMENDS THE BEST ‘PAY IT FORWARD’ WORKING HOLIDAYS AROUND THE REGION
Yes, we’re living through some tough economic times. But instead of staying at home and sticking your head in the sand, read on about the growing number of people choosing to roll up their sleeves and become involved in projects aimed at making the world a better place. Voluntourism is a way for people to combine their tropical trip with a working holiday – and across Asia there’s certainly no shortage of worthy projects on which to lend a hand.
IF YOU’VE EVER PICTURED YOURSELF RIDING AN ELEPHANT to work or spending a day chasing tiger cubs, then Th ailand could be the ideal volunteer destination for you. UK-based charity Globalteer runs a project south of Bangkok that cares for neglected elephants. Volunteers can bond with the magnificent creatures while they spend their days playing with, feeding and bathing the enormous tuskers, taking it in turns to clean up aft er them.
Four years ago, Tony Faria, 36, packed up everything he owned and set off to dedicate his life to helping locals in the north east of Th ailand. The result: Fernthai Volunteer Foundation. “One of the main reasons I work in this region is that it’s so oft en overlooked by visitors,” Faria says. Volunteering with Fernthai can mean any number of activities, including teaching local children English, planting tree saplings, or harvesting and sorting Th ai potatoes. Faria says the organisation does its best to match volunteers with community needs. “Usually the female volunteers prefer to spend their time with the children in education, whereas the guys are often up for getting their hands dirty, using buckets of cement, bricks, wood and nails,” he adds.
Twenty-one-year-old Australian university student Andy Stuart spent a month honing his skills with a hammer and nails, working side-by-side Thai villagers. “By working with them on projects that were important to them, I didn’t feel like I was simply building something they didn’t really need.” Stuart said living in the village made him feel like part of the community. “Within my first two hours of getting there, I’d been recruited to play on the village football team. It was such a great feeling to be genuinely included.”
If you’re looking for another way to get involved, there’s also the option of signing up with Andaman Discoveries, a company that offers tours to help rebuild villages devastated by the 2004 tsunami. Volunteers can work on a range of projects, including mangrove reforestation and beach clearance.
THE AWEINSPIRING TEMPLES AT ANGKOR WAT MAY BE the major drawcard for the north-western town of Siem Reap, but hundreds of people are now heading there with more than sightseeing in mind. Globalteer has five projects based in Siem Reap, where children are taught everything from English to stone carving. The good news is no qualifications are needed; volunteers are placed depending on their life skills and experience.
Volunteer Ciara Mangan, a psychotherapist from Dublin, said the first time she stood in front of a classroom of 30 kids was a bit daunting. “The younger kids only knew limited English and obviously I didn’t speak Khmer, but somehow I managed to communicate, mostly using a lot of hand gestures.” Mangan also discovered volunteering didn’t stop at teaching. She also treated the kids for head lice. “They were really excited about it; they just wanted to stop scratching,” she said.
For 30-year-old Tim Siv, a pharmacist from Adelaide, volunteering was personal – his family fled from the Khmer Rouge when he was just two years old. He went back to Siem Reap this year and worked in the medical clinic at the New Hope project as a pharmacist and doctor. “It was one of the most amazing and rewarding things I’ve ever done,” he said, “but it’s also one of the most frustrating because we didn’t have access to all the medicines they needed. I came across so many kids with tuberculosis, HIV and hepatitis, but we could only treat what we could.” Siv said he also had the chance to try his hand at agriculture, helping to set up chicken and fish farms at New Hope. “It feels amazing knowing that I’ve contributed to something which will help the kids into the future. The time you spend volunteering is worth more than any money in the world.”
That’s something 31-year-old accountant Kara Child wanted to teach her nine-year-old son Kye. Child taught English at Globalteer’s Global Community Development project and Kye helped out in the classroom. “After living in London for the past couple of years, I wanted my son to have an insight into the plight of children and their families in countries which are not as lucky as ours. I think it has taught him not to take everything for granted.” But for those worried it’s all work and no play, Ciara Mangan has this reassurance: “When you have 20 volunteers all living in the same guesthouse, there’s a fair bit of partying going on. Someone is always arriving or leaving, so it’s always a good excuse for a drink or two.”
VIETNAM IS WELL KNOWN FOR ITS BEAUTIFUL countryside and friendly people; volunteering in rural Vietnam will give you the opportunity to experience both of these things at the same time. After a flood of people inquiring about more authentic travel, Buffalo Tours decided to set up a full-time voluntourism team to cater for it. Th e projects on offer range from organising activities with disabled care centres to teaching English in orphanages. Judith Freudenberg spent a month at the Tay Dang orphanage in a small village about 70km from Hanoi. “It was an unforgettable experience,” she said. “We taught English to kids between six and 16 years old; we never really knew who would join the classes. The biggest challenge was to keep them interested with only the use of a dictionary and phrase book, which was the only way to communicate with each other.”
Volunteer coordinator Thu Hang said the visitors could really make a difference. “We were sponsoring a nutritional programme at the Binh Luc orphanage. We managed to bring all 50 kids out of malnutrition within a year.” Volunteers can also get involved in a new building project in Thai Binh province, about 100km from Hanoi. The project is helping families who are still suffering from the eff ects of Agent Orange used during the Vietnam War.
WANT TO VOLUNTOUR?
If one of your goals in life is to work side by side with a former US President, then volunteering with Habitat for Humanity could help you realise it. Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn have been working with the charity since 1984, leading volunteer teams in building new housing for the underprivileged across the world. From November 15–19, 2009, the Carters will join thousands of volunteers to do something about substandard housing in South-East Asia. Volunteers will be repairing homes and constructing toilets in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and China. In their spare time, visitors are also encouraged to interact with the community by visiting local schools and orphanages. Ariane Aliggayu from Habitat for Humanity says the experience of building homes for the poor transforms lives, “both for the volunteers who work alongside Habitat home partners and for the families who see that there are ‘outsiders’ who care enough to help them break the cycle of poverty”. Contact: ap_info@habitat.org
ADDRESS BOOK
THAILAND
GLOBALTEER
Contact: www.globalteer.org
Cost: USD$630 for one week, $3,300 for 12 weeks
Includes: Airport transfers, accommodation, main meals
FERNTHAI
Contact: www.fernthai.org
Time: One week to three months
Cost: US$425 for one week, US$1,800 for 12 weeks
Includes: Homestay accommodation
Other: Volunteers at Fernthai must have a police check
ANDAMAN DISCOVERIES
Contact: www.andamandiscoveries.com
Cost: Three-day tour with translator for US$154
Includes: Transfer between office and the village, homestay accommodation, all meals plus English/Thai phrasebook
Time: Three days to several weeks
CAMBODIA GLOBALTEER
Contact: www.globalteer.org
Cost: USD$850 for one week, $1,995 for 12 weeks.
Includes: Airport transfers, accommodation at Globalteer guesthouse, a bicycle, volunteer support, drinking water
Time: One to 12 weeks
VIETNAM BUFFALO TOURS
Contact: www.buffalotours.com
Time: Two days to a few months, tours can be tailor-made Cost: US$477 for one week
Includes: Airport transfers, homestays or traditional guesthouses, translator, lunch
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