Voluntourism on the Rise: More Links

October 26th, 2006 | By Joshua | 1 Comment »

Here’s a great resource: Travel With A Challenge has all kinds of articles and links on volunteering abroad, especially for families and mature travelers. I like the way the article, “Volunteer Vacations are Contagious,” by Mary Jo Pehl, deals with the transformative nature of volunteering.

“Everyone is idealistic at first on these trips”, Ricki reflected. “Then you see real life with real people with real problems on their own territory.”

Bonus links at the bottom of the page go to Voluntourists Without Borders and The Land Conservancy.

Outpost Magazine: Travel for Real

October 24th, 2006 | By Joshua | No Comments »

A photographer friend just turned me on to Outpost Magazine, whose “Travel for Real” mission and commitment to voluntourism is a nice, cozy fit with the Tranquilo Traveler’s style.

And I quote:

Combining volunteerism and travel is not only a way to take your journeys in new directions, but it’s also one step on the road to interacting with the world in a more meaningful way.

Can’t wait for my first issue to arrive. . .

Black Gold and Fair Trade

October 22nd, 2006 | By Joshua | 1 Comment »

Last year, I celebrated Fair Trade Month by hiking to organic and Fair Trade tea farms in Darjeeling. This year (this morning) I’m by brewing myself a cup of Fair Trade joe and telling you about Black Gold: Wake Up and Smell the Coffee (click here for the trailer). The story: “Multinational coffee companies now rule our shopping malls and supermarkets and dominate the industry worth over $80 billion, making coffee the most valuable trading commodity in the world after oil. But while we continue to pay for our lattes and cappuccinos, the price paid to coffee farmers remains so low that many have been forced to abandon their coffee fields.”
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NYC Internship for International Volunteer Program

October 11th, 2006 | By Joshua | No Comments »

American Jewish World Service is seeking a part-time intern to assist the Service Department with our international volunteer programs. Description: AJWS Service Programs send individuals and groups to volunteer in countries throughout Asia, Africa and Latin America. To learn more about our volunteer programs, please go to www.ajws.org/service. We are seeking a part-time intern available to work from 15-20 hours a week starting immediately. The intern will help process new applicants to our volunteer programs, provide continued assistance with current volunteers in the field, and provide research assistance. 15-20hrs/week at $10/hr, Starting ASAP through at least May 2007. To apply, send resume and cover letter to Lani Santo at lsanto@ajws.org.

Volunteer in El Salvador: Oct 15 Deadline

October 8th, 2006 | By Joshua | 1 Comment »

I’ve led a few AJWS Alternative Break trips in the Bajo Lempa region of El Salvador, and just heard about two opportunities in the same area, both with October 15 application deadlines: The first is “El Salvador History Tour: Through Chencho’s Eyes, November 12-16, 2006,” an extraordinary opportunity from The Foundation for Self-Sufficiency in Central America (FSSCA, the group I’ve worked with); join Chencho as he “retraces El Salvador’s struggle for liberation, justice, and peace.” The other program is sponsored by Voices on the Border, a small, progressive non-profit organization that is seeking volunteers to live and work in rural communities in El Salvador… “The volunteer will be stationed in the Lower Lempa region. Voices will arrange for food and lodging with a Salvadoran family. The volunteer will work closely with Voices’ Salvadoran partner communities and organizations…activities range from participation in women’s committees and microloan funds to hydroponic farming and livestock raising, and much more. Volunteers interested in learning about farming and rural life will have a rich experience.”

Planned Parenthood Ghana: Our New Gig

June 1st, 2006 | By Joshua | 1 Comment »

If the folks at PALM (with whom we worked in Sri Lanka) were some of the hardest-working NGO workers I’ve ever seen, then Planned Parenthood Ghana (PPAG) is one of the most developed organizations to which I’ve been assigned. To wit, PPAG has been addressing family planning and reproductive health issues in Ghana for 39 years!
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The Bermans meet The Schnurmans, and other African connections

May 31st, 2006 | By Joshua | No Comments »

Acclimating to our new home means meeting new people, from our cheerful office-mates at PPAG to our fellow volunteers in Accra. There aren’t many AJWS volunteers in town, so it was nice to make contact with Peter and Hinda Schnurman, AJWS Volunteer Corps vets on their fifth(!) assignment.
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Advice on Volun-tourism

April 6th, 2006 | By Joshua | No Comments »

Of the 16 months that my wife and I are traveling, we are spending 7 of them volunteering full time with local non-governmental organizations (in Birpara, India; Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka; and Accra, Ghana). Not only is this one of the most effective ways to interact with and learn about one’s host community and culture, but because we are volunteering through an actual relief/development organization (AJWS) and not a for-profit outfit, we do not have to pay outrageous fees in order to get our assignments (that we are both Returned Peace Corps Volunteers with professional skills to offer doesn’t hurt either). In his latest column at World Hum, Rolf Potts offers sound advice regarding volunteering abroad—without going into debt for it.
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Volun-tourism: Why We Came to Sri Lanka

March 20th, 2006 | By Joshua | 3 Comments »

We did not choose Nuwara Eliya. We were assigned here. In my experience, allowing somebody else to pick one’s destination, especially in some sort of official capacity, is more exciting than merely scrawling one’s desires across a map, or choosing fanciful place names—more unpredictable even than a random spin of the globe, eager finger poised.
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Traveling with American Jewish World Service

October 7th, 2005 | By Joshua | 6 Comments »

Our work on the “labor lines,” as the palm-lined neighborhoods of plantation-provided row houses are called, begins at four in the afternoon, when the tea workers come home from the fields and factory. My wife, Tay, our two Indian translators, and I are usually invited into someone’s home (for a hot cup of tea, of course) before spending the next three hours walking from house to house, interviewing families about their diets, health, recent deaths, and what (if any) relief services they are receiving from the government. As the most disenfranchised of the country’s entire organized labor force, tea workers have suffered more than anybody else in the current industry crisis.
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