If you visit a new place as a tourist, you are the one who gets the most benefit of the trip. The local people will undoubtedly make some profits from your transaction with them, but it is more of a financial gain than the humanitarian one. In case the idea has not come across your mind, don’t you know that you can travel abroad as a volunteer?
Why Volunteering?
First, do not think that you need a big budget to volunteer. The programs discussed in this article are the ones that will not rip your wallet off. In fact, our team researched this article with the backpacker’s spirit in mind. It will cost you the least, but with the most chances to experience the authentic moments of volunteering.
Second, the fields of the volunteer programs here are diverse. Even if you consider yourself as a skill-less person, you will still find a place where you can find yourself helpful to others. No minimum expertise level is required in the volunteer programs, only enthusiasm and determination.
Third, volunteering gives you the chance to dive deeper into the local’s way of life. It will not be a comforting experience because it will make your work hard, yet it will be a story that is worth telling for the rest of your life.
Conserving Ecosystem with Go Eco
Go Eco is a company specializing in eco-tourism. Their vision is to connect volunteers from around the world with conservation projects that need donation and volunteers. They were established in 2006, and they have managed a good reputation ever since.
Go Eco covers eight regions for their programs: Africa, Asia, Australasia, Central America, Europe, Middle East, North America, and South America. The company will charge you at around $800 to $1500 per project. They will not provide the visa for you, but they will assist you in case it is needed.
Go Eco also has varieties of volunteer fields: wildlife and animal conservation, marine and coral reef conservation, and community aid and development. You can help the repopulation program of desert wildlife in Israel, contribute your labor to a wildlife orphanage in South Africa, or you can enjoy the beauty of marine life in Belize while hunting for the invasive species of lionfish.
Experiencing a Life as an Organic Farmer with WWOOF
The organization that allows you to travel and volunteer as a farmer on an organic farm is called WWOOF (Working Weekends on Organic Farms). The site requires you to pay for an annual membership that will cost you £20.00 to see the list of available host farms in a particular country.
However, WWOOF’s main job is to get you to the enlisted farms. The company explicitly says that they are not going to be responsible for the visa application or immigration clearance. You must be a highly independent person to be a WWOOF-er (the name for WWOOF’s members).
Besides, it is easy to find stories about WWOOF-ers who had disappointing experiences with some farms. The farms turned out not to be organic at all, and the volunteers are being used as free-labors with an enormous workload. However, the good thing about WWOOF is that you can quit as soon as you feel uncomfortable.