Volunteering Abroad/Global Humanitarian Projects
 

So I started some research in this topic because I'm interested in doing one next summer.

I'm a student in the health care field and I wish to do volunteering in this field (more specifically oral health promotion/ prevention) overseas for a short period of time (2-3 weeks) for the sake of gaining more experience that I cant find locally.

I've looked briefly at programs like Go Volunteer, Cross-Cultural Sol'n and Projects-Abroad.

I notice some are very costly so the cost is a concern for me ( I remember my frd in high school went around asking for donations from corporations/fam&frds just so she could volunteer for a month in kenya). Also, if counts for school credits is a plus. I'm interested in staying hostels with other volunteers instead of immensing with local homes.

I just wanna hear some suggestions, stories, experience.

Thanks.

mods, please move to VOT.

no traffic here

yup, my friend is in church and she just took her time off to go to kenya.

one was a doctor, one was a normal school teacher, one was a videographer etc. There are tons of people in church who are involved in helping the people in 3rd world countries.

ehh, im not with any church groups.
anyone else?

i only know of church groups as well. you can check if your profession has a "without borders" program, such as Doctors Without Borders, Engineers Without Borders, etc. I looked up Engineers Without Borders back when i graduated and they only accepted applicants for like 6month or more periods, so it might not be for you if you only wanted to go for a few weeks.

Try Vietnam or Thailand in Maesot by the Myanmar border. They are in dire need of volunteer oral care professionals. In Vietnam you can try looking for the Maple Dental Clinic (I think its called that) They run a big volunteer program in Vietnam and the SOL is pretty low there and cheap, the same goes for the Maesot area of Thailand. There are over 40,000 refugees in Maesot. They have a special medical clinic run by the Karen woman doctor there (I can't rememebr the name but if you google it I'm pretty sure it will come out). There are a lot of NGOS in Maesot so you will find a lot of other volunteers like yourself. I highly recommend Maesot it will literally change your views

i know there are programs at almost all colleges/universities that bring students abroad to volunteer, my cousin at douglas college was telling me about these programs they have to Africa.. it costs a few thousand but also offers transferable credits


as for Church groups... its nice that they "help" but its not really helping when you're planning/expecting to preach and convert people for that help




but i'd like to know what you think you could gain from going abroad that you can't do here? i know its a nice experience going abroad and doing something worthwhile... but there isnt exactly anything that you could do elsewhere that you can't do here

SOS orphanages. I know there's one in Da Lat, Vietnam.

Another good one is natural disasters. Red Cross always needs people.

You can always join Doctors Without Borders.

is there an Economists Without Borders?

i wanna volunteer too but don't really have usable skills... =[

a friend went over seas about 15 years ago to "help people"... came back with a disease no doctor in the world could diagnose (yes she was sent around the world). was basically bed ridden for over 10 years.

with alot of hard work and luck she is almost back to normal after 15 years.

have fun with your trip... 3rd world is scum. go help some canadians instead. Kelowna will probably need some work soon...

Wow thanks, will definately look this up. What's NGOS?
Refugees..war refugees?
Good details..did you work with them before?
Yep, I just found that my school offers something similar.
I'm not inclined on spending too much..as this is only for a few weeks.

Eh, I could volunteer locally and help the underserved population. DTES/Native communities. But I think actually being immensed in the 3rd world enviornment will help me change my perspective
Are those general aid or for health care volunteers?
Doctor without border doesn't seem to be accepting professionals in the dental field and i believe their work is > 6 months

What do they need in Kelowna..me putting out their forest fires?

It might be general aid, but I'm sure any medical expertise will be appreciated as well. The SOS orphanages were set up for abandoned "mixed" children that American GIs had with Vietnamese women. (yes, I'm serious) Doing a bit of research, it looks like they've branched out to other places around SE Asia.

Actually, another non-governmental organization (NGO) I ran into randomly in Cambodia and was moved enough to donate to was Salvation Centre Cambodia, www.scc-cambodia.org. That's more for Cambodians with HIV/AIDS though, not sure if that'd be really your thing.

Or, you can try the Carter Centre, one of their current initiatives is trying to completely eradicate Guinea worm. This should be right up your street as the worms are spread by ingesting contaminated water. Pretty cool little parasite I must admit, though I would sure as hell not want to catch it.

I actually don't know too much about Doctors Without Borders; I am more familiar with Engineers Without Borders which I would assume is quite similar. Best to call in and ask.

im trying to get out of vancouver asap, do u guys know any overseas places that accept volunteers/workers right away covering accomodation and transportation? salary is not needed.

You wish. With all these pre-med wannabes paying to go volunteer, what are your chances that they'll pay you to come and volunteer.

thanks for the tip, asshole!

pretty cool info..but most of those are not what im looking for exactly.

oh noes..i remember there was a thread about this :O