If you are looking for a summer job or a gap year, voluntary work abroad may
be the perfect way to gain a valuable experience abroad. With a volunteer project
you will get professional and personal experience, and improve your career.
But an experience abroad will allow you also to learn about another culture
and encourage personal development, co-operation, tolerance and open-mindedness.
There are many organizations that will help place you in the perfect work experience job. We will give a list of different organizations throughout this article, focusing on volunteer organizations.
| You will find more information on summer jobs, holiday jobs
or internship abroad in our other articles on the left column of this page.
You will find also details on visa and health insurance in those sections. |
What is a volunteer job
Volunteer service is offered by choice - it is not mandated or coerced. It
contributes to the well-being of an individual or the community, and is usually
coordinated by a non-profit or public sector organization, and in theory it
does not pay any salary or wage.
Volunteer work is often equated with unpaid work, and people who contribute
their time and energy freely to build a better community don't necessarily get
the support systems and recognition they deserve. However regarding people working
as volunteer during their summer holiday, they will get accommodation and often
a small amount of money for their personal care.
The European Voluntary Service (EVS)
The European Voluntary Service (EVS) is a European Union programme, set
up by the European Commission in early 1996. It offers young people (between
18 and 25) the opportunity to work as a volunteer for six to twelve months
in a non-profit project abroad. Three partners are the key partners of
an EVS project: the volunteer, the sending organisation and the host organisation.
The European Commission take in charge the travel costs for the young,
the insurance (health, accident, public liability) and provides a monthly
allowance from 140 to 220 euros.
How to proceed: Find a sending organisation that will assist you
individually along the procedure (you can find contacts through you National
Agency, your National Coordinator or international volunteer organisations).
Start contacting potential host organisations through your sending organisation.
Keep your fingers crossed and persevere in your search as the difficulty
is not to find a suitable project, but to find a project ready to host
you within the time limit you have planned.
You can have a look at the European
database on accredited host organisations and the Youth
organisations.
More information also on the website http://www.britishcouncil.org
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Volunteering in Germany
You may find less agricultural job opportunity in Germany than in other European
countries.
However you can contact WWOOF (http://www.wwoof.org/)
, a dedicated organisation helping those who would like to volunteer on organic
farms internationally. When you join a WWOOF organisation, you will be put in
contact with host farms. It is then up to you to contact the host farms that
interest you and make your own arrangements with them.
Workers are provided with board and accommodation and
must pay an annual membership of £10.
As well as volunteer opportunities available on agricultural projects, a number
of organisations arrange social work projects, such as Concordia
(http://www.concordia-iye.org.uk)
which encourages international youth exchange as a mean of promoting personal
development, greater cultural awareness and international understanding and
enable young people to participate in volunteer projects throughout the world.
Projects last for several weeks, in the summer months.
All volunteers are supplied with food and accommodation and
are required to pay a fee of £75 to register with Concordia.
Insurance
Wherever you go, it is recommended to subscribe a travel insurance. It will
cover any event that might occure when you are abroad. Morever this is mandatory
for a lot of work in "exotic" countries.
We have selected below a series of companies to help you in your choice. Of
course you might find others on the Internet.
- Coverworks Worldwide
Travel Insurance: Coverworks Travel Insurance was established to specialise
in providing dependable and affordable cover, for both the backpacker and
for the independent traveller.
- Insure & Go: Cheap
cover online for gap years & backpacking, skiing, adventure travel, single
trips & annual travel.
- Down Under Insurance:
Offers travel insurance to residents in the UK, the USA, Australia & New
Zealand.
- Go Travel Insurance: This
is a leading provider of online travel insurance for UK & Irish residents
(backpackers insurance is about £150 for 1 year in Europe).
- Travel
Insurance Online: It can cover UK or US residents from £40/year,
depending on the garanties requested.
| You might also look at our other articles on Summer Jobs
and Internship abroad on the left column of this page. |
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