[TMA] Peace Corps/Overseas Volunteering

[ValorousBob]

I'm interested in taking a year off of school to do some sort of overseas volunteer work and was wondering if any of you guys had done something similar and had advice. As an American, the Peace Corps comes to mind first, but I'm pretty sure there are plenty of similar organizations I could work for. I'm really looking for something to do that's a little more significant than sitting on my ass in a college in California. If you do have experience with this type of situation...

1) Was it a rewarding experience?
2) What was the monetary situation like?
3) Where did you go/what did you do?
4) Do you think you achieved some lasting positive impact?

[Ophichius]

I haven't personally, but I've had friends and family go. I've yet to hear one of them come back with a terrible report. Even my aunt and uncle, who got hijacked at knifepoint while volunteering as nurses in Nicaragua, felt it was an overall positive experience.

I can ask around a bit and get some more concrete answers for you if you want.

-O

[pr0lurker]

[Kalil]

Am drunk but can answer a lot of questions posed in the OP. Particularly about Peace Corp in south america but have friends who did it and lasted the two years in asia and africa as well. PM to remind thread exists when i wake up if interested

From friends of mine that lasted the 2 years I will go with what I have heard them say:

1 yes
2 lol, friend i mentioned this too while writing it who did 2 years in south america said that if you have any significant credit card debt you should reconsider because you wont make payments.
3 variable
4 variable heard lol stories and impressive shit

given that if i pass on information it would or could be identifiable I will keep it largely private but the offers out there and I talk most days with friends that have experiance in volunteer work be it VSO and peace corps.

[kopf]

Work in the oil industry offshore, get paid to travel, make money in the process

[definatelynotKKassandra]

Do you have any actual skills? There's volunteering and there's 'volunteering'. The latter is more like a holiday opportunity for kids on gap years.

[Rans]

Volunteering as done by most big agencies is just an adventure where you gain the power to brag to all the people you know about how much better than them you are, how shit their lives are, how lucky we all are and how we should care. I've volunteered, my parents volunteer, organise volunteering etc. Basically if you don't have anything to offer in the way of skills...don't really bother. And knowing English is not a skill.

In most cases volunteering is pointless and you might end up feeling too good about yourself or...if you go to a fucked up place, be traumatized by what you've seen.

[whispous]

Sounds pretentious

[Kalil]

Peace Corps when done right can be very impressive, can create a lasting impact with those communities in which they are stationed and can be massive on your CV dependent on career/job etc. On the other hand it can be destructive and shitty. You can be miserable and leave etc etc. Basically you go out there and determine where there are social/protection/economic gaps in the communities you reach, you then need to design projects to fill those gaps and improve quality of life there through different ways. It can require massive balls tbh.

I know people who have started up IGAs with and without microfinance successfully, implanted successful anti-trafficking projects that are running 5 years later but on the otherhand there are layabouts who give the volunteering a bad reputation both for the volunteers and the agencies. Stay well clear of any that require payment to volunteer. Thats fucking stupid. stand by the drunken offer I made up thread last night.

[ValorousBob]

Damn, this thread went so long without a response I'd pretty much given up on it.

Do you have any actual skills? There's volunteering and there's 'volunteering'. The latter is more like a holiday opportunity for kids on gap years.

Not skills that the Peace Corp needs/wants unfortunately. After I thought this thread was dead, I looked more into the Peace Corp thing. Despite their summary/intro video thing saying that volunteers just have to be 18 and an American citizen, if you look harder they state that "90% of volunteer jobs in the Peace Corp require a 4-year degree" and the other 10% require "5 years work experience in the relevant field". I had heard how extensive the training process is once you join, so I kinda figured part of the point of the program was THEY trained you in real world skills that you then used in volunteer work, but I guess they really just want college grads. For now I'll put off my plans until I have more to offer them, but the info you guys (really just Kalil and Ophichius) was still helpful.

Volunteering as done by most big agencies is just an adventure where you gain the power to brag to all the people you know about how much better than them you are, how shit their lives are, how lucky we all are and how we should care. I've volunteered, my parents volunteer, organise volunteering etc. Basically if you don't have anything to offer in the way of skills...don't really bother. And knowing English is not a skill.

In most cases volunteering is pointless and you might end up feeling too good about yourself or...if you go to a fucked up place, be traumatized by what you've seen.

Phew, that was a close one guys. We almost got halfway down a page without a bitter/jaded post.

Oh btw...

...And knowing English is not a skill.

Riiiiiiiiiiiight, try telling that to the large numbers of English speakers who butcher it constantly.

Even my aunt and uncle, who got hijacked at knifepoint while volunteering as nurses in Nicaragua, felt it was an overall positive experience.

I can ask around a bit and get some more concrete answers for you if you want.

-O

Yeah tbh as long as I didn't end up with any long term injuries or mental issues I'd probably consider that a character-building life experience. I'll definitely take you up on the offer of more answers though. The kind of info I'm looking for would be tips and stuff that aren't obvious/displayed on some website. What was it *actually* like? Things like what countries provided the best experience, which ones to avoid, etc. For example, my friend's older brother went somewhere in East Africa and was miserable because none of the locals wanted him there and hated him because he was white.