1) Infectious Throb   2) Educating Girls Uplifts Society 3) Refugees: Rebuilding Lives 4) Heart Medicine: AIDS 5) Post-Conflict Africa: Rooting Peace  6) Democracy & Human Rights   7) Afrique d'Ouest 8) Check where your skills are needed 9) How our Volunteer Programs Work

For information on how Volunteer Programs work

Some of our opportunities in Africa are for everyone; others require travel or cultural savvy or certain skills.
Broad sketches & requirements are indicated. Email answered Questionnaire & we can find one that is right for you.
 

"This place has an infectious throb!" A wealth of volunteer opportunities, both as you-not-be-trained or as professional: Tutoring Vocational education    Sewing, catering, mechanics,        secretarial, computers Librarian     or librarian assistant AIDS educators (you need not be trained) Nursing Midwifery    or assisting in maternity clinic Journalism, print or radio Crafts, especially tie-dying Great for first-timers to Africa or seasoned veterans.  "Incredibly friendly & safe!" Range of experience from Professional to Helpful Assistant.

c.Wintry Whitt-Smith

Educating girls uplifts society. The UN & World Bank now believe that if you want to uplift society, you must educate the girls. Girls have been left out of education, but here the girls take center stage. So important is this, we now have several opportunities to help educate girls. 1) Homework helpers     No professional skills necessary.     Patience &  love of kids a plus. 2) The founders realized that to get the girls to school, they have to strengthen the entire community, so they have 4 foci: Education; Health; Livelihoods/ Business; Infrastructure. Come help develop this exciting new school. Requires skills that contributes to their mission: Teachers! Academics & Vocational skills.       Public Health, Nurses, Pre-med   Social workers.                                                 Health Prevention & Promotion Business developers.                                       Communication & marketing. Librarians.  Tutors.                                          Sewing. Crafts. Fair trade. Sanitation, water                                              Roads, electricians People to help shift local attitudes about girls getting an education. Development workers to help increase family incomes to afford school.

Testimonial: "The hospitality of the African people is unreal. I witnessed the realities and hardships faced by doctors practicing
in a rural environment. The staff were willing to accommodate any concerns or plans I had. I slept easy because I knew this
was what I should be doing." 
 

Refugees: Rebuilding Lives In the 1990's, there were 7 million too many refugees on the African continent. We have intentionally built Partners Programs in several refugee camps. We need you. These posts require some international experience & skills: Teach children & adult literacy. Teach computers. Math & Accounting. Vocational skills. English. Social workers, counselors & psychologists.  Youth & refugee workers. Art therapists. Trauma counselors. Musicians. Drama. Sports. Writers & journalists to teach writing.  Human rights trainers. Teaching practical skills to help people make a living:  hair cutting, auto mechanics, carpentry, crafts. Marketing skills to sell crafts. Appropriate technology. Water & sanitation engineers.

Heart Medicine: AIDS We are rethinking our AIDS program as the needs of our in-country partners shift. The AIDS pandemic has touched many lives and many people's hearts. By 2010, there will be approximately 18 million children orphaned by AIDS.  Skills needed to work with AIDS orphans: Strong people skills; big heart. Experience with youth or children. Helpful: Nanny or parenting skills! Herding kids to bed, doing homework Helpful: sports, music, photography, art or drama skills.      ~~~~~~ "When we go to the villages, there are mostly children. The parents have died.” This AIDS doctor is on the go and our urban clinics only want professionals to assist: Doctors, Nurses, Nurse Practitioners, & Ophthalmologists. Nutritionists. Teachers. Counselors. Pastoral care. Psychology. Seasoned hospice & care givers. Massage& music therapists.  Social work.

Medical personnel are needed all over the world. If working with the AIDS Doctor does not fit for you but you are interested in international service, ask for a Consult & Roadmap of Resources.

Rooting Peace in Post Conflict Africa This organization has strong roots in the villages. It was built from the ground up to ensure that peace prevails in their post-conflict nation. They understand the importance of "capacity building", literacy & building livelihoods to ensure peace. Requires international experience & skills: Community organizing & development                  Program & project management  Leadership development, capacity building          Youth & women's empowerment    Micro-finance & business development                 Literacy & adult education Agriculture & rural development                           Water & sanitation Conflict prevention & resolution                            Counseling; esp. post traumatic Teach skills:  preserving foods; sewing; crafts; mechanics; carpenters; tourism         Testimonial: "When I got to my town, they had a huge cultural dance just for me! You have no idea how happy I am here. My host family is awesome and my room is very nice. This afternoon the whole NGO will meet and formally introduce me and we will decide on the work that I will do. I feel very welcome here and know I will have a great year."

c. Dave Tacon

Building Democracy where Dictators Ruled Some of the most important work to be done in Africa is democracy building.  History: in the 1960’s, many African countries declared independence from the colonizer.     Founding Fathers became Presidents for Life, dictators who did not want to step down.     By the 1990’s, the push for democracy that swept Indonesia, Eastern Europe and the         former Soviet Union, and Latin America was also felt in Africa. Electoral democracy--        the people deciding their leader-- was restored to much of Africa. No easy task though.     Elections and buying votes needs to be monitored. In the past, the opposition to the          dictator was killed off. Such intimidation is still present.           Come  help consolidate democracy. Pertinent skills needed:       political organizing                 "get out the vote"               community organizing       human rights activists            election monitoring             educating about rights       international relations             broadcast journalism          writing; media             social studies, civics & history teachers

                 "Committed to their mission, "To harness humanity's talent to solve humanity's challenges",
                 NGOabroad matched my political organizing skills to a cutting edge democracy building program.
                 Volunteering enriched my life in totally unpredictable ways. There is no organization like NGOabroad."
                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                              C. Fitchett
 

c. Mark Spark

Afrique d'Ouest Nous avons les programmes en Afrique francophone. Qualites necessites: Savoire faire internacional     et facilite en francais. Droits de l'homme et des femmes. Development communautaire. Alphabétisme. Journalisme. Formation professionnelle. Eau et sanitaires. New! Working with women, youth & children.    Needed: Sewing, crafts, business, social work,    youth workers, accounting & bookkeeping, literacy.

c.Mark Spark

Many of our programs need volunteers with practical skills; skills that can help get a job or generate income:
teaching sewing, weaving, crafts; carpentry or boat building; bicycle, motorcycle or auto repair; farming/gardening; bookkeeping.


If your skills, goals or desired destinations do not fit in these Volunteer Programs, ask for a Roadmap of Resources.
We have far more choices than are stated on the Volunteer pages.


How the Partner's Volunteer Program works:

Frugal:  1/4th the price of most programs.       See fees & how to apply. Challenging: harness your skills to tackle real & important challenges. Real Deal for "Grown-Ups": other programs offer group  experiences & send a chaperone.  We are for volunteers who want the real deal: willing to do both the grunt work & the glamorous; able to live humbly & make a real contribution. Personalized: rather than one-size-fits-all approach, we believe that if you are really going to make a contribution, we must match your skills to where they are truly needed. Flexible Schedule: You can go at any time of year though school schedules may create some constraints. Duration of your stay can be determined with the Host Director. Your schedule can usually be accommodated. Home Stays keep the cost down & deepen your understanding of daily life: fetching water, no electricity. Or you can stay at a guesthouse. Adventurous: We believe that you can immerse in other cultures if you are well prepared:  Travel & Cultural Consults maximize health & safety. Transportation: Some people wonder who pays airfare. 97% of the time: the volunteer. Your host organization cannot afford to pay your airfare. 50% of humanity earns <$2/day.

A 2 hour Travel Consult is required for people going to Africa. Almost everyone asks before "Why do I have to do this?" and exclaims after "That was amazing!" "Mary Ellen Walker is an encyclopedia. She boils down what would have taken me days to research. All the information provided was tailored to my specific travel needs. My consult was invaluable, and I definitely intend to call upon her again for any overseas travel I do in the future." See more about usefulness of Consult with Mary Ellen.

Programs that we are in the process of being developed:

Stopping the Abuse of Women  soon to re-launch "Today was like many others. A woman’s voice screamed out in terror from a mud hut in the village. She cried for help and we could hear her wail uncontrollably while a man shouted obscenities and drug her out by the hair." The Director estimates that ~60% of the women in her town are "beaten like donkeys". Alcohol abuse & poverty compound the problem. Skills needed: Social workers, psychologists & substance abuse counselors    esp. with experience in Domestic Violence Organizational & program managers Writers, radio & those who can launch media campaign Vocational trainers Sports coaches & therapists, drama, dance & art therapists

We Want Everyone's Voice Heard in this New World  in transition Media is critical to democracy & equality. This organization is also charting new ground: it promotes human rights by increasing the range of voices heard through participatory education, advocacy, lobbying and media production to improve the status of women. Skills needed: Media monitors. Human rights activists. Journalists to teach journalism courses. Writing skills. Assistance researching & compiling National Directory for Journalists. Other programs: radio; educating about your rights; prison program.

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