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

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!" Wide variety of program activities to choose from: teaching in schools, working with children or in hospital, coach sports, conservation, or radio or print journalism. Great for first-timers to Africa or seasoned veterans.  "Incredibly friendly & safe!" More able to accommodate special needs, families and/or retired or make custom fit packages for the very experienced! Your host goes out of their way to take you to drumming, dancing & sights. Skills needed: Well suited to everyone, wide variety of skills & ages. Send us your answered Questionnaire & resume & then we can talk.

Heart Medicine: AIDS Many volunteers ask to work with children orphaned by AIDS. The AIDS pandemic has touched many lives and many people's hearts. By 2010, there will be approximately 18 million children orphaned by AIDS.  Volunteers also request to teach AIDS prevention. We've got both AIDS prevention & AIDS orphans work.  These posts are suited to almost everyone. Skills needed: Strong people skills; big heart. Experience with youth or children. Helpful: Nanny or parenting skills! Herding kids to bed, doing homework, talking over the day. Helpful: sports, music, photography, art or drama skills.      ~~~~~~ We also have AIDS positions that require strong professional skills: Nutritionists. Teachers. Counselors. Pastoral care. Psychology. Seasoned hospice & care givers. Massage& music therapists.  Social work.

Educating girls uplifts society. The founders of this program understand 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. 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.

c.Wintry Whitt-Smith

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.

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."                                                                  
 

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
 

Lawyers & Legal interns
We have several programs focused on public interest law, land rights & human rights.

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.

Programs that we are in the process of being developed:

Marriage & Family Therapists, Youth & Family Counselors, Psychologists, Social Workers
Most programs that work with street kids focus on improving the lives of the youths.
This program focuses on strengthening the family, resolving the problems that led to the youth leaving & reunification.
 

Stopping the Abuse of Women  on hold "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.

Voluntourism or Volunteer Vacations
Our Volunteer Vacations add a little bit of vacation to the volunteer experience.
This may be the only time that you will be in the Himalayas or Andes, Africa or Adriatic.
Bike the coast, trek, drum or being invited into a home. Let our guides show you their world.


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.

                                                        NGOabroad is a Limited Liability Company (LLC)