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NGOabroad
International Careers & Volunteering
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International
Volunteer Programs
Africa |
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Almost every site in Africa has something for
everyone: from
beginner to seasoned professional.
Email answered Questionnaire &
together we can figure out the program that is best fit for you.
It is wise
to apply 4 - 6 months ahead of going because you will need to get a visa
& a series of immunizations.
A 2 hour Travel Consult is required for
people volunteering in our Africa programs.
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Generating Income: "Teach a
person to fish"
Half of
Sub-Sahara Africa lives on less than $1/day; 75% of Africa lives on
less than $2/day.
In cities, people sell trinkets, pens or bananas to passers-by but
earn little.
In the villages, farmers have land to grow food but they may not
make money.
We need:
BUSINESS
--Business brains of any kind. If you had a successful Lemonade
Stand, we want you!
--Business developers, entrepreneurs, and small or home business
owners
who can dream up income possibilities
& help “make somethin’ outa nothin'”
& mentor regarding the nuts & bolts
of building a small business.
--People that have or want to get micro-finance experience.
--Teach marketing, accounting and book keeping.
--Teach about eCommerce and Fair Trade
to help build wider markets.
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AGRICULTURE
--Farmers & agronomists
who can help improve soils
--Teach organic farming
new
--Teach & install drip irrigation
new
--Teach bee-keeping, animal husbandry
(goats, chickens, rabbits), cattle breeding
--Teach how to diversify & generate agricultural income all year
long
--Teach about farmer's associations & cooperatives
--Students,
field hands & people with 30 years experience all welcome!
"Give a person a fish and they have 1 meal.
Teach a person to fish and they have food the rest of their life." |
c.Wintry Whitt-Smith |
Education is the ticket out of poverty.
We need:
--Tutors!!! –
help with homework in any & all academic subjects
You don't need a college education. Patience & laughter are more
important.
--Teachers –reading, math, science, writing, computers,
English, primary, secondary, sports
Educating
girls uplifts society.
The UN & World Bank now
believe that if you want to uplift society, you must educate
the girls. Females have been left out of education, but here they
take center stage.
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Kids & Youth:
Abandoned, AIDS Orphans & Trafficking
What is Africa going to look like in 10 or 20 years?
An entire generation is growing up without parents; with parents
lost to AIDS, civil war, drugs & alcohol, or abandoned because their
parents could not afford to feed them.
Abandoned kids are prey for prostitution rings, traffickers
&
child labor.
--People
that love kids! from students to grandparents.
--Tutors, tutors and more tutors.
--Vocational trainers:
Carpenters, masons, computers,
blacksmiths, music & the arts
sewing, basketry, beadwork, soap
making, catering, animal husbandry
--Sports trainers:
soccer is most universal. Swim coaches
needed.
--Job & theatre coaches
to enact job interviews or difficult
situations.
--Youth counselors, social workers, psychologists, counselors
--Counselors:
family reunification, parenting, grief counseling, alcoholism
--Artists:
to teach kids Street Art or transform kid's art into cards &
calendars |
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Health
There is ~1 doctor/10,000 people in most parts of Africa.
The poor can afford medical care.
Hospital workers, barely or rarely paid, live by extorting money
from dying patients.
--One of our clinics is begging for health professionals & students of all
kinds.
--Doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners & dentists needed at clinic &
in villages.
--Health educators to teach family planning.
new request at 2 sites
--Midwifery or OB/Gyn: teach Well mother, Well
Baby. new
--Great fit for nursing & medical students & grads:
a) Work side by side with one of our most dedicated doctors
b) Health educators: teach malaria or AIDS prevention:
Most homes have one mosquito net. What
about the people sleeping on the couch?
Many men still consider a condom an affront to
their masculinity.
--Public Health
Water & sanitation:
teach &
launch water purification
and sewer & latrines.
Teach environmental health
including food sanitation.
new
Nutritionists
--The real test for a nutritionist: design diets that fit the
budgets of urban Africans
(those people away from their fields.)
Alternative or Complementary Medicine
--Chinese doctors or Acupuncturists
--Yoga, shiatsu:
teach how these can increase circulation &
reduce pain |
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c. David Zimmerly |
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Transforming the
Slums:
Planting the Seeds of a New Life
How many of the world's people live in slums? One billion.
Improvement of urban habitat
has been on our radar for years.
--Help plant trees & urban gardens!
Turn wasteland into farmland; coax seeds to grow
--Help people grow $:
teach crafts, trades & business skills
...launch micro-finance to help lift people
out of poverty
--Engage youth: our future lies in their hands.
Musicians, soccer coaches, athletes, cooks, poets & more are
needed!
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Refugees:
Rebuilding Lives
In the 1990's, there were 7 million too many refugees on the African
continent.
We have intentionally built our program in a refugee community out
of harms way
but where you can really make a difference. We need you:
--Teach children & adult literacy.
--Teach computers. Math & Accounting. Vocational skills. English.
--Musicians. Drama. Sports. Photography. Web design. eCommerce.
--Writers & journalists
to teach writing. Human rights
trainers.
--Teaching practical skills to help people make a living:
--hair cutting, auto mechanics, carpentry, crafts. Marketing to
sell crafts.
--Appropriate technology. Water & sanitation engineers.
Construction. |
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Gulu: from Hell to
Healing
Joseph Kony & his Lord's Resistance Army have wrecked havoc in Gulu.
Kids would flee to avoid being kidnapped & forced to fight or be
"wives".
Gulu is quiet now. Aid workers report: "I
still say that the riskiest thing
you will do is to ride in a
vehicle or cross the road!" We need:
--Ordinary people who can do extraordinary things!
--People that love kids!
--People that can teach or tutor literacy or schooling
--Art therapists, social workers, psychologists, youth workers
esp. with experience with sexual abuse & assault, trauma, PTSD, EMDR
--Nurses & nursing & medical students for
clinic & home visits.
--Parents, grand parents, foster parents for parent support groups
--People to educate about child rights & preventing abuse
--People
to teach reconciliation & peace building skills
--Farmers
& vets (esp. dairy & pigs); Nutritionists
--People with business skills or interest in micro-finance
esp. who can assist with developing small enterprises e.g. baking, hair,
crafts |
A former volunteer had these wise words about working in Gulu:
"The most important quality for working here is a good dose of
humility. The people have much to teach you. No romantics need
apply; the job is not easy....it is very challenging. Good
candidates: independent, comfortable with being thrown into new
situations, humble in their style of entering into a
community, and realize that they are the LEARNERS in this situation."
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The
Empowerment of Women
There is a growing consensus that women' concerns deserve attention.
It's good news but an uphill climb.
Domestic Violence
new
Social Worker that launched Domestic Violence program said:
95%
of the men said they beat their wives; 95% of parents & teachers
beat kids.
Why? "How else would you keep them in line?"
We need:
--Help to teach positive parenting;
alterntives to violence; conflict resolution
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Gender Based Violence
new
In our Congolese refugee community,
~70% of women were raped in Congo. Needed:
--Social workers, psychologists, counselors
who have experience with
abuse
--Community organizers & speakers
who can launch community education
--Male counselors
who can work with men who grew up in abusive homes
--Women’s & men's activists
who can help build new programs.
--Sports coaches, drama, dance & art therapists to
develop healthy outlets.
Women's Rights: Community Educator
--last year this group did a phenomenal job making a pamphlet on
women's rights
--now they are asking help with dissemination & discussions. |
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French Instruction
and/or Immersion
Want to improve your French and would like to do it in Africa?
We have the perfect fit for you: based in capital and university
town or in rural villages.
If you want French instruction, study with Cameroonian woman who has
degree in teaching languages.
You can couple this with volunteering in Cameroon or you can devote
yourself to your French. |
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"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
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Democracy Building, Human Rights &
Corruption
on
hold
History: in the 1960’s, many African countries declared independence
from the colonizer. Then Founding Fathers became
Presidents for Life, dictators who did not want to step down.
Most African nations are still plagued by bribery, corruption &
extortion:
5% at the top skim off the wealth, while most struggle. These
disparities stoke rebellions.
Human rights work can be
dangerous. Your life can threatened if you speak out.
So we advocate "nibbling at the edges" rather than frontal attacks.
We need people to:
--Teach math,
book-keeping & accounting
so that citizens can monitor
the accounts of governments, businesses or NGO’s.
--Teach human rights to decrease the recurrence of violations
--Political & community organizers. Human rights monitors &
activists.
--Social Studies, Civics & History teachers.
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Rooting Peace
in Post Conflict Africa
This organization was built from the ground up to ensure that peace
prevails in their post-conflict nation. They understand the
importance of "capacity building", human rights & eliminating
corruption, literacy & building livelihoods to ensure peace. We need
you:
--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
--Teach skills: sewing; crafts; mechanics; carpenters; tourism
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c. Dave Tacon |
Journalism is
critical to democracy & equality.
on hold due to human rights threats to one of our colleagues
a) Women & Journalism
--Help research and produce TV news about women’s
concerns:
e.g. widowhood – a woman is reduced to nothing after her husband
dies –
No status, no land, no money and dispossessed.
This issue is being talked about all over Africa.
e.g. women & micro-finance: the new engine of economic growth
e.g. when there is no doctor: healthy pregnancy, labor & delivery
b) Youth: Make Music instead of Trouble
Engage youth in social concerns by helping them make music rather
than trouble.
Our partner is a makossa musician and journalist.
c) Print,
Radio & TV Journalism
You can not speak out in most African news or you risk being shut
down.
Learn the constraints experienced by African journalists
as you produce and air stories on the
radio, TV or in print. |
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Many of our programs need volunteers with
practical skills; skills that can help get a job or generate income:
teach sewing, 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.
How the International Volunteer Programs work:
Looking for
a Volunteer Vacation or to Volunteer Abroad? We offer more real &
challenging. More affordable.
Frugal: 1/4th the price of most programs.
See fees & how to apply.
Challenging: harness your skills to tackle real & important
challenges.
Real Deal:
other programs offer group experiences &
send a chaperone. We are for volunteers - students & older - 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 constraints. Duration of your stay can be
determined by you in conjunction 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
volunteering in Africa.
Almost everyone asks before "Why do I have to do this?"
and exclaims after "That was amazing!"
"Mary Ellen Waller
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."
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NGOabroad is a Limited Liability Company
(LLC)
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