Int'l Volunteer Ops

[Quik]

Any of you have any good international volunteer opportunities/experiences to share? I'll be taking a several month long trip this coming winter (Nov 2011-Jan 2012), destination not yet determined, and would love to include a month or so long medical/health related volunteer experience. I have little medical training, but hoping for anything, dirty work or whatever, that is somewhat related to medicine/health care. I'd prefer that it not be through one of those organizations that charge a buttload for their "volunteer program fee" but do feel free to post those ideas too, if you know of good ones.

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[murfettie]

sometimes public health works well, but often language required.
some foreign volunteers at my organization just made things worse. please don't do that

 

[Mindscrew]

Yes.

I spent a summer abroad in India working with a NGO both in city of Mumbai at a inner city hospital and in the villages of Gujarat (rural).

It was a fantastic experience. I learned so much about how resources can be the biggest factor in medicine and also about the resilliance that people and communities have.

I hope you go with open eyes and an open heart.

 

[Quik]

Yes.

I spent a summer abroad in India working with a NGO both in city of Mumbai at a inner city hospital and in the villages of Gujarat (rural).

Care to share which organization that was with?

I hope you go with open eyes and an open heart.

Of course, I think thats key to everything in health care, but especially in hosting cultures not your own.

 

[felixthekat]

I am currently doing this. I left last August (2010) and am returning in May 2011. I went with only one volunteer experience lined up (it wasn't even medical). I found the rest of them by word of mouth. I have done medical, public health, biological, construction, and animal volunteer projects. Most of the "fees" I paid to an organization were directly to that organization, and they provided either housing, lodging, or both. That being said it take a bit of gumption to just show up in a small village and say "I'm here to help. What do you need?" Some places had volunteer programs in place; some did not. Some gave me considerable leeway to do what I wanted, some practically held my hand. All in all, I feel that my time has not been wasted, I have made an impact (however small) on the people, animals, and environment where I have spent my last few months. And I have had an amazing opportunity to meet people from all different countries and travel in ways that most people only dream about.

 

[Quik]

I am currently doing this. I left last August (2010) and am returning in May 2011. I went with only one volunteer experience lined up (it wasn't even medical). I found the rest of them by word of mouth. I have done medical, public health, biological, construction, and animal volunteer projects. Most of the "fees" I paid to an organization were directly to that organization, and they provided either housing, lodging, or both. That being said it take a bit of gumption to just show up in a small village and say "I'm here to help. What do you need?" Some places had volunteer programs in place; some did not. Some gave me considerable leeway to do what I wanted, some practically held my hand. All in all, I feel that my time has not been wasted, I have made an impact (however small) on the people, animals, and environment where I have spent my last few months. And I have had an amazing opportunity to meet people from all different countries and travel in ways that most people only dream about.

Sounds like an absolutely awesome experience, and right up my ally. Mind if I ask where you've been? I'm hopefully headed to S. America; work on my spanish, enjoy some very huge and challenging outdoor feats (Aconcagua) and of course a bit of summer which I'll be sacrificing entirely here in the States.

 

[felixthekat]

S. America. I started in Colombia and am finishing in Brasil. In addition to the health/medical stuff, i did research on the galapagos, attempted to learn to surf in peru (i'm an east coaster), went paragliding in Argentina, saw penguins in Ushuaia, worked with sea turtles in Uruguay, and got to practice (and teach!) photography. I would never claim to be fluent in Spanish or Portuguese, but I can have conversations about health in Spanish and am at about an intermediate level of portuguese.

 

[ConcretEIT]

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[Quik]

Pretty funny anecdotal experience was shared with me this evening. A friend of my roommates was over talking about her international volunteer experience in Africa. After paying for airfare and all those other expenses, she also paid a program $2500 to hook her up with an all inclusive 'volunteer experience' in her host country. What she showed up to was a airport pick-up, a meager place to stay, and virtually nothing else. There was no hospital assignment, no coordination with the local village, nothing. She was pretty much left on her own to go find a facility to volunteer with, which resulted in harrasment by the health care manager because nobody had paid him for her to be there... After a bit of negotiating and explaining, he let her stick around for help out.

Just a word of caution, as I suspected, be careful giving your money to an organization promising a health related volunteer experience.

As felix said, you're probably better off setting up your own as you travel.

 

[newtonjc]

I'm currently looking into a hospital in Kenya that sponsors internation volunteers... I feel like no one knows much about them, but they're called Medics to Africa (See: medicstoafrica.com). They aren't tied to any sponsoring charities, but they have an M.O.U. with the hospital (St. Joseph Mission Hospital), so the odds of being dropped off in Africa with best wishes are at least a little lower. The point of contact gave me several email addresses of returning volunteers, so I'm holding off until I get some solid feedback.

Other than that, there's always SIT and CIEE!