Peace Corp-like organizations

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HawaiiHereICome

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Are there any peace corp like organizations except with a year long minimum

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Which one did you find?
 
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I posted this earlier. Hope it helps. Also, if you are a US citizen consider Americorps. Teach for America is also a wonderful (and competitive) org. with only one year minimum commitment.. and I don't think it has citizenship requirements:

this is my first time posting... sorry if I'm violating all sorts of unwritten rules.
I found myself in a similar place... what nationality are you? My country had something very similar for its own citizens. Check the state department or Agency for International Development equivalents of your country to see if there is something similar. Alternatively, work through NGO's in your home country. Also consider: Medecins Sans Frontiers (doctors without borders), Red Cross, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Physicians for Human Rights, World Food Programme, World Health Organisation etc. Many of them have internships that while they wouldn't give you real field work experience, would expose you to the political side of international aid.
If you are willing to pay: Uganda Villiage Health Project was suggested to me for real field experience. I know there are a lot more similar to this... just make sure you are VERY careful in choosing who you go with. You want to be helping people - not contributing to some NGO that doesn't know what it is doing.
Feel free to email me if you have questions... I haven't done any of these programs but have spent some time looking into similar programs. I'm currently applying for a job through my country's AID organization.
 
Medecins Sans Frontiers (doctors without borders)
Not unless you're a doc (or a very experienced nurse)......or so I was told.
 
I believe Doctors without borders, or anything international Red Cross Disaster stuff requires specialization in certain areas (disaster management, etc..) or be a practicing healthcare professional. Not sure though, each organization will have its own rules- but the general idea is that college students and even medical students normally wouldn't be able to have too many responsibilities starting out until they put a few years into these type of programs and move on up
 
I posted this earlier. Hope it helps. Also, if you are a US citizen consider Americorps. Teach for America is also a wonderful (and competitive) org. with only one year minimum commitment.. and I don't think it has citizenship requirements

Americorps is 10 months, but I'm pretty sure Teach for America is 2 years.
 
TFA is a definite two year commitment. You are expected to complete both years and your desire to help others will be questioned at a few of your interviews if you leave your disadvantaged students in limbo to cut out for greener pastures. That said, it was a great program...pretty sure you have to be a US citizen or at least have your residency, though.
 
I'd rather stick my scrotum in a blender and hit "Chop" than teach at an inner city school. Anyone who does it has my respect and admiration as a result of dealing wth such a population of students.

I restrict my teaching to adults.
 
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I'd rather stick my scrotum in a blender and hit "Chop" than teach at an inner city school. Anyone who does it has my respect and admiration as a result of dealing wth such a population of students.

I restrict my teaching to adults.

No way, you could score some sweet drugs off those inner city kids.
*No offense to any inner city kids here, your lives weren't all drugs and gunshots.;)
 
No way, you could score some sweet drugs off those inner city kids.
*No offense to any inner city kids here, your lives weren't all drugs and gunshots.;)
Hell, you'd have a better selection of drugs off of the kids at a rural high school......one raid of the school I used to attend yielded: pot, LSD, ketamine, Ecstasy, meth, sundry prescription medications and GHB. The only thing the inner city kids have that we don't is crack (and I don't doubt SOMEONE at our school had it).
 
Hell, you'd have a better selection of drugs off of the kids at a rural high school......one raid of the school I used to attend yielded: pot, LSD, ketamine, Ecstasy, meth, sundry prescription medications and GHB. The only thing the inner city kids have that we don't is crack (and I don't doubt SOMEONE at our school had it).

:confused:????? Never heard of that one.
 
Oxycontin, Percocet, Valium, etc...... sundry is just another word for "assorted" or "various"
 
Oh, I was thinking sundried fruits i.e. mangos, apples, etc.:laugh:
Yeah, in my county, being caught with more than a personal use quantity of raisins will buy you a long stretch in prison. :laugh:

FYI, it's "sun-dree" not "sun-dry" ;)
 
Americorps is 10 months, but I'm pretty sure Teach for America is 2 years.

There is no standard time length for AmeriCorps, but most programs are approximately 1 year.
 
AmeriCorps length of commitment is one year. There is an option for renewing for up to three years after your first term of service is complete, but no obligation. Some programs, like those that work with school children, are realistically 10-month programs, because they break for summer, but the contract dates are usually one year from the time you finish your training.

I'll finish up my tenure as an AmeriCorps VISTA just before starting school in July, so it worked out pretty well in that respect. There are enough programs in VISTA that you can find something you're interested in, and there are a few in Alabama that I can recommend, if you'd like to PM me, or to ask about the general life of a VISTA.

Teach For America, on the other hand, is a two-year program but I've heard really good things about it from those who have done it. I didn't opt for TFA because of the time commitment, honestly. Taking one year off was a hard enough decision for me that deciding to take two was just untenable.

Anyway, that's all I've got.
 
AmeriCorps length of commitment is one year. There is an option for renewing for up to three years after your first term of service is complete, but no obligation. Some programs, like those that work with school children, are realistically 10-month programs, because they break for summer, but the contract dates are usually one year from the time you finish your training.

I'll finish up my tenure as an AmeriCorps VISTA just before starting school in July, so it worked out pretty well in that respect. There are enough programs in VISTA that you can find something you're interested in, and there are a few in Alabama that I can recommend, if you'd like to PM me, or to ask about the general life of a VISTA.

Teach For America, on the other hand, is a two-year program but I've heard really good things about it from those who have done it. I didn't opt for TFA because of the time commitment, honestly. Taking one year off was a hard enough decision for me that deciding to take two was just untenable.

Anyway, that's all I've got.

But keep in mind that VISTA is only one type of AmeriCorps program. There are others, particularly those funded by grants from other entities, that are of a variable length.
 
May I suggest an organization which is respected the world over and emphasizes service while giving training in leadership and self-actualization?
 
I believe Doctors without borders, or anything international Red Cross Disaster stuff requires specialization in certain areas (disaster management, etc..) or be a practicing healthcare professional. Not sure though, each organization will have its own rules- but the general idea is that college students and even medical students normally wouldn't be able to have too many responsibilities starting out until they put a few years into these type of programs and move on up

MSF'll let you volunteer yr time as an office rat.
 
MSF'll let you volunteer yr time as an office rat.

-- haha... more or less what I meant by "gain some exposure to the political side"
you're right that very few organizations will actually give you field experience... and probably for very good reasons. As a college grad we have our limitations. Sorry about the wrong info on Teach for America (guess I was confused about the comittment time).
 
i still don't like the fact that Peace Corps don't take perm residents :(
 
and what would that be?

Uh oh, someone needs to star reading PB's blog: http://www.pandabearmd.blogspot.com/

The answer to your question is the Marines.

Now the truth of the matter is that few, if any, of us will join the Armed Forces. Some won't join out of conscientious objection, but many others won't join simply because they want ECs that look good in on paper, but aren't really that demanding. I like to think I'm in the former group... but it might just be a psychological front to keep me out of the latter group.
 
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