AmeriSpan
Volunteer/Internships in Mexico, Central America, and South America. Work commitments range from 4 weeks to 6 months depending on placement. There is a mandatory 4 week language/culture component before the work placement. Placements in social work (orphanages, battered women’s shelters, etc.), health care (clinics, hospitals, NGO’s), education (ESL, teacher’s aides, etc.), environmental work (national parks, conservation, animal rescue, horticulture), as well as marketing, accounting, business, and tourism.
Global Volunteers
Volunteer in the U.S. or abroad. Service programs last one, two or three weeks depending on the community and the site. Nearly 2,000 volunteers each year join teams in Africa, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Europe, North America, South America and the South Pacific, working on development projects identified and managed by local people. Some host communities are struggling to become self-reliant. Others are modern and advanced, asking for assistance on educational, social or medical projects. In either case, programs offer a unique opportunity to combine meaningful service with unmatched cultural learning opportunities. Select a service option by country, or by either the type of work project, or the ages of people we serve. Volunteer opportunities are 1-3 weeks each, and include: teaching English language skills; care for disabled or orphaned children; building and repairing homes and community facilities; protecting the environment; tutoring and advancing literacy; improving basic health care services.
There are fees associated with Global Volunteers’ “volunteer vacations”: The program fee for 1-, 2-, or 3-week international service programs ranges from $1,370 to $2,750, excluding airfare. The service program fee for 1-week continental U.S. service programs is $750, excluding airfare. All expenses, including airfare, are tax-deductible. The fees support the local project, and pay for the volunteer’s room, board, and ground transportation.
Global Youth Connect
GYC’s mission is to build and support a community of youth who are actively promoting and protecting human rights, and to educate and inspire the next generation to work for peaceful change. GYC believes educated, compassionate and empowered youth are the key to achieving tolerance, peace and justice. Its programs encourage young people to work together to stand up to abuses of human rights. GYC practices a holistic approach to youth education and action which is grounded in a commitment to the principles of human rights, community-building, reconciliation and peaceful resolution of conflicts. There are fees associated with this program of approx. $1,500, plus travel expenses.
A ten-week summer intern with Global Youth Connect highly recommends their programs for anyone who has an interest in genocide and mass murder, as well as human rights policy in post-conflict areas. The Rwanda program especially, which is run by the director, is one of the strongest, as is the Guatemala program for anyone studying Latin American politics. Essentially, the first week of every program is an intensive human-rights workshop with youth from the area, followed by a week of sightseeing and then a week of fieldwork with other native non-profits. Many of the students in the programs are internationals, and almost all said it was one of the best trips they have ever taken.
Tahoe-Baikal Institute’s Summer Environmental Exchange Program
Join an international non-profit working on watershed conservation, sustainable development, and cultural exchange at Lake Baikal in Siberia, Russia and at Lake Tahoe in California and Nevada. Up to eighteen young environmental leaders from North America, Russia, and other parts of the world will study environmental science and policy, enjoy the beauty of two great lakes, and make friendships to last a lifetime as part of the Tahoe-Baikal Institute’s 16th annual Summer Environmental Exchange (SEE).
