 
Dear Responsible W.O.R.L.D. Traveler
My brain and tongue are getting a good
workout as I refresh my French in preparation for two weeks in Senegal.
I leave with great excitement, anticipating joyous days with the wonderful
people at
H.E.L.P. Travel a "Human Experiences Linking Project."
Based in the stunning Casamance region
of southern Senegal, H.E.L.P. Travel has developed a fascinating blend
of ecotravel, community-based travel, and voluntourism. In fact, this
upcoming experience prompted me to share with you some insights on
volunteer
travel, an adventure style that's quickly growing in popularity.
Choosing to volunteer during your travels
can be a daunting decision, so I've created a roadmap for beginning
this exciting journey. Whether or not you anticipate such a trip in
the near future, volunteer travel is certainly an intriguing prospect
to hold in your dreams. This month's Feature Article, Venturing
Onto the Voluntourism Path: An Easy-to-Follow Roadmap,
will
help you get started.
Happy reading!
Love and Peace,
Linda
Peace Through Travel
Venturing Onto the Voluntourism Path:
An Easy-to-Follow Roadmap
Volunteer Travel, Peace Through Travel
"Voluntourism," or volunteer travel, is a fast-growing segment of
responsible travel.
While in the past volunteer travel was generally associated with large
religious
or governmental efforts such as the
Peace Corps,
in recent years, partly in response to natural disasters, short-term,
locally-focused
volunteer travel has grown in popularity.
The prospect of helping others abroad is exciting, intriguing, and your
contribution
can be truly helpful. But this decision also requires some serious
thought. How
do you know which experience is right for you? How do know if the help
you want
to give is really needed? Where will your money actually be going? How do
you know
if you'll be happy doing this?
Happily for responsible travelers, the trend in modern "voluntourism" is
toward
local empowerment. More and more programs today focus on providing
concrete assistance
in expanding local skills, growing the local economy, and supporting local
culture.
As a responsible traveler yourself, you'll find many experiences that will
meet
your own personal requirements for responsible travel.
Here is an easy-to-follow roadmap for starting on the right volunteer
travel path
for you.
Step 1: Have you thought about the vast array of service possibilities?
It may seem obvious, but start by looking at the broad volunteer travel
picture.
Education, healthcare, and social service are three of the most
popular-but by
no means the only-areas of volunteer travel. There really isn't any arena
of service
that can't use another pair of hands, some real skills, and an open heart.
For example,
while teaching English abroad is one of the most popular activities, you
can also:
· Teach conflict resolution skills to teens
· Help in disaster relief
· Lend legal expertise to a local organization
· Support women's empowerment by sharing your business knowledge. For
an idea
of the many opportunities available, visit
Cross-Cultural Solutions.
Step 2: What is your expertise?
You can be pretty certain that what you already know could benefit others.
Are you
a nurse who would love to assist in an AIDS/HIV clinic? Or a social worker
skilled
in victims' services? You can be of real help by matching your
professional skills
with existing voluntourism opportunities. Two resources for beginning your
search
are
idealist.org:
Action Without Borders
and
Global Volunteers.
Step 3: What makes your heart sing?
Maybe you're a website programmer, but you also really love music. Would
you like
to find a community arts program that can use your professional help
bringing their
creations to the international cyber-world? Or perhaps you're a teacher
who enjoys
building things with your hands, and your dream is to help construct a new
classroom
or school. If so, a custom-designed volunteer experience may be perfect
for you.
Cross-Cultural
Solutions
can help you create your perfect voluntourism activity.
Step 4: What do you want to gain personally from the experience?
Why are you doing this? What's really behind your desire to volunteer your
time,
money and effort? Do you want to practice a language you're learning, or
put your
skills to use in a new arena, or immerse yourself in a particular culture?
Give
careful thought to your own personal motivation. This will help you do
what will
be deeply satisfying to you as well as truly of service to others-and
avoid doing
something because you feel you "should" do it. It will also help you see
whether
your personal objectives might be better met through a different type of
activity.
Step 5: Where do you want to go? And can you make the necessary
adjustments?
The world is yours to explore as a volunteer. You can travel to any
continent and
contribute to local good. But can you happily do what will be required?
You may
have some significant day-to-day adjusting to do, such as bathing without
hot water,
or trekking long distances, or working in more extreme heat or cold than
you're
used to. Carefully research the conditions of the placements you're
considering.
You won't be much help to anyone, including yourself, if you're unhappy
with the
everyday physical or mental realities of your experience, no matter how
attractive
the opportunity sounds in the description.
Step 6: Where will your money be going?
Many volunteer travel programs are fee-based, some organized by
non-profits, others
by for-profit organizations. Research the project that interests you. It's
important
to know, to your own satisfaction, where your money is going and how it
will be
used. As a responsible
W.O.R.L.D.
traveler, your main objective is to contribute to and support the local
destination.
Does part of your travel fee go directly to this purpose? You want to
understand
exactly how the organization or company you're considering supports the
community
in which it works, and where your money will end up. Research them online,
or give
them a call.
These six steps provide you with a roadmap for beginning your research.
For an in-depth
analysis of factors to consider, visit
VolunTourism.
You may be interested:
Would you like to participate in a volunteer travel survey? VolunTourism
and Virginia
Tech University have created an opportunity for you to express your
preferences
and experience. You can access their
survey here
"TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY" by SUSAN McCARTNEY
As I clean my lenses and charge my cameras in
preparation for my trip this week, the requirements
of good photography are vividly on my mind. If you
are an enthusiastic travel photographer, as I am,
you'll learn everything you could possibly want to know from veteran
travel photographer,
Susan McCartney.
I have fond and impressive memories of Ms. McCartney's animated teaching
during
a class I took with her in New York City years ago, during my professional
photography
days. Her inspiring images have been widely published and acclaimed, and
her books
have been providing essential how-to information to photographers-both
amateur and
professional- for decades. You'll find her books at
amazon.com,
bn.com and
allworth.com.
Delicious Absurdities of English
Although I usually discuss interesting tidbits about languages other than English, this month I'm sticking to native American-speak. I've been thinking about phrases we use every day in American English that are either delightfully oxymoronic or completely meaningless-and we don't even notice how odd they are:
- peace force
- even odds
- found missing
- fresh frozen
- good grief
- almost exactly
- Now, then...
- terribly pleased
- friendly fire
- chicken fingers
- completely unfinished
- freezer burn
and my personal favorite, pretty ugly.
Love and Peace,
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